John Bantin has been a full-time professional diving writer and underwater photographer since 1990. He makes around 300 dives each year testing diving equipment.

Unlike most big diving equipment manufacturers, Cressi-sub is a family business, run by Antonio Cressi. Based in Genoa in Italy, a town acknowledged for its expertise in injection moulding, it's no surprise to find that Cressi makes well-engineered fins, masks and snorkels.
     But Cressi is a full-range equipment manufacturer and fervently competes with the multi-national corporation Head-Tyrolean-Mares, which for years was based just down the road.
     HTM has massive resources that enable it to fund a busy R&D department, and Mares/Dacor appears to bring out new products by the bucketload every year. At Cressi-sub, products evolve a little more slowly, but under the careful eye of the patriarchal boss, himself a keen scuba diver.
     Cressi-sub has addressed the serious regulator market only in the past few years. It has been a couple of years since the Cressi Air-Tech began to appear on the shelves of British dive shops.
     I was enthusiastic about this particular regulator, not least because the company had seemed to be working for so long on perfecting it.

back to the drawing board
If there was one criticism, it was that in the intervening period nearly every other manufacturer had decided to reduce the size of their second stages and the Air-Tech, when it finally arrived, seemed a little big and therefore looked old-fashioned. Cressi had been out-manoeuvred.
     Not in the least daunted, Antonio Cressi commanded his engineers and designers to set to work producing a smaller and thus more acceptable-in-the-market design. And so we have the Cressi-sub Ellipse.
     Fitted with the same tear-shaped diaphragm-type first stage that has been proven with the Air-Tech, the Ellipse is very compact, even by contemporary standards.
     It has a venturi plus/minus switch that positions a vane in the airflow to avoid exponential free-flows at the surface, but otherwise there is nothing to fiddle with during a dive.
     It is one of the smallest second stages I have used, but without any concession to performance. At a range of depths to which I consider it safe to dive with air, it breathed impeccably, almost like a dream. The air was not jet-like, nor was it ever insufficient. It was simply delivered to my mouth in a very natural way.
     Neither was there any exhaust-bubble interference, a common problem with regulators with tiny exhaust deflectors.
     With a low work of breathing, I found that this was reflected in the reduced amount of air I consumed during the dive and, because the internal dimensions are so small, I found that the purge button, though firm, was very effective.
     If I have any complaint, it is only that the six ports (including two high-pressure) on the first stage are rather close together.
     I found that I had to use an extension piece to enable me to squeeze the transmitter of my gas-integrated computer among the other hoses I connected.
     Once I have used a regulator that has been supplied to me by a manufacturer (and, I assume, pre-checked for proper performance) I always like to take a peek inside the second-stage housing to see how well it's put together.
     To access the works of the Ellipse means withdrawing a hexagonal bolt with a spring-loaded fitting within the exhaust deflector. This allows the centre section of the deflector to release, and this is hinged to the front of the diaphragm-retainer.
     This in turn is hinged to the top of the second-stage housing, and the whole lot unfolds in a very satisfying way and clams shut to make it completely watertight afterwards.
     Titanium is not a suitable metal to use in a first stage in conjunction with high-pressure nitrox but is currently thought to be OK for use in the low-pressure environment of a second stage. The titanium valve mechanism of my test Ellipse demonstrated a suitably high-quality finish. Some manufacturers dislike their consumers looking at the works of their regulators. They are worried that they'll see how cheaply made they are. Cressi has no worries on this score. It's very smart.
     Not only that, but Cressi has taken the needs of northern European divers seriously and produced a regulator that is rated for cold fresh water. I'm sure we will soon see examples of the Cressi Ellipse in evidence at British inland dive sites in the possession of happy, if cold, divers.
The Cressi Ellipse Titanium costs £240. The standard version costs £178. Both are ridiculously good value!

