 |
|
REGULATOR
You may recognise the Coltrisub Ocean C11000, because it is sold by a lot of other manufacturers or "manupackers" worldwide, sometimes at a premium price.
It has a diaphragm-style first stage that is environmentally dry-sealed, very much like that of an Apeks, and as such will have the appeal of familiarity to many British divers.
However, we have had some horrible experiences with Coltrisub regulators in the distant past, so when the British distributor sent me another for test, I took the precaution of using it on a tank equipped with an H-valve, so that I could run another trusted regulator alongside it.
I chose the Atomic B2, an expensive item but probably the most comfortable piston-style regulator I have ever used.
I need not have been concerned. The Coltrisub regulator delivered air in an impeccable way, and although it did nothing that might worry the bosses of Atomic in terms of performance, I was able to use it as deep as it is wise to use air without misgivings. Make no mistake, this is a top-performing regulator.
The first stage has four medium-pressure and two high-pressure ports that are well spaced and give reasonably good hose routes.
The little second stage has what looks at first like a valve-tensioner but is in fact simply a two-position knob - it operates the vane that interrupts the venturi flow of air to reduce the chance of an exponential free-flow at the surface.
The exhaust-T is a tiny affair with little more than a couple of slits to allow the escape of exhaled air. I thought this was going to add considerably to the work of breathing, but was unable to detect any additional effort needed.
I've seen what looks like this regulator bearing the brand of a highly reputable technical diving equipment supplier. When I asked its principal at DEMA if this was a Coltrisub regulator, he became quite coy.
For my part, I was agreeably surprised by the Coltrisub Ocean C11000 regulator's performance under water. I was using air at a depth of 50m and this is probably the densest gas used by divers. I was even more agreeably surprised when I was told the price. People looking for a bargain may have the same experience. It's remarkable.
The Coltrisub Ocean C11000 regulator costs just £144.
Submarine Manufacturing & Products, 01772 687775, www.smp-ltd.co.uk
 |
+ Environmentally dry-sealed diaphragm-type first stage
+ Very low price
|
|
 |
- No big reputation as a regulator manufacturer
|
|
|
|
|
|
DPV
It's a shame when a man is better known for his failures than his successes. Sir Clive Sinclair was a star technocrat of the '80s. Some might say he was iconic.
He invented the pocket calculator, the digital watch, the pocket-sized television and the best-selling British-made computer of all time - one that could be used at home - the Spectrum. Then, accompanied by a massive fanfare of publicity, he launched the ill-fated Sinclair C5.
The Bombardier SeeDoo SeaScooter GTI, which Sir Clive has also apparently designed, is a Sinclair C5 without wheels. Twentieth-century man did not take to the inventor's electric-powered pedal-car, mainly because truck drivers were in constant danger of turning them into hedgehogs, the flattened type. But Bombardier must hope that the 21st century diver and snorkeller will be more sympathetic to its new electrically driven diver propulsion vehicle (DPV).
The trouble is that it's not really that different to other low-priced DPVs that we have reviewed in these pages. It begs comparison with the SeaScooter Dolphin we tried about two years ago, though that was in fact far more expensive.
Certainly it's a much better-looking bit of kit. We thought the Dolphin verged on looking crude. The SeeDoo SeaScooter GTI looks far more "manufactured" and, at around 8.4kg, weighs a lot less.
Of course, if it simply weighed less, it would have a buoyancy problem. No, it's a much leaner, meaner machine.
First I had to charge its sealed lead-acid battery. Taking the unit apart was not easy - until I discovered that a small pump was supplied so that you could increase air pressure inside the watertight battery compartment and force it open from inside.
The forward chamber is available for some lead ballast that you will need if you use the SeaScooter GTI in the sea. I guess that lead shot in bags would be the most suitable.
I tried the scooter out in Wraysbury Dive Centre's lake in west London. I reckoned the viz would just about have settled since we went round with the Dolphin, which was like travelling with a Kenwood Chef, churning up all the sediment. The boys at Wraysbury were very good about it.
The Bombardier SeeDoo SeaScooter GTI is still simply an electric motor with a propeller. It has two hot triggers and both must always be depressed if you want to go. Don't expect a mask-wrenching performance - this is not like JetBoots.
The GTI is rated to 30m deep and is claimed to be able to tow a diver at up to 2.5mph for around two hours. Less than 30 minutes was long enough for me before the novelty began to pall and I shared the time with Nigel Wade, my buddy for the test.
My progress round the lake was quite sedate. In fact it had a lot in common with the C5, which was only motor-assisted - you still had to pedal. I found it best to fin with the GTI too, or Nigel could easily keep up by finning alongside me. So the only benefit was that my legs didn't get tired. My wrists didn't get tired either, which I put down to the ergonomics of the design.
It seemed very important to ensure that the wake from the prop was not interrupted by my own body. I achieved this by holding the DPV at arm's length below me and pointed in the direction of my intended travel.
