Popular diving accessory company heads in a new direction

In today’s changing business climate, it’s not uncommon for companies to change management or become acquired by others. Always on the leading edge and an innovator, Susan Martin, the creator of ScubaDoRag has announced that she has changed her legal name to Suuz Martines and has changed the corporate identity of Susan Martin Inc. to Suuz Enterprise, Inc.

While the company name may have changed, ScubaDoRags continues to be one of the most popular scuba diving accessories in the market today. Designed for safety, action and style, ScubaDoRags remain unmatched in quality and originality...[Link]

Luxfer Cylinders resumes scuba cylinder production in North America

Overwhelming public demand has prompted Luxfer Cylinders to reinstate production of its popular scuba cylinders.

Luxfer had opted to discontinue production in the past several months, as part of a wide-ranging operational restructure. The company had moved all aluminium cylinder manufacturing in the US to its factory in Graham, North Carolina.

In the process, Luxfer decided to discontinue its scuba cylinder production - until now. With demand from the diving public proving to be so strong, Luxfer has reconsidered and decided to offer its most popular scuba models again.

Furthermore, XS Scuba (Santa Ana, California) has been appointed the exclusive distributor for Luxfer scuba cylinders in North America...[Link]

Free under water camera from Vodafone

Get yourself kitted up for the coming summer with Vodafone's new offer of a free under water camera! Why restrict your holiday snaps to dry land when you can take great shots in the pool and under the waves?

The camera on offer is an Easypix Aqua W311 (pictured below), waterproof to a depth of 15m, boasting an excellent 12 megapix with an 8x optical zoom - all in all a fantastic little freebie. It comes with a waterproof case, pouch, and CD ROM with software. So how do you get your hands on one? Vodafone is giving them away with any 24 month dongle-only mobile broadband contract (i.e not with contracts including laptops/netbooks)...[BroadbandGenie]

Shedding more light on aiding search-and-rescue missions

The torrential rains last Monday might have dampened the demonstration of a new boating product, but OceanLED got the point across about the value of its lighting systems for search-and-rescue operations.

The company's publicists invited boating media to watch SeaTow crews and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue divers raise a sunken, 24-foot deck boat from Biscayne Bay at Scotty's Landing in Coconut Grove. The point of the staged event was to demonstrate the effectiveness of OceanLED's deck and underwater lights in locating and salvaging a sunken vessel at night...[MiamiHerald]

Sea&Sea DX-2G Underwater Camera Bundle

Sea&Sea from Japan has a brand new underwater camera bundle known as the DX-2G which strangely enough, resembles a Ricoh GX200 clone. And we thought that only Chinese manufacturers were into making copies of others' intellectual property. That gripe aside, you will find that the DX-2G will feature a 12.1 megapixel sensor as well as similar ISO speeds, Scene Modes and LCD display among others when compared against the Ricoh GX200...[Ubergizmo]

Seascooter GTi takes divers to new depths

James Bond, eat your heart out. Jean-Michel Cousteau, take a number. The Seascooter GTI from watersport experts SEA-DOO is an underwater propulsion unit lets anyone become an underwater adventurer. It's a splashy good time for everyone — useful for scuba divers and snorkelers, or just plain fun for swimmers in the surf. Diver propulsion vehicles for everyone.

The 18-pound Seascooter will swim along at 2.5 mph for up to two hours with a waterproof rechargeable battery. It will sweep you down to 100 feet, and it has adjustable buoyancy so you're not fighting it to stay submerged. For $400, it's not that expensive compared to the other costs associated with diving...[DVice.com]

New Scuba Diving Website Provides Information On Diving Equipment

All those people seeking an underwater adventure have a new place to get some motivation. Imagine feeling yourself effortlessly swimming through the water, with fish gently moving in the current. A relaxing thought? So what motivation do you need, to get off the couch and into the water, why not become a Scuba Diver today.