Cressi-sub UK 01484310130, www. cressi-sub.net

+ Terrific yet subtle performance + Lightweight second stage

- First-stage port positions mean that hoses can be crowded

Dive-Rite Venture Wing
If you are the sort of diver who habitually uses multiple tanks, a large-capacity wing-style BC is essential. But then you suddenly find yourself on holiday, doing "not-proper-diving" with a single tank - you know, the sort of diving most other divers do, the sort you might do while in the Maldives or the Red Sea.
     So what do you take with you: your regular wing, to battle with like a spinnaker in a gusting wind, or what?
     Dive-Rite, the US technical-diving equipment supplier, makes one of the most voluminous wings.
     It even does a double version, the sort to which you could almost fit an outboard motor and use as a dinghy to get back to shore after the dive.
     But if you already have one like this, rigged for use either with a TransPac harness or a DIY stainless-steel backplate, you now have the option to equip yourself with a smaller wing for those dives on which it would be more appropriate. It's called the Dive-Rite Venture Wing.
     One of eight alternative air-cells offered by Dive-Rite, the Venture has a 15 litre air capacity, so is suitable only for use with a single tank. It is constructed from heavy-duty nylon material in a doughnut shape and has the typical 69cm-long Dive-Rite corrugated hose.
     This has a dump valve at its junction with the buoyancy bag, which is operated by simply pulling on the hose.
     There is no independent dump-valve, apart from the one at the lower back, which proved essential for dumping water that had made its way into the air-cell during ascents. So this jacket represents buoyancy control at the very basic level but it's used in exactly the same way as Dive-Rite's more technical wings.
     Dive-Rite also offers a smaller Travel Wing, which is kept crushed up inside an elasticated outer bag. I once wrote that I felt this was probably the best BC exclusively designed for single-tank use that I had used up to that time.
     Alas, I couldn't say the same for this slightly bigger and newer brother.
     Why? Because the Venture Wing is designed in such a way that it leaves a cushion of air at a point above where the harness passes over the top of the shoulders. With an aluminium tank of the type commonly found at tropical locations, this means that this part of the buoyancy bag will be out of the water and contributing nothing to lift while at the surface with the wing fully inflated.
     Under water, with the small amount of air used for trimming to neutral buoyancy in place and naturally risen to the highest point, the wing effectively ends up behind the diver's neck. It caused me discomfort. Combined with all the lead I need to wear with a light aluminium tank, I was being bent backwards and getting backache on and after each dive.
     I cured the problem by switching to a dumpy steel tank and borrowing some Dive-Rite integrated-weight pouches, which fixed on to the Transpac harness and put the reduced amount of weight I needed higher up my body. However, these dumpy steel cylinders are rarely available on dive-boats abroad.
     I also found that pulling on the corrugated hose to activate the dump valve at its top end tended to pull that corner of the buoyancy bag down, leaving the other corner with some air still in it.
     This meant using slightly more lead, contributing even more to the backache.
     The Dive-Rite Transpac harness is very comfortable. It has as many D-rings as anyone should need, a sternum strap and a waist-strap which is closed in the same manner as a typical weightbelt. Walking about the boat before diving, I was immensely comfortable.
     It's a pity that the wing is kept in place simply by the pressure of being sandwiched between tank and harness, and located by two very effective cambands passing through suitably positioned slots - changing to a new tank for a second dive, especially with integrated-weight pouches loaded, was less than easy.
     The Venture Wing is a useful, if slightly costly, purchase for anyone already using a bigger wing, but I have reservations about it as a one-off purchase, in contrast to my undoubted enthusiasm for the smaller Travel Wing.
The Venture Wing and Transpac harness together cost £394.

Sea & Sea 01803 663012

+ Modular system

- Expensive - Gave me backache

TUSA BCJ-3200 Liberator
For centuries divers trudged about the seabed in their heavy boots. When your dad took up scuba, his view of diving was the same. He wore enough lead to get him down and keep him there.
     If anything untoward happened, he could flip the buckle of his weightbelt open and shoot to the surface, leaving his belt and a pile of lead as a testimony to where he had been before he arrived at the surface with burst lungs - that is, if he hadn't exhaled all the way up, like Louis Armstrong on a high note.
     Then the first BC in the form of the Fenzy ABLJ arrived and with it came a new concept - that of neutral buoyancy. Not that everyone really got a handle on what that was all about. They still wanted to drop their weights in an emergency.
     Time moved on, and the BC with integrated weights arrived. Naturally it had to have a system that would afford the diver the opportunity to jettison them easily in an emergency. So BC designers held the weight pouches in with strips of Velcro. They could be ripped away if the need arose.
     That worked when the Velcro was new, or if not too many weights were installed, but soon people discovered a new hazard - arriving at the surface unexpectedly and at a dangerous rate because the weights had been dumped without warning.
     More people were endangered by falling lead - the diver from the unexpected fast ascent and unaware bystanders below from the risk of concussion - than were ever endangered by being unable to ditch their weights.
     It took 10 years of the public telling manufacturers this before one of them decided to find a way both to keep the lead where it should be during normal use and to jettison it easily in an emergency. The solution revolved around a buckle that could be opened by pulling on a toggle. And once one manufacturer went that way, the others had to follow.
     So the latest TUSA Liberator BC has an integrated-weight system with buckles that are opened by pulling on a toggle. The weight pouches are held in place by Velcro but a safety-lock prevents them being released accidentally.
     The safety lock is part of the BC, and no part of the BC is discarded with the weight pouches. If you did need to drop some weights, you could easily rig new pouches that would work just as well, saving you from being pouchless and far from home.
     Many TUSA products bear the name Liberator, so to be sure you know which one I'm talking about I'll give it its full name, the BCJ-3200 Liberator · .
     On the subject of names, TUSA stands for Tabata USA - it's a Japanese company that makes its products in Taiwan.
     Like all Japanese-designed products, from cars to computer games, there are no extras. Everything is included.
     This is a pretty conventional single-bag-design BC, with two capacious side-pockets held closed by zips, trim-weight pockets at the back closed by pinch-clips, a conventional cummerbund with strap and buckle over, and a dump-valve at the left upper shoulder which is operated by pulling on a conventional corrugated hose.
     The tank is held securely in place by a shaped backpack with a non-slip gripper. The Liberator · has a solitary stainless-steel D-ring (probably all you'll ever need), conventional BC straps and buckles, a dump-valve at the lower back for head-down descents and, most importantly, a very competitive price.
     The harness looks independent from the buoyancy cell, so I was expecting no bear-hugs when it's fully inflated at the surface. Alas, fully filling the BC could have squeezed the life out of me before the over-inflation valve blew off, such was the torso squeeze. This matters only if you expect to use its rated maximum buoyancy. Don't.
     Under water, everything could have been sweetness and light. My weights were spread evenly about and the whole thing felt like a part of me. However, that weight-release system took a bit of effort when the time came. It holds the pouches very securely indeed and I had to pull with all my might, bearing in mind that you need to pull them away at a slightly awkward angle.
     They are easily reinstalled, however, and the orange safety-locks click back precisely into place afterwards.
     Air is normally dumped during an ascent by pulling on the corrugated hose to open the valve at the top of it. At first I thought the hose dump on the Liberator · didn't work, but then I realised that you had to tug in a forceful way to get it to work.
     As with the weight-releases, it's a question of knowing how hard you need to pull. If I have any other criticisms, it is that some of the plastic fittings look... well, as if they were made in China!
The TUSA Liberator BCJ-3200 costs £259 and is available in five sizes from XS to XL.

