Oceanic SWIV SPG

I'm not the usual "Dive Gear Review" contributor, but there are a few items I've been meaning to voice an opinion about.

SPGs.  An extremely important piece of equipment.  You're not much good on a dive if you don't know the pressure of the contents of your tank (we're in the 21st century, so no more J-valves for us!).   As a working dive instructor, I've always opted for a mechanical SPG, as opposed to a transducer linked to a dive computer.  The reasoning behind this is twofold: mechanical SPGs are not as expensive, but I've also seen far cases of the transducers failing.

Or so I thought, until I replaced my old Sherwood SPG (many years of use) with an Oceanic SWIV.  A quick online search shows it retailing for between USD 75 to 106.  After the first one flooded after less than 10 dives, I thought I might just have a defective product.  I replaced that one with another one on a console I used to use.  Another 5 dives, and that one also failed.  At this point, I'm not happy.  No pressure gauge, no work.  I had to replace it with a THIRD one (given to me by a friend, brand new, who was getting rid of her spare parts), until the new one I ordered could be shipped down.  When that one failed, I put my other backup old old Dacor, until I could get a new one got delivered (it can take up to two weeks, minimum, to get anything shipped to the island).

Before people start jumping down my throat about dust caps and flooding regulators, that definitely isn't what happened.  After the first one failed, I had my regulator (1st stage Scubapro MK2) fully serviced, and had the o-rings on my (new) high pressure hose inspected.

So...moral of the story: three thumbs down (one for each bad SPG).

Next up from me:  the successful replacement.

(cross-posted to The Coconut Tree Telegraph)

Boat Coat

Here in Roatan we spend much of the year diving with 3mm suits or board shorts and a rash guard. That is all we usually need. The water temperature ranges from 80 + F  in the summer to   76 + F during the rainy season. Although some of us still do not use wet suits during the cooler months it gets chilly when you come out of the water. At times, with overcast and wind it becomes downright cold. Enter the boat coat. We bought a bunch of these for the entire staff at Coconut Tree Divers. They are a must have goodness of warmth when you come up from one of those dives. You do not even have to come out of your wetsuit, if you are using one. Simply throw this puppy on and you will skip the whole freezing during the surface interval bit.

We bought them from Trident and paid about $100 per coat. The brand was iDive. In a Google search the following came up from scuba.com. At the time of this entry, it was selling for $44. That is a steal and I highly recommend adding it onto the list of items to bring with you during the rainy season.


picture from Scuba.com