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BC
IT HAS ALWAYS AMAZED ME that there are companies making teapots that dribble tea all over your best tablecloth when you pour. A teapot is such a simple device that you'd think any manufacturer could get it right.
Similarly, I'm surprised that there are certain BCs, mainly wings, that locate the top dump valve such that you have to contort yourself to extract the last bit of air when you ascend.
They may meet EN250 criteria, but they make diving a misery. They are the diving equivalent of the dribbling teapot.
You can recognise the culprits in the water by the cushion filled with air behind the diver's head. It's not as if this affords any extra buoyancy at the surface because, assuming that the diver's shoulders are out of the water, this air-filled bag displaces no water and only adds downforce.
Some may say that a diver should always be perfectly horizontal in the water, so air will dump easily during an ascent. Show me a horizontal diver and I'll show you a diver who isn't looking where he's going. Even perfectly horizontal divers with neutral buoyancy swim slightly head-up, which will always put the air in the BC at the highest point, at or above the shoulders.
The Seac-sub Icaro is a wing-style BC which has almost cracked this problem. It leaves only a tiny amount of air higher than the top shoulder dump-valve.
Icarus was a guy in Greek mythology whose dad, Daedalus, was an inventor. Daedelus made two sets of wings, which he attached to himself and his son with beeswax. There was no metal backplate, you'll notice. They found that they could fly, but the lad was incautious, and flew too close to the sun.
The heat melted the beeswax, and he splashed down in what is now known as the Icarian Sea.
The Seac-sub Icaro is a set of wings with a metal backplate. No beeswax. They attach with an interesting two-piece harness of 5cm webbing that provides a full-width sternum strap closed by a pinch-clip, as well as a waist-strap closed by a conventional stainless-steel weightbelt-type buckle.
The webbing allows you to thread on some pockets if you so wish, and I counted six large anodised D-rings, which are kept in position by H-clips. There's enough webbing to suit the stoutest diver, and Seac-sub suggests that you cut off any excess and fuse the cut end with a flame to stop it from fraying.
It took a long time to adjust the straps correctly for a good fit, because although the harness was a single piece of webbing that should have been easy to pull tight at the waist, all those D-rings and H-clips stopped this from happening.
I had to experiment by altering the position of the D-rings. After about 10 dives, I got it perfect.
The sternum strap was stitched in position, and I could have done with adjusting it to be a bit wider, but could not fathom out how to do it. So I didn't use it, and suffered no ill effect.
The wings form an inverted U-shape that fattens outwards as it gets towards the waist. This affords maximum buoyancy where you need it when you're at the surface, with all the displacement under water.
A lower dump operated by a toggle was supplied on a very long cord, but it took only seconds to shorten it.
The Icaro has a single bag made of Cordura 1000, internally coated with polyurethane. It gives16kg of lift. The bigger Icaro Tech version (maximum buoyancy 25kg) is of double-bag construction with a bungee of elastic threaded through fixed D-rings to stop it flapping when swimming without much air in it. The standard Icaro reviewed here merely has two restraining elastic straps low down at the widest part of the buoyancy bag.
The backplate is of very lightweight alloy, so I carried my usual amount of weight. The tank cambands thread through the backplate, with small cushions placed for comfort. They were too short to go round some banded twin tanks.
The direct-feed control has some metal parts, lending it a tough and purposeful appearance. The dump-valve at the top right shoulder is operated by a toggle at the end of a cord that passes through a tube that, in turn, is clipped to the front shoulder area of the harness. By pulling down on this toggle and the corrugated direct-feed hose at the same time, the buoyancy bag was not distorted and no air was left at the top corner. I had to do this only in the last few metres, when that last half-kilo of unwanted lift mattered.
Fully inflated at the surface, the Icaro left me comfortably high out of the water, as nearly all of the inflated part was still submerged and displacing water. With the harness attached directly to the backpack, there was no tendency to squeeze the wind out of me. Seacsub calls it a Òframe to back systemÓ.
This is an exceedingly good wing-style BC. It is comfortable and affords all the advantages of a backplate and wing and yet, at a fraction over 3kg, is light enough to pack for a journey with restrictive weight allowances. I wished at times that I had asked for the optional pockets, but never regretted my choice.
If I were to review a teapot and it dribbled, rest assured that I would tell you about it. The Seac-sub Icaro costs £420, with optional pockets from £11.