Learn about what is involved in getting started and getting qualified to Scuba Dive. Open Water Diving is the way to start, why not see what courses are available in your area. Divers as young as 10 or young at heart can learn to dive. Remember Scuba diving doesn’t always need to be on a tropical reef, and can be available to you in any location where there is water.

www.DivingIntoLife.com will inspire you to do just that. Dive into the life of a Scuba Diver. Not everyone can experience the underwater world via Scuba diving, your health is a large governing factor on if you can scuba diving or not; your health is the first thing to consider when you decide to scuba dive. www.DivingIntoLife.com – can help you answer the key question: Are you healthy enough to dive? If you are not able to Scuba Dive then snorkeling might be more your style.

The site aims to help you understand what Scuba Diving is and what equipment you will need, also how that scuba equipment can expand with you as your skills expand...[WebWire]

New device could help pinpoint lost scuba divers

Every year international headlines report cases of scuba divers who have been lost at sea. Some of these incidents end happily as in the case of the divers who were rescued from a remote Indonesian desert island in 2008. Sometimes, as in the case of Eileen and Tom Lonergan who were diving on the Great Barrier Reef the divers are 'lost presumed dead'.

In response to this the team at thediveflag has invented a new dive flag that will enable divers to quickly indicate their position to boats at distances up to 3 kilometres.

Manufacturers of the H.E.L.P. (Handheld Emergency Location Pinpointer) have taken advantage of the findings of various official studies into emergency diver signaling devices and come up with a safety device that can be seen up to 3 kilometers away.

Utilizing a yellow flag on top of a telescopic pole the H.E.L.P. is one of the most effective means of making divers visible to their dive-boat and other potential rescue vessels. Though it has the capability to extend to as much as 1.5 meters when required it can collapse down to a mere 20cm and fit into a buoyancy jacket pocket. The neat little device is equipped with a non-slip handle and weighs only 150g. Being so compact means that it can be taken on every dive as standard equipment yet is immediately available to use in an emergency situation.

In the past divers tended to rely upon 'safety sausages' to act as a signal of their position. The British Health and Safety Executive discovered that, though useful, safety sausages have a number of disadvantages in that they are not always easy to use and are nowhere near as visible as the yellow emergency flag. Divers on the surface in rough conditions, caught in a current or experiencing any kind of difficulty need to be collected by their boats quickly. The H.E.L.P. is one of the most effective means of being spotted fast and thus being picked up in the minimum amount of time...[BYMNews.com]

Scuba Divers Can Now Protect Their Gear From Loss and Theft in Style.

New personalization and ID kit lets Scuba divers put their names on all their fabric items. Patented device makes it fast and easy for anyone to ID their things with perfect results every time. ID prevents loss and theft of gear.

Garden Grove, California, USA: A man's dream, to find a way for scuba divers to brand their names on their gear, is finally a reality.
Now, after years of development, John Wynne is rolling out his patented dream invention, called Fastencil, into the aisles and onto the web sites of scuba stores across the country. His invention makes it possible for anyone to permanently brand their name, with expert results, on all of their fabric scuba gear, such as wet suits, BCD's, gear bags, hoods, and more.

'On a dive boat or crowded beach all dive gear looks similar, so it needs a name or ID on it to prevent loss and theft', said Wynne. 'I realized that there wasn't a practical and inexpensive way for people to get their names on their scuba gear- especially their fabric items."...[PRInside]

Phantom Emergency Air Concept

Some people fear dying by drowning more than others, and here's the Phantom Emergency Air concept device that could potentially be a lifesaver. After all, you never know when disaster is going to strike, so why not play it safe by bringing the Phantom Emergency Air with you the next time you go scuba diving?...[Ubergizmo.com]

Silent Diving Systems Recalls Scuba Diving Hoses

Silent Diving Systems is recalling about 820 scuba diving hoses because of a drowning hazard.

The diving hoses may have been made without crimps, which can allow gas to leak or water to enter into the re-breather unit of the scuba diving equipment, posing a drowning hazard to the user.

