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It is mandatory to get the correct dive gear if one is to safely enjoy the sport. It would be very dangerous and exasperating if you were to get the wrong equipment; for example, if you were to go diving with a scuba mask that has a leakage and keeps irritating you. It is advisable that you take the necessary precautions when choosing your gear, to enable you enjoy your underwater sightseeing experience to the maximum.

The scuba mask enables you to see clearly underwater. It does this by creating an airspace. When diving at depths greater than 10 feet, the airspace created by the mask must be brought to equilibrium otherwise it might crash your face. This is why a scuba diving mask is made to enclose your nose such that your breathing will be used to equalize the airspace. As such, open masks that do not have an enclosure for the nose can only be used for snorkeling and not for diving.

The main features of a scuba diving mask include: a faceplate or lenses, a comfortable skirt and a head strap. Each manufacturer will model these 3 features into various styles and shapes ranging from oval shaped models to low internal volume masks. Besides the design, scuba masks, just like scuba diving fins, scuba tanks or scuba wet suits differ depending on the material they are made from. Divings masks are either made from Neoprene or silicone material. Masks made from Neoprene rubber are usually black in color and whereas those made from silicone are translucent. Neoprene masks have the advantage of being cheaper than silicone masks. Neoprene masks do not allow light in from the sides. As such they are more suited for snorkeling since they keep away reflection of the light that may hinder your visibility when snorkeling. Silicone masks on the other hand are more durable and much more comfortable to wear hence are more suitable for scuba diving.

The following features are worth considering when buying a scuba mask.

• The mask’s field of vision should be wide to allow you greater visibility underwater.
• The mask should provide a good seal and comfortable skirting with a close fit against your face.
• The mask should be made of tempered glass lenses – This ensures additional safety since in the event they were to break, the glass is less likely to shatter in fine small pieces.
• The mask should have nose pockets enabling you to equalize during descents.
• An adjustable strap with an inbuilt lock mechanism. Stay away from masks that have a fused strap.

Bug diving as it is most notably referred to with scuba divers are what non divers call lobster diving. Lobster diving is a fun and adventurous way to catch everyone’s crustaceans. Lobster diving is more than just catching a sea food, you have fun and burn calories for your big meal to come.

The most popular of all the dive locations for lobster is out East where scuba divers try for the infamous Maine Lobster. The other 2 places were divers take their scuba gear is to the Florida Keys and California where they both have variations of the Spiny Lobster. Where ever you may want to go and submerge for your lobster you will need to check to make sure it is lobster season. You can do this by checking with the local fish and game authorities.

The nice thing about bug diving is that there isn’t very much special diving equipment that is required other than some good gloves and a collection bag. The nicest piece of equipment are scuba masks with underwater lights on them so you

can see into dark holes. The most common place for lobsters are in holes next to wrecks, caverns, and reefs.

The best trick to getting a lobster out of their hole is to simply put a smaller lobster in the hole and being that lobsters are territorial they will both come out in a hurry.

Being a scuba diver you want to get the proper scuba wetsuit for this, you never want to have your arms exposed when reaching in a dark lobster hole. And just to make sure you have lots of lobster for the days to come make sure you take more than one scuba tank.

Oh, also. . . be aware that lobster holes also house eels. . .and vice versa!

and now, here is something we hope you will really like:

and as always, comment, comment, comment!

Tevis

Are you aware of the different scuba gear? Better be because scuba diving is one of the most interesting activities under water. Through this activity, you can see the true beauty of the ocean that lies underneath the waters surface. While doing this activity, you will not notice that the time is running. As you view the fish and other marine lives, it is like the world has stopped from rotating.

Of course you still need to know the time while you are under water, don’t you? In this case, you will need one piece of dive gear, the all purpose scuba watch/computer which can last even if you are in the deepest part of the ocean.

With this, you can still know the time while enjoying the beauty of the surroundings under the water – the corals, fish and other marine live. Dive gear like this one is really helpful to divers for they can manage their time properly even if they are not on land.

Also these watches are great for telling location for they have a dive digital compass on them, and they have timers so you know how long you have been under. If you have an upcoming appointment, you would not be in a rush for you know the current time. If there would be more scuba equipment like this that would be produced, surely, there would be more people who will want to try scuba diving.

Scuba gear is really important to professionals and even the amateur divers especially the all purpose scuba watch.  This is a must have for all the divers and aspiring professional divers out there. This will truly help you with regards to time management and location.

