July 2000 Tough and stripped for action

Tough and stripped for action - Buddy Tek Wing and Travel Wing Sink your teeth into this - Seacure mouhpiece California Dreaming - DUI CLX450 How not to pick up infections or Radio 5 - ProEar 2000 mask

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.

I admit to having often upset British club divers with my lack of enthusiasm for the traditional Buddy Commando BC. I have also, more recently, confessed that the Buddy Trident has been my most frequently chosen wing - when, that is, I have a choice of what to use.
The Trident displays a lot of the famous Buddy indestructibility in its design, though I am aware that some divers (foreign, of course!) have regarded it with the sort of admiration one might reserve for a bullet-proof jacket - OK for an armed cop at the airport but less than ideal for a travelling passenger.
The great thing about manufacturers rather than distributors is that instead of being offended by such views they take them on board and try to come up with products to please every part of the market.
The people at AP Valves have gradually been evolving their products away from what I once called the "potato-sack" style towards something more attractive to the international leisure-diving market, and have done this cleverly without abandoning their traditional clientele.
The new Buddy Tek Wing is a case in point. A stripped-down, racing version of the Trident, it is the equivalent of the lightweight Porsche 911 Carrera RS, with its spartan seats and absence of interior trim. AP Valves supplies the all-important buoyancy bag in the form of a wing, a hard backpack, and a harness reminiscent of the days when we old rufty-tufties used ABLJs and not a lot else.
The harness comes with four substantial stainless-steel D-rings to add to the two fitted to the bag. A double crotch-strap keeps everything where it should be, even if you invert, though being tall, I could have done with an extra 5cm on this. The facility exists to fit the traditional Buddy 400ml auxiliary inflation cylinder.
There isn't a pocket in sight, though an optional double pocket, concertina-styled like those fitted to the Trident and the Inspiration rebreather, can be threaded on to the waist-strap. Add-on weight pockets come in two sizes and sit at the kidneys by the junction of the waist strap and shoulder strap, threaded on to both.
The wing is of the usual Buddy twin-bag construction. You can choose between the AP Valves AP200 inflator mechanism or the Buddy Auto-Air, which will rid you of the need for an octopus rig hose.
The corrugated hose has a shoulder pull-dump. In the water I found that dumping the last of the air required me to twist my left shoulder up, and I could have done with a second dump on the other side. I usually ended up raising the corrugated hose.
There is a bottom dump, useful for getting rid of the small amounts of water that inevitably enter a correctly-weighted diver's BC during a dive. There is also an independent over-inflation valve.
Martin Parker, MD of AP Valves, is also the company's test diver, so important design details that become apparent only in the water are sure to find their way into production models. For example, the harness is cleverly attached to the extremities of the wing so that it is drawn in and less likely to flap, or wrap itself around a single tank. This doesn't happen at all when the Tek Wing is used with twins, and there is adequate maximum lift (22.5kg) for that. You can double that lift by adding a second independent Redwing buoyancy bag.
The test BC came with Buddy twinning-bands, and there are now two sets of slots in the hard backpack so that both sets of bands can be secured through it. I am a great fan of these twinning-bands, which allow me to twin up any independent cylinders wherever I am in the world, enabling me to compare regulators and also to add safety to my dives by switching to a richer nitrox mix as I ascend and when the maximum operating depth allows.
The Buddy Tek Wing meets the needs of tekkies who follow the teachings of the guru who insists that the chest area should be uncluttered. But AP Valves is not aiming its wings solely at tekkies, who make up only a tiny part of the diving market. It has learned from past mistakes, as when it put off many potential customers by initially calling the Trident the Trimix.
So alongside the Tek Wing comes the Travel Wing, a similar product but with a choice of smaller buoyancy bags (13kg or 16kg). This is ideal for those who are content to limit themselves to a single cylinder of gas, which is most of us.
The Travel Wing offers a similarly unencumbered chest area and is a delight to use. Less wing to pack, less wing to flap; there's still more than enough to do the job. If the Tek Wing is the lightweight Porsche, this is the Caterham Seven, but still as tough as any traditional Buddy customer would want it to be.
If I was to be dropped out of a plane by parachute fully kitted on to the dive site, I would opt for a Buddy BC as part of my kit. I'd only hope that the folding bicycle didn't let me down afterwards!
Both the Buddy Tek Wing and the Buddy Travel Wing (either 13 or 16) cost the same, from £197 to £282 according to direct-feed control and auxiliary cylinder options.

