February 1998
Heavy duty
The first thing you notice about the Mares Syncro Tech BC (right) is its inordinate weight. Add to that the lead in its integrated weight system and we're talking hernias. Underwater, however,
John Bantin finds it a fine performer - even though it isn't bulletproof...
I SMILED to myself when I saw the Mares Syncro Tech described in a direct-mail catalogue as being made from bullet-proof material! It may be, but which bullet fired by which gun? It certainly would not stop a .22 pellet from my AirSporter!
The "ballistic" quality of the 1200 denier nylon outer layer refers to the fact that this is the sort of material bulletproof jackets are wrapped in, but bulletproof jackets come with more than just the layer of nylon.
But let's not get distracted by silliness. The Mares Syncro Tech is yet another high-quality item in a long line of offerings last year from the Italian manufacturer. It is a true technical diver's BC with a huge amount of lift (Mares says 27kg) from its wing-style, single-bag design - enough for twin cylinders if you can find a way of rigging them.
The cam-band supplied was long enough for one cylinder only, and there are slots for a single band, but you can choose the height at which the cam-band sits relative to the BC. I used it with a single massive 18-litre cylinder equipped with a
Y-valve!
The first thing to strike you about the Syncro Tech is its inordinate weight. It must be one of the heaviest BCs around. Add to that the lead installed in its integrated weight system and you had better start contributing to a hernia fund for anyone likely to try lifting it into the boat for you!
Luckily, I was going to use the Syncro Tech in Florida - the weight allowance on air routes to America is two pieces of luggage with a maximum weight of 32kg each.
It is not clear why this BC is so heavy. It has the same hard back-pack as the much lighter Vector 1000, which curves around you at the waist and provides a hard carrying handle. The Syncro Tech comes equipped with 10 stainless steel D-rings - four at the shoulder facings, four round the bottom of the jacket and two at the ends of the shoulder-strap adjusting ends.
This is sufficient for all the peripheral equipment a tekkie might like to carry, including a sling tank.
There are nice little touches, too - like the small female fastex buckle, ideal for clipping on accessories.
The integrated weights are installed in two long pouches, which are secured by a double helping of velcro. They are ripped away in turn by means of two large handle grips, should you find yourself in dire circumstances. As a guest diver on the boat, I preferred to wear my weights separately.
The BC harness is secured by a wide cummerbund with velcro, topped off with a strong 50mm webbing belt and a large fastex buckle. There is also a 35mm-wide chest strap with an equally substantial buckle.
In addition there are a number of very useful pockets. The front pocket expands to hold a spare mask, and there is a zipped pocket up in front of that, too. The side pouches, which stow rolled-up discreetly when not needed, were ideal for carrying my late-deployment SMB, with its winder clipped to the nearest D-ring.
The other pocket held my high-powered light, which I was able to pull out when I needed to, although I had a little trouble putting it back each time.
Air is fed in via the standard Mares anatomical inflator, and can be dumped by pulling on the corrugated hose. Or you can release air via an opposite shoulder dump. This is worked by a heavy toggle on a long cord fed through the shoulder facing to a point conveniently near your middle.
Mares says there is the option to swap this for a second corrugated hose and direct-feed control - tekkie-style - but I see little point since it gives no redundancy to the single bag.
There are also two bottom dumps either side of the inverted U-shape of the wing, for use during inversion.
Now here's my main criticism. I am a great believer in diving with a minimum amount of lead. I try to be perfectly neutral with my buoyancy at the surface, only allowing for the weight of the breathing gas I might consume. Diving in the currents off Florida's east coast, just like many parts of home waters, it is necessary to get in and get down quickly in order not to miss the wreck. This usually means swimming down.
Under these circumstances I found that, because the heavy toggle on the bottom dumps was on a long cord, when inverted the toggles lodged between the wing and the harness, making them impossible to feel for. Several times I was left floundering and flapping at the surface.
Under water, things were perfect. The harness felt comfortable and the wing put the air exactly where I needed it.
After extensive use, the Syncro Tech came back looking like new. This was testimony to its quality of construction. Then again, it is one of the most expensive BCs on the market, so it should be good. Just don't try to use it for stopping bullets!
The Mares Syncro Tech comes in S, M, L, XL and costs 435.
Blandford Sub-Aqua 01923 801572
Titanium 1205 wetsuit
GUL scratches below the surface
I ALWAYS like to wear a wetsuit when I go diving, even if the water is as hot as you would find in the Yemen in July. I like the protection it gives me from the hot sun, as well as from all those microscopic nasties that my skin seems to encounter whenever I dive in warm water.