CPS Partnership 01424 442663

+ Everything most divers need + Competitive price

- Some plastic fittings look a little cheap - You must be ready to pull hard when necessary

Divex 950
My Scottish diving-contractor friend Big Willie was quite enthusiastic when I told him that I had a Divex regulator to try out, so I had to explain that this wasn't from Divex, the highly thought-of professional diving equipment manufacturer based in Scotland, but another Divex, from Sweden.
     The Divex 950 is made in such a way that it looks very professional, with a massive piston-operated 300 bar DIN first stage and a second stage that looks as if it could take the worst abuses of an uncaring oil-rig diver. It promises extreme deep-diving performance with dense gases such as air. Trimix or heliox is less dense than air and so less testing of a regulator's performance.
     It promises to be freeze-free, with good heat-exchange at a first stage which is fully balanced, so that the regulator's performance is the same regardless of actual tank pressure.
     There seems to be no concession to heat-exchange at the second stage, but this component is a good old-fashioned 8cm in diameter, with exhaled-air deflector a whopping 12cm wide.
     Even the hoses seemed massive, and when I determined to swap the giant octopus-rig supplied with a more modest one, I was thwarted by non-standard, over-large ports for both primary and secondary second stages. I couldn't have used another second stage anyway. The interstage pressure of the Divex 950 is 5 bar over ambient and the hoses are 8mm in diameter.
     In the water the primary first stage was such a tonsil-blaster that I quickly opted for the less-fierce regulator at the end of the longer hose, the octopus-rig, and soldiered on with that.
     This reg is designed to give as much air as possible, and it's down to the user to decide what to do with it. After initially filling my stomach as well as my lungs with each breath, I got the measure of it and I took care not to inhale too hard. I know there are people who like this unsophisticated style of delivery. Not me.
     I used the Divex 950 in Mallorca. Everything was fine until one of the two divers I was escorting on one occasion decided (wrongly) that we were lost. He signalled that he was down to half a tank remaining, which was fine as we were heading back to the boat, but then sprinted off in completely the wrong direction. Surprised, I chased after him, but he had a good start.
     I swam as fast as I could and started to heave heavily. The trap-door was opened. I was hardly able to stop the rush of air by exhaling, and it became rather uncomfortable, like breathing off a gusher. By the time my charge had made his way to the surface and realised his mistake, I had used a lot of air, was very tired and suffering from savage heartburn.
     It was Big Willie's men who first "interfaced" with the hatches of the sunk Russian nuclear submarine, the Kursk. "The American divers couldna' interface with the hatch, " he told me. "We 'king interfaced with it all right!"
     I think Big Willie would like the Divex 950. He's a foot taller than me and 2m wider. His 16 litre lungs would easily cope with such violent rushes of air, and there will be many such men who like this reg and will be strong enough to carry sufficient gas supplies.
The Divex 950 is expected to cost around £300 and the octopus rig to cost an additional £95.

Mine and Science 01539 726952

+ Big air-flows

- Violent air-flows - Non-standard ports

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