Dive gear debuts in the USA - which of it will come the UK's way?
E M A	Mike Busuttili reports from the annual Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association trade show in Anaheim, California. So what's new, Mike?

THERE was nothing Mickey Mouse about DEMA 98, even though it took place just across the road from Disneyland, and was the big-gest DEMA yet. Some 800 exhibitors were spread around the 6000 sq m exhibition hall.
Surprisingly, this huge dive trade show had a distinctly calm atmosphere, perhaps due to the daunting prospect of the 5-mile or so hike needed to get around all the stands in search of interesting developments and innovations.
It has been estimated that divers in the USA spend about 2.5 times as much on dive travel as they spend at their dive shop on equipment, training and other services. No wonder, then, that this year's DEMA seemed to be moving towards being a travel market, rather than the equipment shop it has been in the past.
But, for all that, if you have something to offer dive shops, dive centres or diving instructors, this is the place to offer it. At the same time, you can keep an eye on what's bubbling and catch up with diving friends and contacts.
DEMA attracts many overseas visitors, including a number from the UK. I asked Mike Calder of Mike's Waterfront Warehouse what the attraction was of a show thousands of miles away from his market.
"It mainly gives me a good overview of what equipment is likely to arrive in the UK later in the year," he said. "What is particularly significant this year is the choice of drysuits being offered. And what is more interesting is that the UK products are clearly superior to the rest."
Not everything will turn up in Britain, but much of it will, depending on what grabs the distributors' attention. On the equipment front, however, innovation was in short supply. It looks as if the tech-diving community has brought its influence to bear on sports divers, and has then gone and left them so that both groups are now evolving separately.
Perhaps the most lasting effect of this is to be seen on BCs, where the distinct trend, started last year, is to move the buoyancy backwards and add a few D-rings. This has the result of producing some quite useful BCs, universally black, but perhaps not really up to supporting the weight of a full trimix rig.
A big player with big plans is Scubapro which, through its parent company JWA, last year acquired Uwatec, a major dive computer and instrumentation manufacturer.
This year's acquisition is Soniform, not well known as a brand, but a major maker of BCs for other brands.
Scubapro's Mamdouh Ashour told me that he believes the company is the most aggressive in the diving equipment field and says it has plans for further acquisitions. Its new philosophy is encompassed in its "NT" promotion, which stands for "New Technology", "New Team", and "New Trust". It will also be moving to new premises in California.

Uwatec can always be relied on to come up with something new. One product, still in prototype demo form but promised for the spring, is the Neverlost. A transponder is hung from the boat and the diver carries a receiver unit that indicates the direction and distance to the transponder. It is hand-held and battery-powered, and fitted with a small LCD display. The transponder can send out signals on any one of four channels, which would allow four boats to operate in close proximity.
Before the dive, the diver selects the free communication channel to be used. Then, when he needs to find the transponder, he points the receiver in its general direction and scans to left and right until the maximum-strength signal is indicated.
He can then press the button for a distance read-out and swim directly back to the transponder or take any intermediate course he likes, always knowing he can find his way home.
The range of the unit is about 300m and one transponder can handle about 30 receivers. The planned price level for one transponder and one receiver is around 220.
Uwatec carried out the initial sales and distribution of the Draeger range of rebreathers, but has since severed this connection. During this time it started to develop some electronic intrumentation for rebreathers, and this is now to become available for general rebreather use, or to fit Uwatec's own rebreather, planned for next year.
The Oxy2 is inserted into the breathing loop on the inhalation hose. It measures the oxygen content of the inspired air and indicates to the diver the PPO2 in bars, as well as the oxygen percentage of the gas. This is displayed on the unit itself, which is not usually in a good position to be read by the diver, but the data can also be transmitted to an Aladin Air X O2 wrist unit, which displays it more visibly.
It gets better. Now the Aladin can take into account the mixture really being breathed by the diver, instead of just taking the presumed oxygen fraction for the gas in the cylinder. This greatly improves the accuracy of the decompression calculations being made, and therefore the safety of the dive. Currently decompression has to be calculated on the assumed oxygen fraction of the inhaled gas, which is invariably below that of the gas in the cylinder, but is difficult to estimate.
I was surprised to see regulators and BCs on the Uwatec stand, and asked MD Heinz Ruchti what its plans were. He explained that it was expanding its range to include other products capable of technical development. Regulators are already linked to dive computers by data transmitters, and its relationship with Scubapro makes it relatively easy to include a couple of Uwatec-badged models in the range.
But what about the BCs? Its Dominator seems to be a fairly standard model, but next year's model should be computer-controlled. When used with a regulator fitted with a transmitter, the BC's on-board computer can be set to prohibit diving beyond a fixed depth limit, simply by adding air to the bag to make the diver too light to descend further. An additional feature can detect that the diver has stopped breathing and bring him gently to the surface.
Both features will be programmable via a PC interface so that a photographer who is in the habit of holding his breath while photographing timid marine life will not be lifted gently out of shot, cursing, at the optimum moment.
This begins to map out Uwatec's future as a manufacturer of technically advanced diving products - don't expect them to go into snorkels and fins.

