We often recieve questions like this and all to often we always answer them in one form or another.
So, here is some more information for those of us who may have forgotten the basic scuba and
snorkel gear questions. 

Question: In snorkel equipment what do the sizes represent? 

Answer: Fins and Booties come in Men’s sizing with Women breakdowns.
If you are speaking about Mask Sizes for say Small to Medium Faces, then these
take into account facial features that may be an issue when it comes time to fit. 
Women usually fit in Small to medium masks where Men tend to be fine in either style. 

Question: What size for an average size male? 

Answer: Medium to Large  

Question: What size for an average size female?

Answer: Small to medium

Question: What is a semi-dry snorkel? What are options?

Answer: Semi Dry comes with a Splash or Wave Guard to keep water out if a wave comes. 
A dry snorkel will stay dry inside when submerged.  For regular snorkeling most folks
go with the dry one like the Oceanic Dry Snorkel.

Question: Do the inflatable snorkel vests adequately replace the larger/bulkier
“life saver” type vests? Reason - traveling and looking to save luggage space.

Answer: Yes a snorkel vest will pack deflated and is specifically used for snorkeling
where one may need the floatation but is mainly a precaution.  They are also nice to add
a few breaths of air while resting on the surface.  They are not to take the place of a
life vest so whomever uses a snorkel vest must be a good swimmer and comfortable in the water.

We have all heard the line:  I just went to put on my wetsuit for the first time this year and it shrunk.  Now, the joke is that you may have gained a bit of weight and you are making an excuse that the wetsuit has mysteriously shrunk.   Well, best I can figure, the answer here is both.  Myth and Confirmed.  Here is why.

Now, lets start with the confirmed part: Wetsuits are made primarily from Neoprene, a material that comes in many thicknesses but the main part is that is has air bubbles in it that add insulation to the diver or surfer.  Now, most neoprene over time has been proven to loose its “stretch” or not be as pliable, even stiffen.  Thus it can be argued that it in fact Shrunk.  Mainly because it doesn’t have as much stretch. 

Now the mythpart:  We also know that if you gain weight, work out or otherwise change your body by adding inches, then the suit will seem to be “Shrinking” as well.  The joke has always been that my suit shrunk especially when it comes to not admitting ones over indulgence during the winter may have actually been the cause. 

We also know that many wetsuit manufacturers like BodyGlove and Henderson Wetsuits have huge marketing departments that come up with many new ways to differentiate themselves from the competition.  Some may add a “Titanium” lining for extra warmth, or a “Platinum” glide skin interior for easier donning….. So how does this feed into the myth of a wetsuit shrinking you say? 

Have you heard of Hyperstrech or Yamamoto SCS Titanium Super Stretch neoprene?   They are all part of the newest kind of neoprene that are so stretchy with memory so they always come back to the original shape.  This makes them much better than the neoprene wetsuits of the past.  This also may just make this a Myth as those of us who like to say the wetsuit shrinks will have to come up with some other excuse.  Darn, I was getting so used to that excuse…..

What will your excuse be?

The National Park Service is investigating the death of 40-year-old Michael Lawrence Anderson of Las Vegas, who died on a technical dive to the wreckage of a Navy PBY Catalina flying boat that crashed into Lake Mead in 1949.  (Picture of a PBY Boat from Internet Left)

At 1:52 p.m. Sunday 2-11 the National Park Service emergency dispatch center received a 911 call and rangers arrived at Boulder Basin by 2:09 p.m.

Park rangers performed CPR on the diver for about 45 minutes. Mercy Air ambulance also responded, but the victim was pronounced dead at 3 p.m.

Anderson was diving with three other Las Vegas men when he apparently had a problem with his air supply. Assistant park superintendent Gary Warshefski said the divers were working about 150 feet beneath Lake Mead’s surface at the time of the accident.

The Catalina flying boat crashed into Lake Mead on Oct. 24, 1949. The aircraft, converted for civilian use by the Charles Babb Company of Los Angeles, took off from Boulder City Airport for a test flight and attempted a water landing in the Boulder Basin area of Lake Mead. But the landing gear was still down, causing the plane to flip and catch fire.