GUL, with its recent massive investment in a new factory in Cornwall, now has the capacity to give some attention to the diving market, as well as to the surface watersports market that has to date been its strongest sales interest.
GUL sent me a 5mm Titanium 1205 One-piece suit, together with a 5mm Titanium 5201 Short John to wear with it. This gave me a good set of options.
The one-piece alone was ideal for tropical conditions, and I added the thicker Short John, which covers the upper legs, when I dived in the less exotic conditions of the northern Red Sea in April and the Mediterranean in August.
The Titanium 1205 has smooth-skin seals at the wrists and ankles, which makes it something of a semi-dry suit, and the titanium-mix neoprene material is very flexible yet has an insulating quality greater than one would expect.
There is a long zip all the way up the back with a velcro-fastening collar. There was no long ribbon on the zip, as found on some rear-zipped wetsuits, which meant that I invariably had to ask for help in doing it up. This is a risky business.
One helpful young instructor left me with a perfect set of blood blisters to match the zip because he omitted to fold flat the flap of smooth-skin that stops it happening.
The Short John zipped up at the front. If the one-piece suit proves insufficient on its own, I add the Short John. I have used this combination for several months of intensive diving and it has proved quite successful, although the zip on the one-piece is starting to come unstitched at the bottom end. Never mind - it is nothing a blob of Aquasure won't sort out.
Available in a wide range of sizes (GUL says all sizes) and colours, the 5mm Titanium 1205 One-piece suit costs 159 and the 5mm Titanium 5201 Short John costs 76.
GUL International, 01208 72382.
Kowalski diving lamps
Light relief from efficient Teuton
Kowalski diving lamps come with a 12-month replacement guarantee. Jackplug re-charging sockets (below) eliminate opening.
Kowalski lamps are light and, for a German design, dinky.
GERMAN divers have access to a far greater variety of underwater lamps and flashguns than us Brits. Many small engineering firms in Germany seem to be owned by keen divers, who turn out these items as a sideline with Teutonic efficiency. Mr Kowalski is evidently one of them.
Jack Bird noticed this phenomenon, and set up Lighthouse Diving Ltd with the sole intention of importing Kowalski underwater lamps, which he believes are the best available at any price. Now that the Deutchmark is not as outrageously over-valued as it was in the past, the Kowalski prices are within reach of those of us who earn sterling.
I already own a Swiss-made Subtronic lamp, which is incredibly bright and costs a fortune. However, it weighs so much that I cannot afford the excess-baggage charges it attracts at airports, so I rarely use it. The Kowalski lamps are far more compact and lightweight and for a German design are positively dinky.
Lighthouse Diving sent me the 620 and the 1250-S models to try. They are beautifully engineered in high-quality anodised aluminium, and they come in a choice of 10 colours, with heat-resistant front glass that will not suffer if the lamp is turned on in air rather than water.
However, if one of these lamps switches on accidentally in your dive bag, anything in contact with it will last only a few seconds because of the intense heat produced, so a secure safety-lock is provided for the on/off switch.
Either lamp can be run at full- or half-power. There is an indicator lamp at the back of each unit, which shows green while the lamp is on but turns to red when the battery charge is down to its last seven or eight minutes.
In the water Kowalski lamps are negatively buoyant, but a neoprene sleeve in a colour matching that of the lamp helps to neutralise them. Both are tested by their manufacturer to 200m.
The 620 measures 64mm x 190mm, weighs 1kg (in air), uses a 6V20W halogen lamp, and takes 90 minutes to deplete a full charge when used at half-power.
The slightly larger 1250-S measures 80mm x 208mm, weighs in at 1.6kg, and comes with a 12V50W halogen bulb. This ran down the battery in just over an hour at the half-power setting.
What separates these lamps from cheaper alternatives is the care of the ni-cad battery. First, built-in electronics prevent you from damaging the ni-cad by completely discharging it. Second, the same electronics allow you to leave it on charge without risk of damage because they can sense when the ni-cad is up to strength and automatically switch the power to a mere trickle. The 620 takes a little over six hours to charge, and the larger 1250-S takes 12 hours.
The ni-cads are memory-free so can be recharged at any power state. They will also suffer long periods of storage in any state of charge without ill-effect.
Mr Kowalski has been making torches like these for 25 years and many of his original efforts are still in use today. He expects a Kowalski lamp to last at least 10 years.
I found that the 620 slipped easily into my BC pocket, and it came into its own when entering dark interiors of wrecks. It produced an intense yet fairly narrow beam, and was easy enough to handle as a focusing light while I struggled with my bulky camera housing and flash.