AP Valves 01326 561040

PLUS	MINUS
+ Bare minimum for either the streamlined tekkie or holiday diver	- You need to think about your attitude when dumping the last of your air - Pockets are an optional (£22-28) extra

Sink your teeth into this
It's not attractive but it could be the answer to all that controversy about which is the best DV mouthpiece. The SeaCure from America comes as an over-sized, hard, uncomfortable piece of clear plastic which you mould to fit your own mouth.
At first it is too long (see photograph). You put it in your mouth, being careful to hold it the right way up, and gag as the ends almost touch your tonsils. The ends are conveniently pre-marked so that you can trim them to suit. I found that they protruded well back beyond my teeth, and had to cut off most of this part.
You then place the mouthpiece part - not the bit that attaches to the regulator - in pre-boiled water for about 25 seconds. Take it out, shake off the water and stick it in your mouth, bearing down gently with your teeth so as not to bite right through it.
The now softened plastic takes up the shape of your molars. I found that dipping it into cold water was a good way to get an instantly accurate set. If you make a hash of it first time round - and, let's face it, many divers don't know their mouths from their elbows - you can have a second go.
Invented by an orthodontist, the finished item doesn't look very attractive. It reminded me of a cross between a pair of dentures and someone else's discarded chewing gum. Dentists are used to seeing such things but we more squeamish people are not. At least no one will be in a hurry to borrow your regulator.
It should be comfortable in your mouth, and I found that it was, at least for the first part of a dive, though later on I would find it rather hard and unforgiving. I still prefer the softness of a standard mouthpiece.
Of course, you cannot try one without buying it first, and don't try to mould it after you have fitted it to your regulator. The SeaCure mouthpiece comes in two sizes to fit most regulators. Suck one and see!
It costs US $32.

SeaCure 001 262 884 8505, www.seacure1.com

PLUS	MINUS
+ You mould it to fit exactly to your mouth	- The material makes it less comfortable than expected - Rather unattractive

California dreaming
DUI is a Californian company that made its name in the British leisure diving market with a tough membrane suit of neoprene that was crushed after the suit was constructed. This eliminated buoyancy changes with depth during diving and had the effect of tightening up all the stitching, making for an exceptionally tough and watertight product. DUI suits were expensive but everyone wanted one.
Times change, and the British drysuit market became fragmented, with seemingly everyone's granny locked in an attic with a roll of trilaminate material, a pair of scissors and a pot of glue. Britain's divers now have a greater choice of drysuit products than almost any other nation's, and some of them are excellent.
DUI suits became relatively expensive. The company, finding that it could no longer sustain a British base, withdrew to sunnier climes. It left a bridgehead here, having appointed three retailers as distributors for its products, some of which have attacked the more economical end of the market.
Meanwhile I have bemoaned the increasing rarity of a product which, although now over-priced, I still consider the best.
The DUI CLX 450 Millennium suit might not be cheap but it is a real DUI suit. It has the conical latex wrist and neck seals that you trim to fit and which stay watertight whatever you are doing. You don't get that sense of foreboding and subsequent cold trickle after you have incautiously twisted your head to one side or gripped some item under water. With this sort of suit, I have the confidence to wear my ordinary going-home clothes underneath.
The CLX 450 has the diagonal front watertight zip and over-length torso which allows you to pull it over your head. They call it self-donning, but I always seem to need help getting the zip started across my shoulder and see no advantage over a conventional buddy-dependent cross-shoulder zip, except that you can check yourself to see that it is properly closed.
An equally chunky outer zip closes over and protects the expensive dry zip. The extra material in the torso tube is then taken care of with a neat tuck, internal braces and an elasticated crotch-strap.
To make it more economic, the CLX 450 is made from a trilaminate of tough Cordura and polyester rather than DUI's traditional crushed neoprene. Cordura overlays are added in areas that might need reinforcement, such as the shoulders, arm tops and knees. The whole thing evokes a feeling of quality and the workmanship could not be faulted.
DUI supplies the CLX 450 with soft sock ends to the legs, allowing for the use of its Rock Boots, one of the most sensible developments for drysuits of the last millennium. These simple canvas hiking boots are tough enough to withstand the rigours of any dive site and yet will fit into your fins and allow you to keep them on in the water.
I might not be Norman Normal when it comes to shape but Dick Long, CEO of the company, is well-named and has the same general height and build as me, so there was no problem getting a suit off the peg to fit. Those of you with different unusual shapes might have problems.
The revolving inflation valve meant I didn't have to think when it came to fitting the drysuit inflation hose to a regulator, while the well-positioned automatic dump valve similarly made it easy when it came to dumping air on ascent.
A pocket suitable for a deco-buoy or lifting bag is attached to the right thigh, and has a substantially reinforced part on the outside to which a reel can be karabiner-clipped. In terms of slipping through the water this was too much like a sea-anchor for my taste, but I'm sure many of you will like it. It gave me something to think about when trying to get my leg over the side of an inflatable, though it was never a problem when climbing a ladder.
Otherwise DUI's CLX 450 Millennium suit was as sleek to dive in as its classic crushed neoprene counterpart, and certainly as any other trilaminate drysuit you might choose. I particularly liked the warm neoprene collar around the neck seal that prevented the cold chill so often encountered when there is only a layer of latex between you and the water.
If I have any criticism it is the one I have for all drysuits that use non-detachable black braces. These disappear against the black interior of the suit, so why not supply them in a contrasting colour? Getting your braces in a twist is no way to get into the right frame of mind before a dive!
These suits are expensive but they are the best. The CLX 450 is slightly more attainable than the classic crushed neoprene suit - it costs £725. Sizes are S, M, L and XL.