Four of the five men on board died. Pilot Russell Rogers and mechanic Charmen Correa, both from Southern California, went down with the wreckage. Fellow Californian Clarence Masters and Boulder City Airport Operator Ted Swift were thrown clear of the plane but never regained consciousness.

George Davis, the only member of the group strapped to his seat, survived with a broken leg, cuts and bruises.

The Patrol Bomber, built for the U.S. Navy in the 1930s and 1940s, was used in World War II. The aircraft that went down at Lake Mead is is two pieces, resting at a depth of 190 feet below the surface.

All of us at The Scuba Blog offer our condolences to the family of Mr. Anderson.

Source: Las Vega Sun

Well, I write this with a heavy hand as it has come to my attention that one of my favorite diving destinations is continuing to lose water depth.  Yes that is right, the dive sites I used to know and love have pretty much disappeared.  OK, I know the suspense is killing you.  I am referring to Lake Mead in Las Vegas Nevada.  Yep, I have cut my teeth here and now it is a completely different diving destination.

Dive spots like the Batch Plant and the Tortuga are high and dry.  Bummer.  On the good side, this means that suff we could not dive on because it was to deep is now in recreational dive limits.  So, I guess we will take the good with the bad.

 So, happy diving for now.  Remember: A bad day Blowing Bubbles is better than a day at work!!

As a scuba diver, the most important pieces of equipment are those that make up the life support system. These include your regulator system (1st & 2nd stages, depth & pressure gauge & dive computer), buoyancy compensator device (BCD) and alternate air source (octo, octopus, occy). This equipment not only allows you to enjoy the underwater environment, it is also the only thing keeping you alive while you are there. 

The people of this world come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Scuba equipment, unfortunately does not. Lets focus on BCD’s. Once you have decided on a particular style based on your diving preferences, you will then need to find the correct size. Most manufacturers have size charts in their catalogs or on their websites to use as a general sizing references. If you don’t have a catalog, don’t worry, we have added all the size charts to our site when yo are looking at a product. 

Sizing for BCD’s is usually based on height and weight and include ranges for each size category.  Generally you can choose the size of a BCD based on your T-Shirt Size.  If both your height and weight fall into one particular size, then you more than likely will wear that particular size. If you height falls into one size category and your weight falls in another, it would be safer to base your decision on the weight range rather than the height. Almost all BCD’s have user sizing adjustment straps which means that one size may fit a wider range of heights and weights. If your weight falls close to the heavier end of the range then it is safer to go with the larger size. 

There are some factors that you need to take into account when determining sizing for BCDs. One of which is to take into account what you will be wearing with regards to an exposure protection. Will you be wearing a swim suit or a lycra skin? Will you be wearing a .5, 3, 5 or 7 millimeter wetsuit? How about a drysuit? You could put on each suit and then check the fit on each one but you would probably end up with heatstroke if you were to do that. The following guidelines will help you avoid this ordeal. 

Loosen the shoulder adjustment straps, sternum strap and waist strap.

Put the BCD on wearing a t-shirt and adjust the cummerbund to fit snugly across the abdomen. The velcro on the cummerbund should overlap a minimum of two to three inches. (see photo 1).   

       

Connect the waist strap buckle and tighten it to a comfortable fit. (see photo 2).

Connect the sternum strap buckle and tighten this so the shoulder straps are in a position where there is no chance for a shoulder strap to be able to slide off the shoulder. (see photo 3).

Tighten the shoulder straps last. (see photo 4).

     

When you look at all of the straps that you tightened, there should be at a minimum of 1-1 1/2 inches to 2-2 1/2 inches of excess stapping left over. The BCD overall should fit snug but with some room for a wetsuit or drysuit. Look in the mirror or have someone look to see if there are any gaps around the shoulder area. (see photo 5). If there are, like the picture, you should try on a smaller size. If the BCD does not have weight integration capabilities then you would also want to make sure that it is not hanging down in such a way that it would impede access to the weight belt release buckle.

