U.S. residents, military ships (and SCUBA divers) move out of Hurricane Irene's path

U.S. residents, military ships move out of Hurricane Irene's path - CNN.com

OK - Looks like not only are today's SCUBA events cancelled due to the current storm, but all weekend SCUBA activities that we were looking at in Rhode Island are also out. New England Dive have cancelled their picnic on Sunday - we are no longer looking at diving on Saturday 27th and there is a possibility - a big possibility that there will be no diving on Tuesday with the Divers from Rich Morin's Prof. Dive Centers. Looks like we will have to reschedule to the following weekend so mark your calenders for then! Visibility in Ft. Wetherill does tend to get pretty bad immediately after a storm - we shall see what it will be after a Cat. 2 or 3 Hurricane. Stay safe! First earthquakes, then hurricanes - please report any or all sightings of horseman...

EFR Blog

Did you know that Emergency First Response (EFR) has a BLOG of their own - click on the image to the left to access it. In other EFR news Emergency First Response® materials have been updated to reflect the latest changes resulting from the 2010 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ILCOR Guidelines 2010). In addition, the products now sport a new, fresh look. Primary and Secondary Care materials are available now. CPR & AED and Care for Children materials will follow later this year.

If your interested in learning more about EFR, those 24 months since your last First Aid/CPR course have gone by, you are thinking of becoming a Rescue Diver or just want to know more, drop us a line at HamdenScuba@gmail.com

TecRec Scuba Centers

Congratulations to Course Director David Valaika and the team at Indian Valley Scuba (www.indianvalleyscuba.com), in Harleysville PA on being designated as a PADI TecRec Center. They are one of PADI's first TecRec Centers in the Northeast United States, and one of only a few PADI Instructor Development Centers to offer professional level training in the full range of PADI Technical Courses.

For those of you interested in trying out Tec Diving, IVS is offering a Discover TecRec Diving on Sunday September 25^th 2011. Details below:

“Join us for the day for your chance to experience diving in a technical diving rig absolutely free of charge. There will be presentations by IVS staff on rebreathers, technical dive gear, mixed gas diving, and technical instructors in the pool to give you the chance to try out the equipment for yourself. Even if you have never thought about technical diving before here is your chance to find out for yourself that technical diving is not only for those who want to venture to the depths of the ocean floor but has its place in all levels of diving. This is an excellent way to learn about safely extending your bottom time on sites like the LSD-32 Spiegel Grove or Vandenberg during our Florida Keys trips.”

C-Card Storage – The Solution

Any divers that have been kicking around the dive world for more than a few years have probably come across the problem of what to do with all of those C-Cards that we have accumulated, hold dear and upon occasion are called upon to produce – I expect you are probably thinking of the last time you asked for a Nitrox fill at Dutch Springs. Over the years I have had lots of different styles of card holders that have fit nicely in my log book binder, but in general, if you have to remove a card and replace it more than once or twice, the holder itself will stretch and next time you unzip your log book binder they end up on the ground. The solution in the past has been to either put up with it, tape the cards in there so they don’t keep falling out, or replace the holder.

This was the case recently when I was looking for something in my binder while up at Rich Morin’s Professional Scuba Centers in Glens Falls, NY. With my C-Cards on the floor, Rich and the guys suggested a stop at Staples where they sell a card holder designed for the cards not to fall out. Off to Staples, in fact several Staples until the correct product was finally located. The product is made by Dayrunner and is product number 482-152 and costs a reasonable $5. The holder is available from other retailers as well as Staples and is also available directly from Dayrunner.

The great thing about this holder is that the cards are folded into the holder itself – they don’t fall out on as the holder itself blocks them from falling unless the holder is opened. The holder will hold up to 14 cards – at least enough to get most divers through the Master Scuba Diver level plus a DAN card or 2. Not easy to find a good solution in the dive industry for $5 these days….

Multifunctional Diving – Corsair Dive Light/Knife

A trend seems to be starting in going to more multifunctional dive gear. First we have the “Air 2” – both low pressure inflator and alternate air source. Interesting idea – one of those, why didn’t anyone think of that a long time ago kind of ideas. Now we have the Corsair by Halon Dive Gear. The Corsair is a combination attempt like the Air 2, in that it combines two separate pieces of dive equipment and give you a single piece of equipment that combines the functionality of both. In this case the odd combination of dive light and dive knife. My first reaction was why would you go and purchase such a piece of equipment – how many times are you going to need a light and knife combination – sure it makes it easier to see what you are cutting, but most recreational divers should not find themselves in a situation that requires them to use their dive knife under light. Then it occurred to me that that is not what this tool is for – it is not to see what you are cutting, it simply utilizes the dive knife as a host for up to 4 redundant light – they snap on in up to 16 combinations, offering you both the ability to purpose configure your dive light for the task to be undertaken as well as having full redundancy in the dive light configuration – RAID 5 in computer speak – redundant bulb (or LED) redundant batteries, redundant casing – one light floods – you have 3 others that are unaffected.

We cannot describe the quality of build of the Corsair at this time as we have yet to get hold of one of them for closer inspection. Halon Dive Gear is based here in CT – it may be worth the trip down to West Suffield to check out their gear.

2011 ScubaLab Dive Lights: Tester's Choice - Scuba Diving Magazine

Gear / Accessories Scuba Diving Magazine

One has to wonder about articles like this - there seems to be some issue as to where the information it describes in the title actually is contained. Upon opening the article expecting to read what exactly the editors choice of night light actually is, we are led down the garden path to finally find out that they are not actually going to tell you now - you have to click on "related articles" to actually find the information that we had expected. I think I would rather be diving than trying to navigate their article.

ERIS - Emergency Response Information System for DAN

ERIS has announced a new app for the iPhone that allows users to access DAN information as well as update information on ongoing incidents. Apparently DAN is staged to make an announcement on the new app. Pricing strategy will be interesting as well as the marketing of the product.

Android verion to be available for DEMA

Welcome

Welcome to the SCUBAsphere Blog, bringing you news, information and interesting facts from within the world of SCUBA