Another technological leap, which has been promised for at least three years, is the Head Up Display (HUD). Cochran Undersea Technology was showing the latest prototype of its Vision 21 mask, which incorporates HUD features. Not much bigger or heavier than a standard mask, it has a prism positioned in front of one eye which gives the full display of data that you would see on your Nemesis wrist unit. The mask houses the batteries and processor for the display system. Because the Cochran computer has the main processing unit attached to the regulator, with the wrist unit serving only as a display, you can choose to leave the wrist unit behind and rely totally on the HUD. This feature is perfect for people like photographers and video makers, as they can keep their eye on the job without getting into trouble. The Vision 21 is promised for the spring at a price in the £600 bracket.

Cochran is also offering a fully closed-circuit computer-controlled rebreather with a complete electronic instrument package, including such advanced features as data logging. The price announced is around £6000, plus about £550 for a five-day training course.

A new name in dive computers is one that you may have seen flashing around the Formula One circuits. Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone has a diving division known as Bridgestone Flowtech, and its first offering is a range of diving instruments. They fall into the huge watch/small computer category in general, but definitely have their place in the bar/conversation - piece group.
The Dive Demo offers the usual set of features expected nowadays, including temperature display and logged temperature at maximum depth. Decompression requirements are calculated using a modified Buhlmann algorithm. No-stop time and depth and duration of first stop are displayed as appropriate.
It is available in air or nitrox versions, with pre-set oxygen fraction and PO2 display. But, best yet, there is a ladies' model that seems to offer the same set of features but has only a five-dive memory (instead of 10) and is called the Dive Beans, available in a range of pastel shades. Prices range from about £300 for the Beans to £750 for a gold-plated model. Distribution arrangements seem undecided for the moment.

Back-lit displays are becoming the norm with most manufacturers, except on their most economic models, but this invariably carries an additional overhead on battery life, or on extra bulk to accommodate additional batteries.
If the last generation of dive computers put a value on being completely automatic, with no possibility of diver input during the dive, the current trend among US manufacturers is to include nice big buttons that the diver can punch to change the display, or in some way influence the computer operation. This feature is seen on two new models at different ends of the spectrum.
Dive Rite's Bridge computer, an established favourite among nitrox divers, is now superseded by the NiTek. A bigger display includes bar graphs showing current levels of both oxygen and nitrogen exposure as well as PO2 and oxygen fraction. Programmable features are the choice of fresh or salt water for more accurate depth measurement, and varying intervals for dive logging of one, two or three minutes.
The NiTek3 model can be pre-programmed for three different mixtures, which are then selected by pushing a button at gas change points during the dive. It can also be put into "gauge" mode for trimix diving, indicating depth and bottom time only. Both models upload to a PC for dive-profile logging and analysis.
Mares' new Tutor computer is in effect a simplified and smaller version of its Guardian computer with no back-lighting, and consequently a much smaller battery compartment. It is also available in a snorkelling model, probably aimed at breath-holding dive record contestants, and called Apneist.

