October 1999 Something for the imagination

Something for the imagination - SeaQuest C Pro QD Bright Mite - Princeton Tec Shockwave The danger wasn't the sharks! - Atomic Ti2 Titanium reg A drysuit for warmer climes - Respirex Sea Lion Fusion

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.

The BCs I use are normally on loan for testing; the last one I actually paid for was a little SeaQuest 3D Wing. Yes, I enjoyed the test so much, I went out and bought one!
I liked it for its minimalism and its unconstraining design. It put the buoyancy just where it was required and left me with the uncluttered feeling that I was wearing no BC at all until I needed it. It didn't offer a lot of maximum lift but there was quite enough for a diver in warm water or in a comfortable, warm drysuit.
Few other British divers ordered SeaQuest 3Ds, however, probably because the design offered too few features to grab the imagination in the dive shop.
The SeaQuest C Pro QD is different. Designed for the British (and European) market, it is loaded with features, from its hard backpack to its patented swivel quick-release shoulder-strap buckles, large YKK zipped quick-draining pockets and six stainless steel D-rings.
There is also plenty of maximum buoyancy - 17kg in size ML (manufacturer's figure) - to sit a diver with a single tank comfortably at the surface when the BC is fully inflated.
The direct-feed inflation hose from your regulator clips neatly into place alongside the snazzy corrugated hose with its direct-feed control. It dumps air at three points. A pull on the corrugated hose operates a valve on the left shoulder, while another pull on the integrated cord and toggle operates a dump valve on the right. If inverted, there is a toggle-operated dump at the bottom right, too.
An elasticated cummerbund with a strap and buckle on top holds this BC close to the abdomen, while a narrower cross-chest strap keeps the shoulder straps from spreading apart. The swivelling buckles allow for plenty of adjustment in this area without discomfort.
As a full-feature BC, this model naturally incorporates an integrated weight system. An increasingly popular idea is the facility to install some weights high up in the back. Because these weights are inserted in pockets between the back cushion and the buoyancy bladder, they are not immediately apparent to the casual observer. They are secured by flaps with buckles.
Why have weights in this position? Anyone who has emptied a lightweight aluminium cylinder during a dive will know how uncomfortable it is to have buoyancy on the back while all the weight is around the waist. With weights at the back you never notice the cylinder become positively buoyant.
You couldn't sell a BC in Britain with an integrated weight system if there was no means of quick-releasing it. The emergency procedure to dump weights has been enshrined in club teaching since before BCs were invented. However, more accidents actually occur when weights get dropped by mistake - endangering both the diver who is wearing them, and any unsuspecting innocent below unfortunate enough to catch the lead.
If you are correctly weighted, needing to exhale to leave the surface, you should never need to dump weights. A few fin strokes upwards is enough to cause the air in your BC, wetsuit or drysuit to expand enough to see you on your way.
The "QD" in SeaQuest C Pro QD presumably stands for "Quick Dump" and the weights from the main part of its integrated weight system are easily shed. Too easily, some would say. The enthusiastic and vociferous owner of a chain of franchised dive stores told me he intended to fit additional buckles to his own C Pro QD so that the weights could not be dropped by mistake.
The weights are inserted in pre-formed pouches held closed by velcro. These are then inserted in side pockets which are themselves held in place by a toggle-equipped flap and another single slab of velcro.
SeaQuest says each pouch will hold up to 9kg, enough for the most over-weighted diver. I used only 3kg in each, plus the 2kg each at the back, and because I am big and wear a lot of neoprene I wear more weight than most divers need.
It proved very successful. I was able to hover at 3m with an aluminium cylinder that eventually went down to 12 bar of pressure (not recommended in normal circumstances). Remember, the air you use during a single-cylinder dive weighs more than 2kg.
Although it was refreshing to swim without the effects of a weightbelt, swimming horizontally did make me feel as if I was carrying loaded saddlebags, which was not conducive to a sleek profile in the water.
The set-up offered more resistance to my forward progress than was ideal, but then I liked that little SeaQuest 3D!
Having the weights integrated also makes it difficult to take off your BC and refit it under water. Why did I need to do this? Because the tank camband expanded slightly when it got wet. I suggest that you wet yours before fitting it to your tank otherwise, like me, you might end up doing a night dive with your tank under your arm!
The SeaQuest C Pro QD is a strongly made BC that I'm sure will prove popular. It costs £230 and is available in sizes S M ML L XL.

Aqua-Lung UK 0116 212 4200

PLUS	MINUS
+ Strongly made + More than enough maximum buoyancy + Loads of features + Integrated weight system with facility to install weights strategically	- Integrated weight system too easily dumped - Not sleek in the water

Bright mite
The people who import the Princeton Tec Shockwave lamp were very keen that I should explain that it is smaller yet brighter than equivalent underwater lamps. To my mind it's very difficult to get a quart from a pint pot, so how does the Princeton Tec Shockwave achieve this?
I'm told that the battery has a higher output than usual for its size but it appears to me that the cone of light delivered by this admirable unit is narrower and so more concentrated.
Although the Shockwave is shaped like larger lanterns, the manufacturer has managed to reduce its dimensions, resulting in a main body 16cm long by 8cm in diameter. I wouldn't complain about that!
A neat rubber shroud covers the reflector unit, which screws down on to the battery compartment and is kept watertight by a single O-ring. The on/off switch is kept from inadvertent activation by a simple sliding detent. The pistol-grip is moulded in one piece with the main body of the lamp.
The Shockwave comes with a standard lantern lanyard and a rather over-important-looking plastic briefcase, which also includes eight alkaline C-cells, along with the ni-cad battery and British-spec charger unit.
The whole presentation is very neat. As neat, in fact, as the tiny Japanese girl who kindly modelled for my underwater photographs and made the lamp look a whole lot bigger than it is. Burntime for its 12W bulb is 85 minutes with a fully charged ni-cad or four to five hours with alkaline dry cells (included).
The Shockwave costs £139, or £60 in non-rechargeable form.