Now Git your scuba watch get ready to use it.  This stuff is news that you can use:

• Scuba Diving Tips – How to Find Cool Creatures Underwater – How about becoming a professional scuba diver, or simply know more about dive activities or scuba diving equipment? at http://knows-dive.com we’ll do our best to help you out. You might find some useful scuba diving tips here. …
• Juegos-Trabajo-Empleo | Downtown Cleveland Hotels – Affordable … – JuegosCleveland is the most populous county in the state. Cleveland hotels have a growing reputation as a cultural center. It is noted for its association with rock music which is why many music lovers come to visit here year after year …

  As always, thanks for reading and comment wit yo’ baad self!

  Tevis

Success of ‘top kill’ strategy to squelch Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be known by Wednesday evening

By Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune

May 24, 2010, 7:12PM

Patrick Semansky/The Associated PressDoug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP, was photographed during a news conference in Venice on May 9.

BP will attempt a "top kill" maneuver to permanently stanch the oil flow from a leaking well Wednesday morning and will know whether or not the procedure is working by that evening, the company’s Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Monday. If the top kill does not work, the company will try to contain the oil by placing a cap on the riser pipe and sucking oil to the surface.

"This job has taken quite some time to prepare and plan for. It’s not unique or new but it is unique and new in 5,000 feet of water," Suttles said. "If that operation is successful, we will be able to stop the flow from the well."
Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive officer said Monday that there is a 60 percent to 70 percent chance of success with the top kill.

Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneA brown pelican struggles to fly with a heavy coating of crude oil on Monday near Cat Island in eastern Barataria Bay. The vast majority of the pelicans on the island seemed protected by a double and triple layer of boom material.

The single biggest challenge to the procedure, Suttles said, will be overcoming the rate at which oil is gushing up from the well.
BP is working to contain two oil leaks on a pipe attached to the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig. The rig, which BP leased from Transocean, exploded about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast on April 20 and subsequently sank. Eleven people on the rig were killed.
The top kill will be performed near the smaller of the two leaks. The second, larger leak, has been affixed with a tube that is capturing some, but not all, of the oil and natural gas spilling from it. Because the top kill will be performed at the base of the broken pipe, down near the blowout preventer, it should permanently shut off both leaks if it is successful.
The top kill process involves pumping fabricated "kill mud," which is about twice the density of water, into the well at 50 barrels a minute to overcome the flow.
The material will be pumped at that high pressure down the choke and kill lines of the blowout preventer, which failed to seal the well after the rig exploded, to push the oil back into the reservoir. Choke and kill lines are used to control the amount and pressure of drilling mud in the wellbore so that surges of oil and natural gas can be kept under control.
If the kill mud is not able to overcome the flow of oil, it could get trapped in the riser pipe and erode it, which could lead to additional leaks, Suttles said.
The drill mud could be followed with cement to permanently seal the well.
Should the maneuver fail, BP may pump debris into the well to clog it and then try the top kill again, Suttles said. The company may also cut the joint where the riser pipe comes out of the blowout preventer and place a cap on it. The cap would be attached to another riser pipe that BP would use to suction oil from the well to a drill ship on the surface. Doing so would not stop the flow of oil, but would contain oil escaping from both leak sites.
Jaquetta White can be reached at jwhite@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3494.

Why training and experience can help you keep your head while diving.

By Eric Douglas

Phil was diving deeper and farther than most divers ever got to go. He was going deeper than he had ever been before as well. He had just entered the world of technical diving — newly certified in the special techniques and practices it took to make a successful dive beyond recreational depths — and he was close to 170 feet deep. He was thrilled with this new experience and the freedom it gave him. He couldn’t wait to tell all of his diving friends and convince them they needed to seek out the training as well. And then he inhaled, but nothing came.

The Diver

Phil had been diving recreationally for years. He dived in the local lake and took a trip or two each year to resort destinations with his family. The entire time, though, he wanted more. Wanted to see more, do more and go to more places. Finally, the world of technical diving was opening up new opportunities for him. He had recently completed his technical training, but hadn’t done much diving beyond recreational limits yet. He had also just purchased a complete set of technical gear and was itching to put it to use.

The Dives

The shipwreck rested at nearly 200 feet and was about an hour-and-a-half boat ride offshore. Phil had wanted to make a dive there ever since he saw it profiled in a dive magazine. It had become one of his goals as he learned about technical diving. He made the trip alone and found a dive buddy on the boat, learning they both had the same goals. Phil’s buddy was a bit more experienced than he was, but they figured their diving would be compatible enough, so they planned to make the dive together. Both divers were carrying three gas mixes on the dive.

