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Make your diving buddies as enviously green as all that liberated brass-work they've got stashed unpolished in their garden sheds. Display a shiny, full-sized ship's telegraph in pride of place in your front room. Full size with a 35cm-diameter head, it weighs 25kg and stands 1.17m high. It's made of solid-cast brass, with two levers and an internal bell that rings when the levers are moved. And if you just want something a bit more manageable for the dusting, there's a range of three scaled-down versions starting at 37cm high. (The version illustrated stands almost 50cm high.) From £125 to £895.
Nauticalia 0870 905 5090.
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Minimalist, but not so that you'd miss anything - that's the DUI Delta wing-style BC. Its one-size-fits-all harness is said to be readily adjustable for a perfect fit, and fastens at the waist like a weightbelt. It has quick-release buckles at the shoulders, a novel integrated-weight system and you can dump air by pulling down on the corrugated hose, or use another pull-dump at the lower back. It has four large D-rings and two smaller O-shaped rings mounted on elasticated and extending cords for use with gauges. Two different-sized buoyancy cells are available. The DUI Delta costs £418.
Hydrotech 01455275030
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A giclee is a sophisticated inkjet printing process, and the results are said to be perfect in terms of the details and realism of the colours. Retired doctor Patrick Chevaillier is a painter specialising in marine subjects, and he paints the originals with oil on canvas. You can go online to buy an example of one of his limited edition giclee prints on canvas - they cost from around £200.
Dive Art, www.diveart.com
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Its sibling got a good review in this magazine for its ability to cut through ropes. Now along comes this version of the Race Rescue Knife, which is more appropriate for underwater use because it comes with a savagely effective line hook that should allow anyone to cut their way free of most monofilament or netting entanglements. It costs £35.
Markat, www.markat.co.uk
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Worried about that Open Water boat-separation scenario? The Dive Marshall (where that extra 'l' came from, we don't know) is a metal slate with a mounted timepiece that you leave on board a boat with the human dive marshal to ensure that you're not forgotten. Using the attached marker pencil, a buddy-pair fill in their names and any other notes regarding their dive plan, and set the timer running just before entering the water. Your marshal will know if anyone's missing and how long you've been gone. The Dive Marshall costs £49.50.
British Divers Manufacturing, www.britishdiversmanufacturing.co.uk
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New products from a maker of casual wear for divers, the Tsunami long-sleeved all-cotton baseball shirt comes in sizes M, L, and XL and costs £25. The Underwater Daughters Female T-shirt comes in sizes S, M and L and costs £19.50.
DNA, www.dna-dive.com
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Divers need to be careful about aches and pains, as they might be a symptom of decompression sickness. Provided you're sure that those muscle pains are purely from carrying heavy kit or sleeping awkwardly before going diving, Blue Active Gel is a muscle and joint gel rub that's said to have proved popular with athletes at the Athens Olympics. Containing aloe vera and golden emu oil, among a list of other natural herbal ingredients, the one thing missing is someone interested enough to rub it on your aching parts. Make your own arrangements. 150ml, £12.95.
Blue Active, www.blue-active.com
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Almost as soon as we had told you in Kit Q&A that we knew of no company in the UK that supplied a ready-made reef-hook, a sample of one arrived from SDS Watersports in Sheffield. Invaluable to any divers in powerful currents who want to stay where they are and observe the wildlife without destroying part of the reef at the same time, a reef-hook is simply a wide-jawed hook attached to a thick manageable line that clips to a D-ring on your BC. You need to be circumspect about where you hook it, of course, but correct use allows you to fly above the reef or rocks. This one is supplied with a stainless-steel piston-clip and hook. £12.50
SDS Watersports 0114 248 8689
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Fed up with risking ruining the interior of your car every time you go diving? This new lightweight BV64 boxvan trailer is claimed to be very convenient for transporting your diving equipment. Wet gear can be stored inside and its low loading height and lashing-down points allow it to carry heavy objects, says Williams Trailers, which also makes much bigger trailers. This one has 2cu m of storage space and a maximum payload of 2.3 tonnes. It is low enough to be kept in a garage and you don't need a special licence to tow it as an unbraked trailer. It costs £1145.
Ifor Williams Trailers 01490 412527
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Does you phone have all the gizmos? Does it text, take photos - does it even receive audible phone messages? Then here's something extra to get you one up on your mates, and it might even come in useful! The Tide Plotter was claimed to be the first product of its kind to cater for the PC and pocket-PC market - and now there's a new version for the latest generation of mobile phones, Windows Smartphone. It is designed for any users of tidal waters around the UK. Available on CD and with the option to download from the Internet, Tide Plotter bundled together in all three versions costs £10.99, or £21.95 for the three-year version.