It wasn't fast, but it had plenty of torque. With Nigel hanging onto my tank, it seemed to drag the two of us around just as quickly once we had got up to speed. I did this effectively by accelerating downhill for a bit before levelling off.
Before we got into the water, Nigel had offered the unsolicited opinion that the SeeDoo Seascooter GTI was nothing more than a pile of poop. I noticed that when we climbed out, he enthused about how light and easy to carry it was. If the lake stays churned up, we'll know that he has treated himself to one!
DPVs are, I hear, very popular in the Bahamas for wall-flying, and in the northern Sinai for getting around holiday resort reefs. I can imagine divers hiring SeaScooters on holiday, and becoming as irritating as those people who use jet-skis around boats.
It's hard to say what great technological advances have been made possible in consultation with Sir Clive. What has been made possible is a price that will be more tempting and a finish that is more factory and less garage-built. It's made in China, and costs around £380.
Bombardier, www.seascooter.net
|
- Depth-rating unsuited to technical diving
|
|
|
|
|
|
BC
DUI, the Californian manufacturer, has an enviable reputation for the quality of its drysuits, albeit that they are expensive. So what's so good about its new-to-the-market wing-style DUI Delta BC?
Size can be varied from Small to Large through the positioning of the Velcro-covered harness straps behind the removable back-cushion. These straps can be further adjusted for fit using weightbelt-style buckles behind the shoulders, as well as the normal front shoulder-strap adjustments. So one size really does fit all.
That's good for retailers, because it reduces the number of units needed to be held in stock. The waist-strap and the sternum-strap are equally adjustable, and there is a crotch-strap, too.
The Delta also has a couple of small stainless-steel rings on extending bungees. These are for attaching any consoles or compasses that need to be held away from the body when in use, but need to be kept tidy when not. What else is special? Not much, actually.
The integrated-weight system has a pouch either side, held in place by a complicated interweaving of plastic wires through little fabric loops. In an emergency, you simply pull on the big yellow handles attached to these wires to release the pouches.
However, after each dive I found myself handing up my weights into the boat one at a time. There was no way I wanted to release the pouches, having done it once and then found out how fiddly it was to reinstall them. It's not a job you want to do in a cramped RIB that's rocking and rolling.
Equally, I stashed the weights in the pockets at the last moment, after I had donned my rig and was ready to jump into the water. It was all too complicated otherwise. So nil points for the integrated-weight system.
The buoyancy cell is contained within a strongly made outer bag. It has a couple of horizontal elastic straps designed to resist it wrapping around the tank, and these can be unclipped and abandoned if the user so wishes.
There are two cambands to keep it firmly attached to the tank. However, I found that I also had to use the loop of strap attached to the harness but passing through the wing, and tie this round the tank neck to keep it all from getting very untidy. Often these straps are relegated to being used as a hanging device, but not so in this case.
It's nice to have some pockets for carrying items but there are none on this BC. This is not the end of the world, as there are four big stainless-steel D-rings. However, now we come to the big problem.
All I really ask of any BC is to be able to put air into it on the way down and to let that air out of it as it expands on the way up. Not too much to ask, is it? That's what buoyancy control is about. I can't understand how any manufacturer can come to the marketplace without meeting this basic requirement.
It really is very difficult to be comfortable with this wing-style BC under water. The top of the buoyancy cell reaches high above shoulder-level, and by letting air into this upper cushion, your upward force for buoyancy ends up behind your head while your downward force, your weights, are down by your waist. It's a guaranteed method of giving you backache.
But wait - there's more.
Swimming horizontally, this cushion tends to pull back over the tank, hinging away from you level with your shoulders. The first sign of trouble is when the corrugated direct-feed hose disappears upwards until its business end gets caught by the front left shoulder facing under which it passes.
You are meant to dump air by pulling on this hose, but even once you've located it (and that's not easy), pulling on it only pulls down that part of the buoyancy cell, rather than operating the top-of-hose dump valve.
The net result is that the air is left trapped in the upper and opposite part of the now distorted inner bag.
It really is something of a dog's dinner. I found myself groping upwards for the direct-feed control and, after recovering it from where it had lodged, needed to pull it through and then raise the hose in the old-fashioned way, rotating my body to get the air to that part of the buoyancy cell where the hose joined.
It's not something you want to do when handling a big camera rig in a fast-moving current and while starting to accelerate upwards in a momentary loss of control.
I used the Delta for a week's diving and, frankly, it was misery. I got backache, the tank seemed to roll around, very careful about ascending. Not only that, but once my diving was finished and it was time to pack up to come home, I found that the water that had inevitably entered the buoyancy cell while air was dribbled out was almost as impossible to get back down through the hose as the air had been to get out.
There is a lower dump valve, good for venting air during fast head-down descents perhaps, but first you have to get all the water into that side of the inverted U-shape that is the wing.
Many designers give the user a lot of inflated wing that is out of the water when at the surface, and therefore not contributing in any way to lift. At this time it cannot displace any water because it is not immersed.