They would use one mix, their travel gas, on the descent to the bottom. It was simply “air” in a smaller tank Phil had mounted on his left side. The second was for the actual dive, called a bottom mix. This was trimix, a specially combined mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and helium. This mixture (40 percent nitrogen, 17 percent oxygen and 43 percent helium) would give them adequate oxygen without becoming toxic at depth, along with minimal narcotic effects from the nitrogen and ease of breathing from the helium.

Both divers carried the trimix on their back in a set of twin tanks called doubles. The third gas they carried was 80 percent oxygen, which they planned to use during their decompression near the surface. Phil carried the oxygen in a tank hanging from the right side of his dive rig.

According to the dive plan, when the divers reached the top deck of the wreck at around 150 feet, Phil would switch to his bottom mix. He would continue the dive using the gas on his back until he reached his planned time, or remaining pressure, and then he would begin his ascent. He was to switch to the decompression gas when he reached his stop depth and complete a series of stops that would allow the nitrogen to escape from his body. The dive was planned to exacting detail using special decompression software.

The Accident

When Phil and his buddy began their descent, Phil realized they weren’t as compatible as he thought they might be. They used different hand signals as soon as they dropped below the surface and Phil didn’t quite understand what his buddy meant. They hadn’t discussed hand signals on the surface before they began. Phil’s new buddy descended much faster than he was ready to go. Within just a few short minutes, Phil lost track of his new buddy altogether. That didn’t matter though, because at the same time he realized he was on top of the wreck, the place he had dreamed about for years. He noticed his buddy’s bubbles on the stern so he decided to swim toward his partner, following along the contours of the wreck. Between the narcosis brought on by breathing air at that depth and his excitement at reaching his goal, he forgot to switch to his bottom gas. His travel gas for descent was intended for only a short duration, and he quickly ran out of his supply.

He went from euphoria to panic in just a moment, and the only option in his mind was to swim for the surface, but he never made it.

Analysis

Technical diving requires a tremendous amount of equipment to ensure a safe dive, as evidenced by the three different gases Phil carried on this dive. Each gas had at least one, if not two regulators that would provide backup in case of failure. But buying all the equipment in the world doesn’t take the place of training, experience and following a well-crafted dive plan.
Phil had a dive plan. But he failed to follow it, allowing the narcotic affects of nitrogen at depth to cloud his judgment along with the excitement at reaching a goal for the first time.
Nitrogen narcosis has varying effects on different people, and even different effects on the same people on dive days. But there is no question that air becomes narcotic at depth, especially at a depth of six atmospheres (165 feet) or more. It can become so narcotic, in fact, that some people become almost catatonic. In Phil’s case, he forgot all about switching to a breathing gas with a reduced concentration of nitrogen that would have helped him keep his head at depth. One reason for the use of trimix is to avoid nitrogen narcosis. Had he remembered to make the switch, his head would have cleared almost immediately.

The most important thing about that switch, though, was that he had his bottom gas in much greater supply than he did his travel gas. He quickly breathed through his travel-gas supply during the descent and while swimming after his buddy, and ran out of gas. Even then, if he would have had the presence of mind to switch to his bottom gas, he would have been fine. The combination of the nitrogen narcosis from the depth and suddenly running out of air limited his options dramatically. It’s not possible to know exactly what went through Phil’s mind when he took his last breath. Probably he panicked, leading to perceptual narrowing and a fight-or-flight response that would cause Phil to attempt to flee to the surface. The only thing known is that he drowned at depth. When his body was recovered, the tanks on his back holding his bottom gas were still full and his travel gas was empty.

Phil’s dive buddy didn’t realize Phil was missing until he began his own decompression stops. There was nothing he could do at that point, having more than a half-hour of obligated decompression before he could reach the surface and alert the dive boat. It took searchers two days to find and recover the body.

Lessons for Life

1. Seek training. Before attempting any new type of diving, you should seek appropriate training. The more complex the diving technique, the more time you will spend in training.

2. Have a dive plan and follow it. It’s important to understand the limitations of your dive and follow your plan.

3. Stay with your buddy. Diving is a social sport and the shared experience is what makes diving exciting. Buddies can also help should you get into trouble on a dive.

4. Discuss details like appropriate communications with your dive buddy. When you are diving with a new buddy, you should always discuss diving techniques, planned descent speeds and communication techniques.

5. Don’t let a goal cloud your judgment. No dive is worth dying for. Use your head when making a dive. Don’t let your desire to achieve a goal get in the way of making a safe dive.

Eric Douglas is the director of Training for Divers Alert Network. He also co-authored the book Scuba Diving Safety and has written a series of dive adventure novels and short stories as well. Check out his website at www.booksbyeric.com.