Belfield Software, www.tideplotter.co.uk
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Your bath isn't deep enough! This tiny model of a deep-sea exploration submarine will dive to a depth of 2m and its remote controls allow it to be guided up and down, left and right. An eight-minute charge to its nine AA ni-mh batteries gives a six-minute run time. £19.95
Nauticalia 0870 905 5090
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We're told that these hi- tech waterproof, windproof but breathable socks have been selected for use by teams in the next Global Challenge, the world's toughest yacht race. The fabric, it is claimed, ensures that moisture is dissipated away from the skin, so that hands and feet stay dry, warm and blister-free. If that's the case, they might be useful with a leaky drysuit too! They cost £24.95 per pair, in a range of foot and hand sizes.
Nauticalia 0870 905 5090
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If you're into coldwater diving this winter, you won't need to be told that it's a lot more fun if you can manage to stay warm under water. Typhoon's Icebreaker bodywarmer aims to guarantee that - it's a 3mm neoprene undersuit with moveable heated pads front and back.
Stitched into each pad is a flexible panel containing electrodes, through which a low-level electrical charge is passed. The current activates thousands of conductive particle chains, which in turn raises the temperature, to a maximum 42°C. The result - you stay toasty-warm.
There are no electrical components, so it shouldn't matter how wet your undersuit might get. A small battery-pack feeds power to the undersuit via a connector socket in your drysuit. The power-pack can keep you warm for 70 minutes.
The Typhoon Icebreaker normally costs just under £500, including conversion kit, connectors, leash, battery-pack and charger.
For more information about the Typhoon Icebreaker, call 01642 486104 or visit www.typhoon-int.co.uk
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STILL STUCK FOR CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEAS? Here are some items that just might have diver gift appeal:
Markat supplies those built-to-last US-made SEA DOG T-SHIRTS, which have something of a reputation among divers. They don't shrink and never seem to wear out, so the owner will have to find another source for oily rags and dusters. They come in a wide range of designs and sizes from Small to XXXL, and cost £22.
From the same supplier come STAHLSAC MESH BAGS. We have no idea to what purpose our conservation-minded readers might put these, but they take up little room in a BC pocket and have a drawstring top to prevent whatever is put inside from climbing out! The bags come in four sizes from extra large down. Illustrated is the large (45 x 75cm) version at £14 and the smallest (22 x 37cm) at £9.15.
Aquatec is always good on hardware and gizmos. It too has a bag, but the JR LITE LIFT is a little lifting bag that will roll up and stow away easily. Once inflated, it is said to provide 30kg of lift, in which case it might be handy for any bars of gold you stumble across. Its triangular shape is said to make tipping to dump air easy, while keeping the centre of the lift high to prevent it from toppling at the surface. Three strops at the bottom are welded to a stainless-steel D-ring, and there is another D-ring at the top to assist recovery at the surface. This lifting bag costs £23.35.
A knife might not be everybody's first thought as a seasonal gift, but the T-REX TITANIUM KNIFE is a diving implement that Aquatec promises will never rust or need sharpening. It's made from titanium, which also means it's lightweight at only 80g. The large finger-guard helps you keep your important bits away from the razor-like serrated blade, and it can be used to slice, saw and cut line too. With a sheath that offers a variety of mounting options, it costs £58.
Aquatec's SPORT DIVER'S SPOOL is made of solid Delrin and is so simple it has nothing to jam. Simply use the finger-holes to deploy or wind in its 75m of line. It comes complete with line and a double-ended bolt-snap, at £32.
When you have a piece of kit you like, don't lose it. A MASK CONNECTION SYSTEM works by semi-permanently attaching your mask straps to your hood. You can easily detach it but you'll get into the habit of sticking your mask on top of your head, secure that it will still be there when you need it. It's easy to fit, with very few tools and little skill required. Available in black or clear silicone, it costs £16.65 from Aquatec.
They say that once you've had a big one you'll never want an ordinary-sized one, and that's the same supplier referring to the JR MOTHER BUOY. It stands about 3m high and 20cm in diameter fully inflated. It has a 0.25 litre independent air supply from an attached cylinder in either A-clamp or DIN-fitting, and would make a good gift for someone you think is worth an outlay of £130.90.
Let's not forget the joy of giving to children, though in fact TOYPEDO BANDITS from Markat are for kids of all ages. Half the size of the original Toypedo, they're far easier for smaller children to throw and great fun under water in the swimming pool - a set costs £12.
Finally, the idea of underwater music got a big thumbs-down from most readers in last month's Big Question, yet divers on long deco hangs welcomed the H2O AUDIO UNDERWATER MP3 PLAYER. Its 66m depth rating may not be enough for them but it comes in four versions from 64Mb to 512Mb and allows you to download hours of music. So, for a dear tekkie friend, prepare to part with £295.
Aquatec (www.aquatec.co uk), Markat (www.markat.co.uk), Nauticalia (0870 905 5090), Underwater MP3, (www.underwatermp3.co.uk)
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