Beaver Sports 01484 512354, www.beaversports.co.uk
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+ Metal backplate and wing that does its job really well
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- Harness is a little fiddly to adjust at first
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BAG
GO-DIVE IS A DIVING RETAILER based in Derby, and in common with many other such retailers is sourcing some of its own unique products, presumably, in the Far East. It now offers a large range of GoSub bags for divers.
We divers have unique packing problems, in that we usually need little in the way of clothes but need to carry a lot of other kit which, at some point, will be wet and manky. It is also heavy, and can destroy a badly handled bag from the inside.
I tested the GoSub Traveller by taking it to southern Africa, and this trip included 600 miles by road. It's a wheeled unit and I'm happy to report that the wheels did not fall off, though to be fair it did travel in a VW Microbus most of the way!
Some people prefer to carry their kit in a crate. The Traveller is a strong ABS crate covered in 1000 ballistic-quality cloth. Ballistic quality does not mean it will stop bullets, but it is very tough. It has a chassis and a single pole handle that extends for use.
It proved perfect for airports, saving the necessity to find a trolley and keeping the freelance baggage-handlers at Jo'burg Airport at bay.
The large main compartment took all my dive gear but I put my rather large fins in each of the two side-pockets. There are also two front pockets. One concertinas out to be quite capacious, and I carefully packed all my shirts, shorts, underwear and a pair of long trousers in this.
The main compartment also has some segregated parts in the lid so that you can pack clothes in with your dive gear. There's a nylon lining that unzips, too.
The upper of the two front pockets unzips so that you can, if you wish, carry it separately by means of a shoulder-strap provided.
I have mixed feelings about this. If your bag mysteriously arrives on the checked luggage belt without this bag, how do you prove it was there in the first place? Anyway, it proved useful for a spare pair of shoes, my toilet-bag and those items I packed as an afterthought.
There is also an open front pocket in which you could temporarily stow items such as your flight tickets. I used this while waiting in a long and slow-moving queue.
Once fully loaded with my kit, the bag weighed 30kg. Heavy bags tend to get the worst treatment, because those who handle them are inclined to drop them as soon as they can, and often from a great height.
The Traveller has a stand at the front bottom edge to stop it falling over when stood upright. You would expect this to be the case, but I am surprised that so many other diving bags don't do this. The stand also made a useful handle when lifting it by top and bottom, as into a car luggage space.
My adventure in Africa finally over, the bag was returned with me virtually unmarked, and with all of its zips intact and unjammed. I intend to use the Traveller for my next trip, and probably many more in the future.
My only criticism? With five zips to close, it needs a lot of padlocks, and that proves very fiddly when you need to open the bag quickly for inspection by a third-world official.
The GoSub Traveller is good value among bags of this type at £119.
Go-Dive 01332 755488, godive.net
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+ Good value
+ High volume
+ Practical
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REGULATOR
THANK GOODNESS THAT ERA WHEN SCUBAPRO was run by what some might have called a zealous accountant is over! It seems only yesterday that I wrote a glowing review of the company's S550 regulator teamed up with a MK20 piston-style first stage, but with the reservation that without addressing the problems of diving in cold fresh water, it was unashamedly a warmwater regulator.
The company withdrew its advertising from and a lawyer's letter followed closely behind. It seemed that the boss of Scubapro was not going to let some jumped-up journalist reduce his sales figures, however inappropriate the product was for a particular purpose.
It was refreshing to find myself, not long after that, away for two weeks on a liveaboard with Scubapro's foremost designers, who both agreed that I was right.
One of them told me that, against some company-board resistance, he was perfecting a new diaphragm-style regulator first stage specifically aimed at those who dive in cold fresh water. The Scubapro MK17, presumably, is it.
We tried it first in the form of an early pre-production model during the course of this year's coldwater regulator test in Sweden. Everyone liked its potential for enormous flow rates which, however, never seemed like blowing your tonsils away.
The MK17, this time equipped with the top-of-the-range X650 second stage, met with general approval from our panel of underwater judges. I have now had a chance to dive with a regular production model of the MK17, this time equipped with an S550 second stage.
The MK17 first stage is a sealed design that does not allow water to come into contact with the air it supplies. Not only that, but it comes with massive heat-exchanging fins which, besides increasing the metal area and its heat-sink properties, prevents any ice that might form from creeping towards the pressure-sensitive cap. There are four medium-pressure and two high-pressure ports.
The hp ports are angled towards the front of the first stage, making the hp transmitter of my integrated computer hit the back of my head. I resorted to turning the tank round the other way, so that the ports faced backwards.