Oceanic is another name to watch these days, featuring some interesting new products. Tour is a new BC which, as the name suggests, is suitable for travelling divers as well as mainstream diving.
The Adjustable Positioning System uses a rail running along the top of the waistband, which allows you to select the position at which the bottom of the shoulder strap connects with the waistband. This can vary from around the side to right in front, and gives the opportunity to adjust the support point for different cylinder and body sizes.
The position of the lumbar pad can also be varied, to give a good fit on most divers. The air cell is mounted at the back and wraps around the cylinder when inflated. The Tour uses an integral weight system, as do almost all of this year's new BCs.
Oceanic's in-house electronics capability has given it a digital navigation system with a difference. The Navion has the usual features of a digital compass plus an Auto Home feature. Whether you are swimming a straight course or a more complex one with timed legs, pushing a button will give you a heading to return home and will guide you back on that course. It is back-lit for night use and comes in wrist, clip or console models.
An addition to an already comprehensive computer range is the XTC-100. This is a wrist non- air-integrated unit with a full set of features, including pre-set oxygen percentage and nice clear O2 and N2 exposure graphs. Both the XTC-100 and the Datatrans range now have an extended-depth algorithm covering dives to 100m.
Although these are interesting developments for a US dive computer manufacturer, it is not clear how these instruments could be applied to a single-mix air or nitrox dive at these depth limits. This, of course, is equally true of their European counterparts, which have always offered these depth limits.
Oceanic has also been looking at the octopus configuration and has two new solutions to the question of how to save a medium-pressure hose. The Air XS is a combined octopus/BC inflator unit that combines the Oceanic Slimline octopus regulator with an Alliance inflator.
The second possibility is the In Line Slimline, which introduces the Slimline regulator between the end of the mp hose and the inflator connection.
Oceanic (UK)'s John Knight told me that Oceanic is one of the few full-range manufacturers to make all its own products in-house. He believes it has built a reputation for reliability, supported by the Oceanic life-time warranty.

Those visitors looking for a huge US Divers stand searched in vain - a press conference was held in the first few minutes of the show to explain that the Aqua-Lung Group now had a new structure.
The group's brands - Spiro, US Divers, SeaQuest and Technisub - will come together under the name Aqua-Lung, each company specialising in a group of products.
La Spirotechnique (Spiro) in France will specialise in regulators, cylinder valves and military equipment; US Divers in dive computers, regulators and underwater communications; SeaQuest (USA) in BCs; Technisub (Italy) in fins, masks, snorkels, lamps and knives.
Aqua-Lung has introduced a new regulator, the Titan, comprising a balanced diaphragm first stage and a range of second stages. The new high-performance first stage has been designed to give optimum distribution of mp and hp hoses, and is available in yoke or DIN and coldwater versions. It is combined with the smaller Performa or Cryo, mid-size XLC, and standard Arctic second stages. The Performa and XLC are fully adjustable and left/right reversible. The models at the show were sub-badged US Divers, but those offered in Europe will probably carry the Spiro brand mame.
Technisub, Aqua Lung's Italian member, is a lamp specialist, and this year it is introducing two new models. The Alulight is a compact high-power rechargeable light with a novel collapsing handle. The standard fitting is a 35 watt bulb giving 30 minutes of burn time. This sort of power generates some heat in a metal case, so the front end is ribbed to improve heat dissipation. This is an attractive high-performance light for your stab pocket.

The Mini Vega is a hand lamp with a gun-like handle. A squeeze of the trigger turns it on, a second squeeze turns it off. The rechargeable version comes with a 17W bulb, giving 70 minutes of burn time. The cell version takes four 1.5V cells and is fitted with a 5.2W bulb, giving 16 hours of burn time.
Another new entry in the power light category is OMS with its Phantom Dive Light. Aimed at the tech market, this light consists of a hand-held lighthead and a 43cm-long battery pack that attaches to your cylinder.
The front element of the lighthead rotates to switch on and to focus from flood to spot. When fitted with a 30W bulb, it offers 90 minutes of burn time. This can be extended to 4.2 hours by fitting a 10W bulb.

DUI was previously the distributor for Zeagle BC systems in Europe, but has now introduced a modular BC system of its own. The idea is to allow you to customise your BC for your particular needs, or even change it from day to day.
This makes for an easily adjustable system that is particularly easy to fit. To the main components of the strap assembly and lumbar pad you can fit either a wings or a jacket-style bag, and then decide whether you want an integral or conventional weight system. You can even use the jacket and wings bladders together. This seems a good solution for the diver with special needs or a varied dive programme.