Hydrotech 01455 274106

PLUS	MINUS
+ Compact unit + Chargeable ni-cad dry cells + Bright cone of light	- Narrow cone of light

The danger wasn't the sharks!
I was recently called upon to photograph a diver swimming through a bunch of sharks in a feeding frenzy. To take the shots I had to swim backwards, my head bumping into a few animals as I went. I was concerned about getting bitten; I needed reliable equipment.
So it seemed reasonable to choose the ferociously expensive Atomic Ti2 Titanium regulator, which I had used on three dives the previous day and enjoyed immensely. I could use various analogies: it was effortless, it was like breathing fresh mountain air - so far so good.
The diver was in position, the shark feeder began to break up some dead tuna in the water and the guys in the grey suits appeared on cue.
I noticed that my air was a little damp. It became progressively wetter. Suddenly my regulator second stage was full of water. This, I couldn't help feeling, was no time to start drowning. I wished I had fitted an octopus rig, but in its absence resorted to my Buddy Auto-Air - an excellent emergency device in such dire circumstances.
Safely out of the water, I pulled the Atomic Ti2's second stage apart to find that the rubber diaphragm had collapsed, allowing water to pour in.
Why this had happened I am unsure. But I assume that my headlong dash into the water behind a fairly heavy camera rig must have dislodged it enough to start off the problem, which then progressively increased.
It appears that its locking ring can distort the rubber diaphragm on the second stage as it screws down on to it. Whether this means that the Atomic Ti2 is dangerous, I really don't know. I can only tell you what happened.
The first stage is a tall turret with five medium-pressure ports, superficially similar to an earlier piston Scubapro design. There are two high-pressure ports.
It is beautifully crafted from titanium rather than the more usual chromed-brass of other regulators.
I was unable to use it turret-down on my tank because the mp hose was a little on the short side and I found I needed the full rotation of the turret if the second stage was not to be ripped from my mouth when I turned my head to the left.
The second stage is neat and has a precision look to its plastic moulding. There is a breathing-resistance adjustment knob which alters the initial valve "cracking" pressure. The actual second-stage valve mechanism is so nicely finished that it puts that of many other regulators to shame. It looks gorgeous.
There will always be someone who asks the salesman: "Haven't you got anything more expensive?" and the Atomic Ti2 will fill that need. It has bags of shop-counter appeal.
I am sure that those who invest so much money will be well-pleased and proud of this purchase - unless that rubber diaphragm gets wrinkled. If I had used it only on that first day, I would be singing its praises, but even now I'm not sure I put it back together perfectly.
The Atomic Ti2 Titanium costs £1068.

Swanborough Diving 01964 532202

PLUS	MINUS
+ More expensive than your buddy's regulator + Beautifully engineered + Effortless breathe in normal circumstances	- Apparent weak point in second-stage diaphragm design - Mp hose too short

A drysuit for warmer climes
Respirex make the suits you see firemen wearing at chemical spillages. It makes suits for many other industrial applications, too. With the technology and manufacturing processes available to the company, it seemed an easy move to shift into production of drysuits. Sea Lion is the name of the division now responsible for that.
The company sent me one of its first products aimed at the leisure diver and I dismayed its management by insisting that the wrist seals were too short to keep the water out.
Some companies would have argued or, worse, instructed their lawyers, but Respirex heeded what we had to say at Diver and went away and changed the spec of its drysuit seals.
The Respirex Sea Lion Fusion is an entirely new suit, aimed at the leisure diver who needs to keep dry but does not expect to get into any heavy-duty situations such as wrecking. It is inexpensive, very lightweight and ideal for those marginal conditions of the Mediterranean or northern Red Sea out of the midsummer season, when you're never sure whether to wear a thick semi-dry or swelter in the full monty of a heavier drysuit.
The Fusion is constructed from a stretchy waterproof fabric with fully welded seams internally taped. There are no stitch holes. An internal lining of polyester makes it slip on more easily than it would otherwise, and Hyperlon, from which most inflatable boat tubes are made, is used to reinforce the knees. The range of off-the-peg sizes for both men and women is large.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a beautiful suit but it does appear to have been very carefully constructed, with its cross-shoulder zip nicely integrated with the main material.
The same can be said of the otherwise ordinary-looking unlined rubber boots and conical wrist seals. The neck seal is of a bellows type.
A Swedish Si Tech rotating inflation valve is mounted at the centre of the chest and a similar Swedish constant-volume automatic dump positioned at the left shoulder. I found it dumped air in the required amounts without me even having to think about it, so I guess it must be perfectly positioned.
I'm pleased to report that my arms stayed warm and dry, although because the suit was slightly too short for me, the bellows neck seal tended to let air out around my throat whenever I looked up, with a resultant trickle of water back the other way.
You can't get away from the fact that this suit smells a little like a plastic mac, but the quality of construction is eminently superior to some other lightweight drysuits. That said, don't expect suits of this nature to take thoughtless abuse without developing holes.
The Fusion drysuit costs only £395, including valves.

Sea Lion Respirex 01737 778600

PLUS	MINUS
+ Low cost + Combines insulation with light weight + Adequate seals + Easy to slip on + Well-positioned dumps	- Vulnerable to damage if abused - Plastic mac fragrance

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Appeared in DIVER - October 1999

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