But it was after diving that I really encountered the great strength of the product. It is the method by which you connect up their respective chargers that, to my mind, makes these relatively expensive lamps worth their price-tag. At the rear of each unit are two jack-plug sockets that are exposed to the elements when submerged. The charger unit connects two jack-plugs to these, which means there is never any reason for the user to open the unit. This eradicates all the hazards of dirt and hairs or even cuts that might affect a crucial O-ring in a conventional underwater lamp.
As any experienced diver knows, any item of equipment that has an air space and needs to be dry inside to function properly will flood at some time. The fewer reasons to break an O-ring seal, the longer an item is likely to survive.
Jack Bird of Lighthouse Diving tells me that if a purchaser does not open a unit (and there seems little need to), he will replace any lamp that fails during its first year of use.
The Kowalski 620 costs £198 plus £11 for the neoprene cover. The Kowalski 1250-S costs £252. Diving instructors get a substantial discount.
Lighthouse Diving Ltd, 01285 810814 n
Garmin and Eagle GPS
Finding your place in the world
Garmin's small 12XL GPS unit (left) has the edge when it come to pocket stowage and is easy to hold and operate with one hand. Price: 308.
The Eagle Explorer is a 12-channel 12-satellite unit, bigger than the Garmin, but cheaper at £220.
YOU plan the dive, then dive the plan. But first of all you have to find your dive site - enter the handheld GPS (Global Positioning System).
This revolutionary divers' tool gets better all the time, and Diver has taken the opportunity to look at two models that are likely to appeal to sport divers on grounds of performance and price.
Garmin, one of the longest-running GPS manufacturers, supplied us with its neat Garmin 12XL, which retails at around £308. With 12 parallel channels tracking 12 satellites, (until recently many GPS sets monitored up to eight satellites on one channel), the 12XL is among the best sets now available for reliable satellite "lock-on".
From Eagle came the Explorer, another 12-channel, 12-satellite unit. It is less compact but considerably less expensive at 220. Unlike the Garmin it does not, however, have an external antenna connector. This is an important facility if you want to use the set within the confines of a boat's cabin. Though newer to the GPS game than Garmin, Eagle established itself as a GPS marque with its preceding handheld model, the Accunav Sport, which cost more than £400.
Crucial to the buyer, particularly in a club situation where different individuals may operate the unit, is how user-friendly the GPS set is. And a clear instruction manual is vital for all but the most adept GPS users.
For both our test sets - as for any unit offering a plethora of programmable waypoints and distance/course/time-to-waypoint permutations - there is no getting around the fact that time needs to be spent poring over instructions and practising with the set until you are totally familiar with it. A wet, bumpy RIB is no place to be settling down for a quiet read!
Both the 12XL and Explorer come with clearly laid out instruction manuals, with straightforward directions on how first to "start up" the unit and obtain current position, which is automatically updated every couple of minutes or so.
Then, once you have digested the waypoint and navigational facilities information, there are steering guidance graphics systems on both the 12XL and Explorer to help you steer a correct course over the ground to your mark. Both units can handle a much longer chain of course waypoints than you're ever likely to need.
Out in the field both units proved easy to handle, but the smaller 145mm x 50mm x 31mm Garmin had the edge on easy pocket stowage over the 165mm x 55mm x 40mm Explorer. With its controls situated at the top rather than the bottom, the Garmin was also easier to hold and to thumb-operate with one hand.
For their performance in terms of start-up, positional accuracy and clarity of display, however, both units were equally impressive pieces of kit.
We elected to obtain positional readings at the end of a pier. Going through the start-up procedure, in which the set is programmed with a rough position of where it is in the world, both units locked on quickly and, having selected the best three satellites for a fix, produced positions on their 55mm x 38mm screens within a minute of being turned on.
The accuracy of a GPS set can vary according to time and location. For a standard GPS (as opposed to the more accurate and far more expensive Differential GPS) a realistic expectation, born out by the experiences of users afloat, is plus or minus 100m.
On this occasion, our units both gave fixes that fell within a fifteenth of a nautical mile - 123.5m - of our known position. The fact that both these 12-satellite-scan sets gave similar results suggests that the positions were as good as any standard GPS was going to get on the day.
Whether you go for the Explorer or pay for the more compact Garmin with its potential link-up with an external aerial, both appear to promise a satisfactory service as modern aids to navigation.
It is worth noting that, since our test, Garmin has produced the GPS 12, based on the model we tried but priced at £211.50 without external antenna port.
Garmin, 01794 519944;
Eagle, SM Group (Europe) Ltd, 01752 662129.
Paul Fenner
Appeared in DIVER - February 1998
Back to