What About Womens Scuba BCD’s

For years the scuba industry made BCD’s based on the male physique. They placated the female dive population by adding pink to a man’s small or extra small and calling it a women’s BCD. Women, traditionally, have a shorter torso length than men and for years had to deal with the shoulder gapping of the supposedly female BCD. The last 10 to 15 years brought dramatic changes to BCDs for women.

A Female BCD is unique in that it allows for more comfortable positioning along the bust area. Smaller busted women may prefer the straps to come over the front of the bust whereas larger busted women may want the straps to go along the sides of the bust. It is also a shorter torso length and is cut higher around the hip area so your BCD is not wrapped uncomfortably around the hips. For a safer and more enjoyable dive, women please purchase a BCD made by a women for women. And how should it fit? The same instructions as the mens bcd.

To choose a mask to fit properly you will first want to choose the proper mask style for your face size and special features, etc.  Take a look at the “How do I choose the right dive or snorkel mask?” in our Gear Questions area.

Now you are ready to choose the skirt style and color.  Most skirt “sealing surfaces” come in clear silicone.  These are most popular because they allow ambient light in for the wearer and ease the “claustrophobic” feeling often times associated with the underwater experience.

Black skirts have all the functionality of the clear versions but they do not allow ambient light in.  This may be an issue for some while many like it because the distractions of the ambient light are mitigated allow focused vision profile.  Another benefit you cannot see the sinuses draining.  Not cool if you are an Instructor or with someone you are trying to impress.

So, there you have it, choose your mask and when in doubt, ask and Instructor. 

Snorkels have changed allot but have always stayed in 3 basic categories.  Dry, Splash Guard and Basic or traditional.  The dry snorkel gets its name from staying dry when you go under water, (providing the user keeps the mouthpiece in when doing so).

 

A dry top or splashguard style has the same attributes but not the dry feature that seals when taken under water.  The splashguard keeps water from freely entering the breathing tube when a wave may accidentally come over or the user mistakenly dips it under.

 Lastly a fixed position mouthpiece is best for snorkeling as the mouth piece will always be in you mouth and no jaw fatigue.  For Scuba the best is usually the corrugated version as when you are not using it, the mouthpiece flexes down and out of the way so you can make room for your regulator.  The jaw fatigue factor is not as important as usually you don’t need to use it as often.

 Guidelines for Proper Weighting.  We all know that most new divers tend to need a bit more weight than seasoned ones because Buoyancy Control takes several dives to master.  Common types of weights include pouchstyle with lead pellets (left) or solid lead style. 

I have over 3000 and still have a challenge every once in a while.  Here is the best rule of thumb for weighting that I have found:

FRESH Water:

Swimsuit or DiveSkin- Begin with 1 to 4 pounds / 0.5/2kg

Thin 3mm wetsuits or Shorty- 5% of your Body Weight

Medium Thickness 5mm suits- 10% of your Body Weight

Cold Water 7mm with hood/gloves- 10% of your Body Weight plus 3-5 pounds / 1.5/3kg

Neoprene Drysuit- 10% of your Body Weight plus 7-10 pounds / 3-5kg

Shell Style Dry Suits w/o under garment - 10% of your Body Weight plus 3-5 pounds / 1.5/3kg

Shell Style Dry Suits w/ heavy under garment - 10% of your Body Weight plus 7-14 pounds / 3-7kg

The undergarments vary quite a bit as they can realy add allot surface area to you thus increasing the amount of weight needed to stay neutrally buoyant.

Salt Water Diving (add to above calculations for Fresh Water)

100 to 125 lb (45-56kg) add 4 pounds (2kg)
126 to 155 lb (57-70kg)  add 5 pounds (2.3kg)
156 to 186 lb (71-85kg) add 6 pounds (3kg)
187 to 217 lb (86-99kg) add 7 pounds (3.2kg)

Always do a buoyancy check before beginning your dive and also factor in that if you are diving with an aluminum 80 tank you will need to add a little more to compesate for the tank toward the end of the dive.  If you are diving with a steel tank the same holds true except you will need less weight.  That is why it is so important to perform a neutral buoyancy check before beginning your dive. 