The crimped hoses are used to carry the air supply in the re-breathing diving system. The hoses were sold on three re-breathing models: Inspiration, Evolution and Evolution Plus. Hoses with a smooth (uncrimped) collar and with the model numbers listed below are included in the recall:

AP300/15 ADV Supply Hose
RB20/03 Oxygen Injection Hose
EV20/03 Oxygen Injection Hose
RB20/10 Buzzer Hose
EV11A/1 Vision Handset Hose
RB11A/1 Classic Handset Hose
RB11/B Handset Hose
AP300/10 ADV Hose
AP300/38 ADV Hose

Hoses with eight flats on the hose collar have been crimped and are not included in the recall...[ConsumerAffairs]

The Use of Trimix in Deep Sea Diving

People who are inexperienced with scuba diving tend to assume that such divers carry oxygen in the cylinder on their back to breathe it through a regulator when diving underwater. Nothing can be further from the truth as scuba divers never use pure oxygen

The reason for not using oxygen is that under the increasing pressure as you dive deeper, oxygen gives rise to "oxygen toxicity" that harms the cell lining of the lungs and the central nervous system.

In fact, what the recreational divers use is ordinary air that is a mixture of 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. But under the pressure of water at increased depth, the high level of nitrogen in air creates another problem which is called decompression sickness or "bends" in divers' terminology. Further, elevated nitrogen levels can cause nitrogen narcosis.

The deep sea divers who dive to much greater depths than the recreational scuba divers use a gas mixture called Nitrox that contains 32% or 36% of oxygen, the rest (68% or 64%) being nitrogen. The lower content of nitrogen reduces the risk of nitrogen sickness but now the increased oxygen introduces the problems with pure oxygen, though to a much lesser degree. Even so, the effect of increased percentage of oxygen starts having its effect as the diver goes deeper, so there is a limit to the depth to which the diver can descend when Nitrox is used...[BlueFlipperDiving]

OLED Dive Computer from Uemis

Here’s the perfect accessory to go along with your HD-video recording dive mask on your next scuba diving trip: the uemis Zurich, an advanced dive computer with a gorgeous OLED display.

This “scuba diver assistant”, an advancement on the traditional scuba dive computer, offers a full color display with a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, a wireless connection to your scuba tanks to report remaining pressure, and straps that are easy to manage even when you’re wearing gloves.

The uemis Zurich diver assistant connects to a PC by USB cable to charge, as well as to synchronize your dive log online with uemis’ web-based profiles.

The Lithium Polymer battery provides about 10 hours of use between charges. Not only can you charge by connecting to your laptop, but an integrated solar panel allows you to charge the unit while sitting on the boat deck between dives!..[CrunchGear]

Underwater Forest Vs. Underwater Chainsaw

It may seem like a pipe dream for someone to come up with a viable solution to stop the endless logging in many parts of the world. Logging that is driven by people’s materialistic needs, usually the very same people who bemoan the loss of our rainforests and the effects of global warming. Yet one company, Triton, who have been in business for a number of years, discovered perfectly adequate resolution quite a while ago, its just few people know of it, or practice it.

Beneath the surface of many lakes around the world stand sprawling underwater forests. Towering trees that may have been submerged for decades but are no less usable than trees plucked from land forests. It’s thought there are around 300 million trees lying in a number of lakes formed after valleys were flooded to make way for dams and reservoirs. These perfectly preserved forests could easily be the answer conservationists have been looking for...[EnvironmentalGraffiti.com]

Innovative product adds an HD camcorder to a scuba mask

The mask/camera features an integrated HD video camera capable of recording at 720p/30 frames per second.

The mask is rated for depths up to 115ft, and includes 2 LED light attachments for increasing the color and detail which is usually lost as you dive deeper.

The camera has 64MB of internal memory, but any real life use will require an additional MicroSD memory card which adds 1 hour of space for every 2GB of storage.

The Liquid Image HD Scuba series camera mask will be available in Spring, and the suggested retail price is $215...[Gadling.com]

The "Gold" standard of dive computers

The Sea Instrument removes the stress of being underwater, guiding with the theoretical decompression information required. Presenting data on the dive depth and time constantly keeps the user in a true real time picture. A state of the art 3-axis compass with waypoint bearing will help guide you through your dive path. On resurfacing, the Land Mode logs surface time, desaturation and no fly times allowing you to prepare for any repetitive dives.


Price is $3,000 for the steel version, and $46,000 if you want one in gold. Don't forget the only way the Sea Instrument works is if you clip it to the Biformeter, which costs $5,000. Linde Werdelin site...