I got lots of odd looks from the crew of the boat I was on, but then had trouble getting the wrist-unit to pick up a signal.
The S550 second stage is of the knobless type, with only a small dive/pre-dive switch that adjusts a vane within the airflow through the mouthpiece. This is to reduce the chance of exponential free-flows at the surface before diving, but I found that it made little difference if left permanently in the pre-dive position.
Like its previous incarnation, this S550 is small, neat and lightweight in the mouth, with a mouthpiece that is so gummy that it became as much a part of my bite as a lump of dentist's alginate. Unlike its predecessor, it has heat-exchangers built into its hose connection, and its very rubbery front, which gives easy access to its purge control, even has a metal insert.
The exhaust port is small, but exhaled bubbles are not overly distracting. It gives a good breathe - and I'd go so far as to say that I wouldn't give a second thought to using it in Stoney Cove in the middle of winter!
I will temper that with the thought that it's probably not as delightful to use as the dearer X650. The Scubapro MK17 with S550 second stage costs £265.
Scubapro/Uwatec UK 01256 812636, www.scubapro.co.uk
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+ Good coldwater regulator
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- Not as good as the X650
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LIGHT
METALSUB LIGHTING IS NOT CHEAP. £758 is a lot of anyone's money to spend on an underwater lamp. That's what the HID125 with ni-cad battery pack and charger will set you back, and there are more expensive options. However, like most things designed for the military, it is built to meet a specification, not down to a price.
I suspect that many of you will enjoy reading about it as something to drool over, just as we read about expensive cameras, cars, and consumer electronics.
First of all, let's forget about everything else and look at how you mount the battery-pack onto your tank. There's a tasty-looking bit of machining that can be threaded through a BC tank camband or used with stainless-steel bands. Nicely inset rubber strips provide a grippy interface.
The rectangular battery pack is made using hexagonal-ended bolts throughout, and it mates with the tank-mount with a satisfying "clunk". It is held in place by a sprung lock.
The cable for the lamphead is connected by a watertight bayonet connection with its own sealing O-ring. Disconnect the lamphead and substitute the lead for the charger.
The 50W HID lamphead is as big as some complete torches. It is very well thought-out, and even has its own little stainless-steel shackle. You switch it on by sliding a large detent back, and then rotating the large collar at the cable-end of the lamphead clockwise. It is rotated a small amount until the detent clicks back into a locked position. You then allow the HID to warm up to full power.
We don't recommend switching an HID light on and off, especially under water. Its life depends on how often it is fired up rather than on how long it burns, which is why it is locked "on".
A set of coloured LEDs at the back of the lamphead give information about the state of charge of the battery. Green lights up when more than 50% of burntime remains. An orange LED indicates that 50-20% of burntime remains. Red shows when there is only 20-10% of battery charge remaining, and the light blinks when the battery is down to 10% or less.
The battery-pack itself is finished in the same Teflon-coated anodising as the rest of the kit. It looks as if it should come with an M16 rifle with night-sights attached. It looks strong enough to entrust to a nervous teenage squaddie who might not see nursing his equipment through arduous conditions as very high on his list of priorities.
The battery substituted for 4kg of lead on my belt, and this proved very comfortable, but only after I decided to mount it centrally on my tank to stop myself being trimmed roundto one side. Under water at night the HID125 proved to be a veritable light-sabre. In fact it turned a night dive into day dive.
Featherstars and basketstars shrivelled up long before I came anywhere near them. Other divers tended to shrivel up too, because the beams of their own lights became puny by comparison. It was shock and awe all round, and the light is a cool 6000¡K, so it penetrates water well.
I lent the Metalsub lamp to a couple of other divers for different night dives, and both came back afterwards with big grins. One said he'd never been able to light up a whole reef during a night dive before.
All this, and I only ever charged it the once! I believed it when I was told that it was good for more than four and a half hours' burn-time on one battery charge .
Of course, this made it very useful during day dives, too. It was so bright, you could actually see it light up red soft corals and sponges, even when they were bathed in daylight filtered blue through the water.
If the HID125 is too dim for you, there is also the bigger HID 200. It's switchable between 25W and 50W, equivalent to 200W of conventional light, for £512, Raybans not included.
Switched on the same way as its slightly smaller brother, after sufficient time (around five seconds) you have the option of sliding the detent back again and of rotating the collar by 90¡. This will deliver reduced power that extends burntime dramatically. You have to rotate the collar back all the way to turn the lamp off. Alas, this is a two-handed job.