The main solutions offered to the question of nitrox blending at previous DEMAs have been partial pressure or filtration systems. The main novelty this year was an apparent move towards continuous blending. The units offered add oxygen to atmospheric air, and mix it thoroughly before it is delivered to the intake of a standard compressor.
An in-line O2 analyser measures the oxygen percentage of the gas entering the compressor, so all that is needed is to compress it and fill your cylinders. The percentage is fixed by adjusting the flow rate of O2 into the system, and anything up to 40 per cent can be obtained with very economic use of the O2 supply, as the cylinder can practically be emptied.
The worry about this type of system in the past has been that the percentage of oxygen in the gas entering the compressor can vary wildly, and in anything but an oil-free compressor this can cause real problems.
It is now claimed that the mixing is more efficient, so the O2 level of the intake gas is more stable, allowing use in a standard compressor.
I am sure this debate will continue, but if you believe the claims you could set yourself up for continuous blending for about £1250. Both Enviro Dive Services with its LlewocSIS Nitrox Stik and IANTD with its Quick Gas can tell you more.

Drysuits were more than ever in evidence at the show, with well-known UK brands such as Northern Diver, Typhoon and Gates strongly in evidence. Gates had chosen DEMA to launch its new Pro VSN 1100 suit, which it believes answers the need for a trilaminate suit with real stretch properties. It says it is tougher and stretchier than compressed neoprene.
The material consists of two layers of Armatex jersey nylon with a filling of compounded rubber, about 2mm in overall thickness. Seams are butt-jointed, stitched, secured with a fabric tape on the outside and sealed with a vulca-seam rubber tape on the inside. The body of the suit is then vulcanised and the seals, shoulder zip and boots are added.
Gates has been making suit boots for other manufacturers for years, so its own suit has a special rubber boot built onto another 5mm foam neoprene boot, making it specially warm. It is offered with a latex or neoprene neck seal, and with attached or separate hood, at a retail price of around £650.

Poseidon continues to improve its drysuit line with a new addition to the Jetsuit range, the TNG Technica (TNG = The New Generation).
It features a particularly resistant exterior nylon on 5mm neoprene with a shoulder zip. The suit is cut for a close fit from the waist down, but with more room around the shoulders and arms. It has hard-sole boots and reinforced areas on the shoulders and under the weightbelt.
This is a well-built suit from the people who invented the neoprene drysuit. Expect a price of around £600.


If you have trouble pulling on your wetsuit, the solution could be the Lube Suit. This is a one-piece with mittens and booties made from a high-tech non-woven multi-directional fibrous fabric. This means it is slippery, so you put it on first and slide your wetsuit on over the top.
Naturally you then keep it on, although you can remove the mittens and booties, as they have done their work. The manufacturer claims that putting on or removing your wetsuit should take no more than 30 seconds.
It is semi-disposable, but if rinsed off and dried afterwards, it should last a fair number of dives. It is also claimed to improve the performance of your wetsuit. It should be particularly welcome if you are ever faced with the prospect of putting on a still-wet wetsuit. The suggested price is around £37.

WE hear a lot about the risk of catching communicable diseases and the importance of some form of "protection" when travelling to exotic destinations. Only the finest latex will do and it must be easy to slip on, and ideally re-usable.
We are talking about the Amoeba ScubaGuard, a latex mouthpiece cover designed to slip over the mouthpiece of any regulator or snorkel that may give rise to doubts about its cleanliness. It is designed to be disposable and should not be used so often that it becomes the problem you are trying to prevent.
It fits standard-shape mouthpieces only, not my personal favourite - Aqua-Lung's Comfo Bite - and comes in standard yellow, or in margarita or pina colada flavours. Dubbed "The Diver's Condom", it sells at about £1.85.

You will have seen some mask straps with a wide neoprene panel at the back to improve grip and distribute the tension. A new product, the Marsoop, acts like a mask strap, but after the dive you turn it inside out to make a protective pouch for your mask. An added advantage is that its neoprene construction makes the mask/strap combination float if dropped overboard.

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Appeared in DIVER - April 1998

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