So, I recently got my first semi dry suit and will be getting a dry suit in the near future. I would like to be able to do routine maintenance, as well as conduct simple repairs both in the field, and in a better equipped shop setting.

I've been looking for the Airspeed book (authored by Lindblom) referenced in the title of the post for the last week or two, as it seems to have been universally recommended as being the book to get on this topic. Unfortunately, of course, AirSpeed went out of business a couple of years ago, and finding this book is harder than finding a unicorn after the leprechauns nearly hunted them to extinction...

...No hardcopies on any resale sites, nor have I been able to find any pdfs on...alternative information repositories...on the internet. If anyone could point me in the right direction where I could find a copy of this, it would be much appreciated.

Failing that, any other alternatives that describe kind of a holistic and thorough approach to maintenance/repair, be they in book or website form, would be highly appreciated. I have found a few sites that usually just cover one topic, like patching a hole, or doing simple seal repairs, but nothing quite as comprehensive as what I'm looking for as a desk reference.

For my mechanical engineering senior project, I'm thinking about making a Scuba tank that would be for emergency uses if a diver realizes that they run out of air. This would be a separate tank that attaches to the back of the weight belt that weighs approximately 10-20 pounds. I'm considering having this tank have three layers. The innermost layer would be carbon fiber, the middle being a ceramic layer, and the outer layer would be some form of polymer that would be scratch-resistant. Do you guys have any recommendations on things I need to consider for this? Any ideas on how I could make this project become a bit more complex? Would love criticism for this project.

For shore diving, what's your personal maximum forecasted waves you'd go out diving?

Hi all. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about the Pygmy seahorse in Anilao. However, there are about 30+ dive sites in that area. Does anybody know the exact spot in Anilao where to find these rare creatures? Blue ring octopuses as well. Thanks in advance!

I am an OWSI with ~4k warm water dives, and 6 cold water dives. Unfortunately, I live in the PNW now, so if I want to do any casual weekend diving, it's going to be cold water.

I live near an underwater park and would like to just get back into the water once or twice a month.

My thoughts are to buy a decent but basic drysuit, use my current mask, and rent the rest for now. If I do stick with it, then I'll buy more of the parts.

I've done drysuit dives and am familiar with the specifics of using them as opposed to wetsuits, though not with the various materials and styles. Any recommendations? Money is not an issue, but I also don't want to waste any. All my gear has always been solid quality but minimal "fancy".

EDIT: I should specify that the reason I want to buy a suit instead of rent, is because I am not willing to spend $400+ on a drysuit cert so I can then waste more money renting one. I'll just buy one outright.

Used to have DAN, looking for other options before renewing

We are planning a 9 day trip for may 2024. Our first time in Bonaire. From doing some research and speaking to a friend I put together the following two plans.

Staying at buddy dive resort and doing their dive and drive package. Unlimited shore dives +6 boat dives. (Rental car included). Less expensive

Or

Staying at plaza beach (all inclusive). Unlimited shore diving. And paid boat diving with their home dive boat. No rental car included. More expensive

My friend (who tends to stay at more upscale places) suggested to stay at plaza, boat dive with them in the morning and shore dive the afternoons.

My wife and I don’t really require fancy accommodations. Just looking for good food, a lively environment and good diving of-course.

Is buddy’s a decent place to stay and is plaza so much better that it’s worth the extra money?

Any thoughts on either of these plans or something completely different would be appreciated.

Hey guys, I'm going on a cruise in January to Tortola, Guadeloupe, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua. I've never dove in any of them, only snorkeled in Barbados. I'm only planning on diving in one port, so does anybody have any recommendations on which one to choose?

I tried SCUBA diving last March in Colombia and really loved it. It made me start to think about doing my open water certification. The problem though is that I live in a place where there are no dive sites nearby so I would only have the chance to dive when I was traveling. I try to take two international trips every year but there is no guarantee that I would find myself in a country where there would be good diving opportunities. Is it worthwhile doing the certification if I won't necessarily have many opportunities to put it to use?

Hey all, I’m backpacking Southeast Asia and am on my way to Indonesia tomorrow for a few weeks for some awesome diving and I can’t wait. I’m staying at several dive resorts - Adventure Divers in Amed, Bali; Blue Corner Dive in Nusa Lembongan; and Scuba Junkie in Komodo.

I’m not too worried about finding a buddy to pair with since I’ll most likely be going in a dive group with a guide, but I’m wondering how socially-oriented other travelers might be during the afternoons post diving. Ideally, I like to find some people to explore with and hang out for meals, but I’m not sure the type of crowd I can expect to be there. Families? Couples? Other solo travelers like myself? Should I expect that they’ll be open to meeting others and maybe doing some sightseeing?