I was just thinking….who cares if you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays.  Bottom line regardless of religion we are all saying something to the world.  Love your fellow man and appreciate the fact that most of us are good people and when given the chance.. we do the right thing.  So Merry Christmas from TheScubaBlog and may all your Scuba Dreams Come true.

Question: My husband has a mustache which has made snorkeling nearly impossible due to water pouring into his mask.  Can you tell me if you sell as mask for men with a mustache and if so, what set would you  recommend? 

Answer: Normally folks with Mustache will go with a nose purge style mask as it will always leak but at least they can clear easily by exhaling via thier nose.  He may also want to put vaseline on it to help seal along with trimming below nose.  Check out the Mask Category and look for Masks with Nose Purges.

I thought this was a good one.  If you fart in a wetsuit will it blow up with your gas?  I already know the answer but I figured it would be a funny addition to the Scuba Myth category.  While I admit that I have farted in my wetsuit, it has never blown up or expanded like the poor guy below.  I do remember a few bubbles escaping into the water, but I don’t think that I was letting that much escape.  Hmmm, makes you wonder.   I have even farted in a dry suit without any altercations. 

I wonder if anyone has done the number 2?  That would be a scuba discussion for another time I suspect.

 For now I say BUSTED!!!

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles per year.  Another study found Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of beer a year.  This means Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.  Kind of makes you proud to be an American who Scuba Dives!!!!

Wonder how much compressed air the average Scuba Diver breathes each year?  Hmmmmm/

PADI Master Instructer Bill Gornet made my scuba experience so….easy. I had always had issues with clostrophobia and was, to be honest, a bit scared. Bill made sure I was completely informed about every little thing that we were about to do. It put me at ease instantly. I cannot say enough about how important it is to feel at ease when diving. If you’re all tensed up, you miss the beauty of the experience, and fresh water diving is quite a beautiful experience. I not only left with a grateful smile on my face, thanks to Gornet, but I bought equipment that very day as it was top of the line and very well priced. I surfed the Internet and contacted some fellow divers (okay, one was my husband) and found that I got a real steal on gear. I highly recommend this expedition. Nellie Sciutto

As most folks know, Lake Mead located near Las Vegas, Nevada is one of the top five fresh water diving destinations in the US. What many may not know is that in 1948 a modified B29A Superfortress Bomber sunk in the Lake (the crew survived) never to be seen again until 2001 when a local dive team lead by Gregg Mikolasek dove on it. More information available at: www.indepthconsulting.com

As of this article, the National Park Service is planning on opening this site to the general public. More than likely it will be a permitted dive with proper technical diving credentials needed to obtain the permission. I had the opportunity be a part of the dive team that dove on the wreck recently with Gregg Mikolasek. This was his first dive on the wreck since 2002.

As with all technical diving you need to plan for the depth and time of the dive. Then you must properly equip yourself to accommodate the task so that you can methodically make the dive and return safely. So, twin tanks with two regulators, bcd with double bladders and a deco bottle properly mixed for the dive plan is a minimal requirement. You also have to figure in bottom timers, back up analog gauges in case your battery operated ones fail and then last but not least dive lights, back ups, lift bags, reels and back up air decompression if needed. If this sounds like allot of work for one dive, you would be correct.

On the top side we prepare ourselves for entry. Donning our dry suits, squeezing into our tank harnesses, configuring our regulators, octos, L.P. hoses, gauges, wrist mount computers etc. We both make less than graceful entries into the water and start to check our over 200 pounds of gear for obvious entanglements, etc.

We compare our dive plan once again and with the thumbs down signal we start the initial descent. At 30 feet we perform a bubble check and then on to 100 feet where we decide if the dive is a “go” or “abort”. Today it is a “go”.