The HID125 24W (equivalent to conventional 100W lamp-head) costs £411. Battery-packs with the Quick-Release system are available from £255. A charger costs £92.
Mikes 020 8994 6006, www.mikesdivestore.com
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+ Military spec
+ 'Shock and awe' performance
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DRYSUIT
I GET WET WHILE DRYSUIT-DIVING more often than I would like. Either a hole appears mysteriously and invisibly in a boot to leave me with a wet leg, or a valve decides to become an open tap that leaves my upper part soaking wet.
It always seems to happen when I drive to an inland site and haven't bothered to take a spare set of clothes. I have to drive home with exemplary care. I don't want to have to explain to any police officer why I appear to have wet myself. See? It isn't just you!
I get to try a lot of drysuits, and the UK diving scene over-flows with them. I am amazed that there are enough divers to keep every manufacturer in business. So why do we need another one? The Canadian manufacturer Whites thinks we do, and I suppose the Canadians, with their notoriously cold weather, should know something about the subject.
Whites sent me a bag, but it contained more than just a drysuit. There was a whole drysuit-diving kit. Besides inflator hose and hood, there was a pair of cunningly shaped-to-fit 3mm neoprene/titanium soft undersuit socks, and hiking boots. These are intended for diving, and fit over the soft sock-ends of the suit. Every item seemed innovative in its way.
The Evo II boots are of an obviously military design and have tough Vibram soles, reinforced padded ankle supports that are incorporated in the lacing, and heel pull-tabs.
The 7mm titanium zippered wet hood has a 5mm face seal that can be cut to suit the wearer. It has a long neck and a double-layered zipped gusset at the back so that you can put it on easily and then zip it up tight to make a good fit. It's available in four sizes, from S to XL.
The suit itself is the Whites Catalyst self-entry model. It's made from an extremely tough bi-laminate of nylon and polyurethane, with a diagonal front zipper that's beautifully integrated with the main material of the suit.
I found the material a little unforgiving while struggling into it, but internal braces, plus some extra material at the waist combined with a panel of stretchy woven material there, behind the shoulders, and at the thighs, helped with the fight.
The long front diagonal zip allows easy access, but there was no telescoping torso to make pulling the top of the suit over my head easy, and I had to do a sort of sideways dive into the neck seal from the inside.
Once zipped up, I felt a bit like the comedian Lee Evans doing a stunt. Let's simply say that I didn't feel sleek in it, but then I don't suppose a soldier feels sleek in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, either.
The panels of the suit are stitched, glued and covered on the inside with heat-sealed tape. Outside, there's heavyweight stitching and reflective piping.
Additional features such as the long flexible rubber knee-pads, and a concertina-style pocket with internal strap, mounted on a heavy duty rubber patch at the thigh, conveythe impression of a suit that means business.
The conical latex neck-seal is hidden beneath a nicely finished smooth-skin neoprene collar. This has the convenience of a zip, set at a jaunty angle, to enable you to do it up snugly. The latex wrist seals are similarly protected under a cuff that can be tightened with a Velcro fastening, and gives the chance to make a neat join with any gloves. One gets the impression that this suit is almost bullet-proof.
Swedish-made Si-tech valves - a fully revolving inflator at the centre of the chest area and a low-profile constant-volume dump valve at the shoulder - complete the picture of what is an uncompromisingly high-quality product.
Any diver who has worn a suit with boots so big that air migrates to them and forces them off their feet will be interested in the elastic shin-straps with pinch-clips.
This does the job of bicycle clips and effectively stops you losing your boots. My big plates of meat mean that this is not a phenomenon I will encounter - it's getting my feet into the boots that is my problem.
So did I get wet? Well I spent a pleasant time zooming around Wraysbury Lake armed with a set of JetBoots. This meant that the latex neck seal got a good and perpetual flow of water over it.
I am quite scrawny and I'm afraid I did manage to take a tiny amount of the lake home with me. Slim divers might need a narrower neck seal than the one provided.
It was jolly nice, however, to stroll about the gravel paths and chicken-wire-covered jetties of Wraysbury without worrying about getting a puncture through a boot. These hiking boots are a solution to a problem that shore-based divers often encounter.
The Whites Catalyst package is available from SDS Watersports and costs £1010 (undersuit not included)
SDS Watersports 0114 248 8688, www.sdswatersports.co.uk
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+ Tough product for customers
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- Unforgivingly harsh to climb into
- Only those with man-sized necks need apply
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