Equipment
New Products From DEMA 2009
The annual DEMA Show, sponsored by the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, is the world’s preeminent showcase for dive professionals. Featuring hundreds of exhibits and attracting thousands of dive store owners, managers and instructors, the DEMA Show is where many manufacturers provide their dealers with a first look at the latest in equipment technology. The 2009 DEMA Show took place in November at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center. In this article, we are going to give you a look at six of the products that gathered the most attention at this year’s show.
Sidemount: The New Revolution in Tech Diving Equipment
If you wanted to stand out at the recent NSS-CDS social at Jackson Blue spring, all you had to do was wear back-mounted doubles. If you did, you would be among the half dozen or so divers wearing this rig. The remaining 70+ divers were sidemounting. Cave divers in the USA began adopting sidemount in the early 1980s, as a means of passing through bedding planes — cave passages that can be several feet wide, but only a few inches high. Now sidemounting has gone mainstream, and is used by cave, technical and recreational divers alike.
The Ultimate Diver Vehicle?
We literally stumbled across one of these this morning that had made its way to Florida from Michigan. And let’s face it: Is that $45,000 F-250 going to feel so sweet when diesel reaches $5.00 a gallon? The Ford Transit Connect is smaller than a minivan, yet offers more (configurable) interior space and gets as much as 25 miles to the gallon. In all, a lean, green, diving machine.
Understanding Scuba Cylinder Inspections
The major reason for having your cylinders visually inspected, once a year or more, is for your safety in handling and breathing from them, as well as those individuals who fill them. Complete and thorough cylinder system inspections are serious business, not just a quick peek in a tank! If you believe your last one was, you need to find a competent repair facility and have it done properly with a documented checklist from a certified inspector.
Dive Computers 101
I wish there had been advanced electronic dive computers when I started diving in the late 1950s. Having a simple computer that easily reads bottom time, depth, ascent rate and no-decompression time left would have allowed easier dive planning and reduced anxiety prior to and during our dives. Depth gauges were available and I solved the time problem by buying a small clear pressure proof Ikelite case to carry my watch in.
Hydrostatic Cylinder Testing 101
Although cylinders are made of non-shatterable metal, they still can tear apart with explosive force, fire off the valve, spin or take off at high speeds through walls, causing severe bodily harm, death and destruction. The hydrostatic test actually measures the elastic expansion of the metal and its ability to return to its original shape within 10 percent of the original volume. The water test is safe since it cannot compress or expand like air.
Fins Pack Power in Smaller Size
APS Mantaray fins are getting some good buzz from dive industry leaders. Dr. Glen Egstrom, Professor (Emeritus) in the Physiological Sciences Department at UCLA said, “The light weight and performance versatility of the Mantaray fin will provide discriminating divers with an innovative tool that is effective under a variety of diving conditions.” The dual directional water channeling fins have won a travel award for their light weight and compact size.