Few seem to have grasped the idea that there is little point in having any inflatable part positioned higher than the top of the shoulder straps (the Buddy Trident is a good example of how it should be done).
There is no point in having any part of the lift higher than the mouth of the wearer, and the Delta seems to be one of the worst examples I have come across.
Despite what people might think, it's rare that I actually slate a product. But this is one of those products. DUI, please go back to the drawing board. You make some fine examples of diving kit. The Delta is not one of them.
The DUI Delta costs £418.
Hydrotech 01455 275030, www.hydrotech.co.uk
|
- Not great for buoyancy control
- Impractical integrated weight system
- No pockets
- Not cheap
|
|
|
|
|
|
First-aid
I want to share a discovery of mine with you. You know how those annoying scrapes and abrasions you sometimes get when diving never seem to heal up while they are perpetually wet? You know how you sometimes get sore feet when diving every day, as you might on a diving holiday?
You know how risky it is to have an open wound, however small, or even a break in your epidermis when in the tropics, swimming in water that's alive with minute life-forms? You know how waterproof plasters always seem to come off when you are diving? Compeed Advanced Healing Plasters are the answer.
The local pharmacist told me about them after I came back from a trip with the tops of my feet raked raw by the non-slip deck of a boat during a desperate time we'd had trying to resuscitate a diver. I realised that I was going to have difficulty wearing shoes for a while.
Originally conceived as a treatment for blisters, Compeed works like a second skin, so no scab is formed and healing starts the moment the dressing is applied to the damaged area of skin.
The area of the wound is later revealed as a white cushioning patch in the dressing, as the Compeed "Hydrocure System" begins its work. It seems to draw the moisture out of the wound, and kills any pain it may be giving you. The patch is left in place for between five days and a week, or until it eventually falls off. Peel it off and, hey presto, you're mended!
It's quite a wodge of plastic rather than a thin "water-proof" plaster but it does repel water, dirt and bacteria, and it's what diverse always needed. The dressing is really hard-wearing.
Compeed Advanced Healing Plasters are available in a range of shapes and sizes and cost around £4.50 a pack, so they're not cheap. It's probably best to be quite selfish and keep them to yourself on a diving trip, or you'll find yourself handing them out to everyone and not have one for yourself when you need it.
Compeed is a product marketed by Johnson & Johnson and should not be confused with Compeed Extreme Waterblock plasters, better suited to those who frequent swimming pools than more extreme marine environments.
Compeed also makes Liquid Bandage for use with minor abrasions, paper cuts, skin cracks and the like. It comes in two parts, bandage and activator. You drip a few drops on to a cotton-bud supplied pre-loaded with activator, and apply immediately. The Liquid Bandage forms a new layer of skin which is as waterproof as your own, is invisible, flexible and enables minor wounds to heal quickly without getting infected from outside sources. It sloughs off naturally after a few days.
Compeed products are available from most good pharmacies and form a permanent part of my travel kit.
Johnson & Johnson 0845 6012261
|
+ They seem perfect for what they do
|
|
|
|
|
|
Knife
There was a time when no diver would consider entering the water without a big brass-handled knife strapped to his chest. But then, that same diver wore lead boots and a brass helmet. The knife was there as a safety measure in case his line got snagged.
Recently, while holiday-diving in the Mediterranean, I noticed that many of my fellow-divers went in with a similarly dangerous-looking knife strapped to their legs.
I've taken to carrying a small folding knife stashed away in my BC pocket. Originally made in Taiwan, it's there, quietly rusting away until the day I need it. It's a classic marine knife design.
Steel can be made rustproof but at the cost of fewer mechanical properties. Rust-proofing makes it more brittle and less able to be honed sharp.
So a stainless-steel blade will always be less sharp than one of tempered steel, but a tempered-steel blade would last five minutes against the ravages of rust in a marine environment.
There are also degrees of stainlessness. Scubapro has made a good compromise with its Folding Knife. It's certainly sharp enough to cut a finger, yet the designer has specified a metal that has good rustproof qualities.
A serrated area on the 8cm-long blade will take care of the need to saw through a rope, and its shackle-key shows that it has a serious marine application.
The blade folds away between what look like two blocks of machined and anodised aluminium, held together with four rivets. Folded out, the blade locks in place with a spring-loaded mechanism that is easy to use.
A clip allows you to hook it onto a trouser-belt, and a small pouch is provided for mounting on a BC strap or webbing so that it can be carried securely under water. Two sizes of slot are provided.
There's always concern about electrolysis between aluminium and steel, and naturally you need to maintain a knife by rinsing and greasing it after every dive.
However, after a week's diving and no rinsing in fresh water, I noticed only a tiny streak of rust coming from one hinge-pin - nothing worth writing home about. I estimate that this knife is the sort of thing you could leave stowed against the day you suddenly discover that you need it.
One hopes that it will not leave a big rust stain as evidence of where you have kept it.
The Scubapro Foldable Knife costs £45.
Scubapro UK 01256 812636, www.scubapro.co.uk
|
- No good for tackling grizzly bears
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