I don’t mind doing activities in my own but I also appreciate good company and enjoy meeting new people :)

Also please share any topside recommendations for the places mentioned above!

So interesting discovery when I was packing for a trip a couple weeks ago. Flying so I was limited to the 50lb delta limit. I normally dive with a full stainless BP, old school jetfins, etc - nothing lightweight. Its been an issue in the past getting my stuff into bag drop without weight issues. So I started looking around at soft backplates, aluminum ones, etc.

But I also started looking at bags. My normal bag is an older Tumi rollerbag that is huge. Which has the downside of using it means I have to pack more stuff in there to keep things from shifting and breaking. Found a bag I really liked for scuba and other trips but noticed it was listed at around 12.5lbs. Well crap, that's over 20% of my weight limit for an empty bag. But on a whim I checked my current bag to see how much it weighted. 18.25 lbs! WTF. I was eating up a third of the capacity. So that got me on the hunt. Ended up getting a osprey roller bag that only weighs 6.5 lbs empty. Crammed it full going out and coming back, even with dampish gear it was still less than 40lbs. And I got to dive my normal setup.

TLDR - before you get all gram weenie on your gear weigh the bag you are putting it in. And bags are expensive.

Hi everyone!

I just got my first scuba tank (as renting them really adds) with a double valve for when I get my dry suit and second first stage.

As long as I only have one first stage, I was wondering if a simple plastic plug screwed into the unused valve output is enough to keep it safe, above and under water, or if that‘s just for short transports and in between dives and I should get a more massive one as I‘ve seen at my divebase? Google calls them safety plugs.

As I read my own words (and the google-provided naming for the metal plugs), I‘m pretty sure that the latter will be the right choice but I would still appreciate some thoughts on the matter by a more experienced crowd.

Thanks in advance for any input!

A group of us are going to the galapagos in late october/early november and were considering getting our open water PADI certification whilst we are there.

A couple of us have no experience and have read a lot about how challenging it is there, but as we are getting our padis we are assuming the dive instructors will take us to easy spots?

Also, will the el nino significantly affect sea life by this time? What animals would we be likely to see in the easy spots?

I've been traveling a lot recently for diving trips and have been curious if anyone has had issues bringing full sized fins for carry on. I have scuba pro seawing novas in size medium which are longer than carry on dimensions. They're strapped to my Scubapro hydros bcd bag on the outside and I've never been stopped for them. I figure that if they ever say anything about them, I can just put them on (lol) because there's no limits on how big your "shoes" can be.

I know some countries are a pain to deal with and will try to charge you anywhere they can (Had this issue in the Philippines but not with dive gear, they weighed/measured every bag I had). Going to Egypt next month and want the peace of mind that I won't have an issue here.

​

TLDR; If they say my fins strapped to my backpack are too long for carry on.... can I just put them on? I know this sounds ridiculous but im dead serious lol.

We had an our first scheduled family dive in Jupiter for this Friday for my birthday. They cancelled after seeing my 10 year old on the trip. While he is open water certified the dive is 60-65 feet and can’t go that deep. We would love to try and salvage the trip. Any other good dives for wildlife in the palm beach/Ft lauderdale area? We have done blue heron Venice for shark teeth and have a key west scheduled for November. Nah allow reef dive of 40ft or less. Bonus if you can name a good charter for the dive as well. Thanks!

Next time I go diving I'd like to try taking an action cam with me.

I had the idea of mounting it somewhere for descent, preferably with a stick/handpiece already attached, and for getting in and out of the water. Something like a clip so it doesn't dangle around.

Once I have reached the desired depth I'd like to remove it from that mounting point and start actually using it handheld/on a stick.

Has anyone thought about this before and is there a solution to that?

Hey fellow divers! I'm going down the CCR route. I can't decide between a JJ or XCCR.

I dived both but really can't decide. When searching scuba boards I get a lot of 'this unit is the best'....but no real comparison.

I am looking to go deep, doing wrecks. I know my JJ divers and they do some serious tech diving 70-100m. I don't actually know any XCCR divers in the expedition space (or haven't met them yet).

Does anyone have a comparison of the two units? Both have pros and cons.

Hey guys I am wanting to document my time underwater, best tips on what to look for when it comes to an underwater camera?

I also dive in Scotland so lighting to be considered I guess (I do have a torch though).

I often get pointed towards GoPro, and my own research brought up the Olympus Tough TG-6

Honestly I'm only looking for a GPS watch for scuba to mark surface spots while fossil hunting. I use a shearwater perdix, so not looking for anything fancy and the MK2 is a bit pricey for just the GPS needs.

Any suggestions welcome! Thanks

Should I add an aluminum case to my Perdix or no?

https://www.paragondivestore.com/products/shearwater-perdix-aluminum-protective-case?variant=39249848860858