Suit lent by SDS Watersports (0114 248 8688). Other distributors: Aquarius Diving (01235 512056), Splash Sports (0141 337 2828)

PLUS	MINUS
+ Well-made, tough and keeps you dry	- Still expensive - No inclusive made-to-measure service

How not to pick up infections or Radio 5

Howard Rosenstein is an Israeli who discovered the wreck of the ss Dunraven in the Red Sea. He thought it was Lawrence of Arabia's ship and loaded with gold. It wasn't. Then he discovered ear infections. His ProEar 2000 mask is designed to prevent them and it might make him the money he was looking for.
Like all good ideas, it is remarkably simple. It's the sort of thing you might look at and ask: "Why didn't I think of that?"
The ProEar 2000 encloses the ears behind a couple of headphone-like barriers. These keep the water out as effectively as earplugs might, hence no infections from water-borne pathogens.
"A nasty case of reversed ear on the way," you might think. So keeping the pressure on the ears equalised became the real problem to be solved.
Easy. Enclose the ears within the same airspace as the eyes and nose. How? Connect the earpieces to the mask using small flexible pipes, so that as the diver automatically exhales into the mask by way of the nose to equalise the pressure as he goes deeper, the increased pressure is shared with the ears.
Each tube has a simple one-way valve to stop any water in a flooded mask reaching the ears. It works.
I found that the headphone earpieces were large enough to enclose even my manly lugs. Like the mask, the earpieces each have a flexible silicone skirt to provide a watertight seal. The mask has a strap with a large silicone pad at the back to provide a secure position and there is provision for an additional velcro and neoprene pad which passes across the top of the head.
All this makes you look a bit like a radio-operator, and I had to endure the jibes of those who constantly wanted to know which station I was listening to.
Naturally the hair that is close to your ears tends to get caught in the seal. You can clear any ingress of water from the mask in the normal way but if you remove the mask under water, on putting it back you must hold it firmly and evenly against your face and exhale through your nose to expel any water from the earpieces.
The first moments of my first dive involved a lot of minor strap adjustments, which it seems you cannot carry out successfully in air. One problem I did not foresee arose because with my ears now in an air space I could hear much better, the earpieces acting as sounding boards. The noise of my exhaled bubbles was much louder than normal and the other sounds around me seemed to be amplified. I got used to it.
I have never suffered an ear infection. I do not use ear-drops and my doctor has advised me not to. He says my body is well-equipped to deal with the problem and I should do nothing to upset the natural balance.
However, my wife gets ear-ache on every diving trip (not from me, I hasten to add). She seems to pick up infections very easily, and for divers like her the ProEar 2000 mask is a godsend. If it makes Howard any money, he deserves it.
Look at the mask of any dive guide who works in a tropical location. I can guarantee it will be filthy with algae growth. If you get yourself a ProEar 2000 mask,, be careful to keep it clean.
My ears might be fine but my eyes, alas, are not. To use the mask and see my instruments I had to fit a pair of Dive Optix reusable stick-on lenses, which come in half-dioptre steps (+1 to +3) from DCM Sales (020 8399 7049) at £34 per pair.
The ProEar 2000 costs £86.

Oceanic 01404 891819

PLUS	MINUS
+ Keeps water away from ears and infections at bay	- Makes sounds under water more distracting - Induces radio-operator jokes - Expensive for a mask

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Appeared in DIVER - July 2000

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