As we descend, ambient light starts to filter out and our dive lights only reflect the greenish tinted water of Lake Mead. All you can really reference is the down line and your dive buddy so we continue to descend much like a sky diver before he pulls his parachute cord, legs and arms out to control our fall. Once we reach 130 feet the water temp is at 50 degrees and dropping. The pressure has us constantly adding air to our dry suits and bcd’s to control the rate of our descent.

During this phase of the dive we start to feel the effects of the higher than normal amount of nitrogen we are breathing and narcosis becomes part of the dive (much like the feeling of a few drinks). While it is a concern, it is part of the technical divers training to handle this.

130 feet, 140 feet, 150 feet, and touch down. I am looking at my dive buddy Gregg as he points to something around my left shoulder. As I add some air to my BCD and dry suit to attain neutral buoyancy I am treated to a sight that will take your breath away. The tail of a B-29 Bomber. At first I could not focus, as it was this shadow blocking out the little ambient light that was able to pierce down this far. I was amazed. “This plane is huge”, I thought to myself.I saw some black numbers and rays of light glowing from the edges but at 29 feet tall the tail is just a fraction of the rest of the 100 foot plus long plane. With visibility that day limited to 30 feet you have to piece what you are seeing in your mind like a puzzle.

Since 1990 when I first started hearing rumors of a sunken B-29 at Lake Mead I was intrigued. I finally started really asking around in 1996 when I was able to acquire information from the National Park Service station in Boulder City Nevada. The documents were for the registration of a B-29 as a National Historic Site. They gave approximate Latitude and Longitude coordinates for the location and even included a brief history of how and when it went down.

From then on I was hooked. Like the guy who sits on his sailboat talking about a trip around the world and never leaving his slip, I talked allot but never really did anything about actually finding this plane. Oh, we took the boat out and with our depth finder ran a few lanes looking in the area that it was supposed to be, but at 300 feet we really didn’t do much about it. Then I became busy, marriage, children, working etc.

So, here I was, realizing a dream. A once in a lifetime dive right here in my back yard. I shook off my amazement, checked my air pressure, took a quick look at gauges and started off past the tail section following Gregg as he took the lead.

Each careful kick of my fins propelled me to another spot of the plane that I was seeing for the first time. The gunners turret had been removed and replaced with a hatch that was moved opened. I stuck my head in and pointed my light inside. The aluminum skeleton was in great shape as I imagined what it must have looked like in 1948. Over 50 years ago this plane went down to the depths of Lake Mead and here it was resting in dignity. The silver finish had been replaced by a light dusting of silt and calcium build up but the plane still looked like it wanted to take off and fly again. As we continued surveying the wreck our next stop was the nose section. Right there was the steering yoke, instruments and what was left of the nose after it hit the lake bottom. Gregg motioned me to touch the yoke, and when I did I imagined the plane cruising at 230 MPH before it crashed on the lake surface. Each breath of air gave me another chance to stay here lingering back in history. I thought about the workers who’s rivets still held fast and the plane hanging in the air with one engine barely running as it laid on the surface above me.

We swooped over to the left wing and I saw that it was still above ground. Then to my surprise, the one and only engine was there. Again it was larger than I expected. The bent propeller was at least 12 feet long. I put my arms around the engine and could barely cover the top. To think there was four of these monsters on this plane at one time. We poked around under the wing and saw one for the landing gear pieces still in tact waiting to come out. Upon further inspection I could see the tire and tread.

Another air check, 1800 psi and time 14 minutes 180 feet deep. We had to be back at the up line ready to ascend in 6 minutes. Time was flying by quickly. I gave my buddy the circular OK signal with the light and he did the same. We went a bit further out onto the wing and saw where one of the engines was ripped from the mount. The force of the plane ramming the lakes surface ripped three off just like that. It surprised me that anything was left. But here it was.

We worked our way back on the same side of the tail where our line was. Now that I was settled into the dive I was able to look into the window and see how the plane had faired over the past 50 plus years. While lying in silt, it was not silted over. I figured I was the 20th or so to see this plane and had Gregg to thank for the opportunity.

As we passed the tail section one last time our dive was at exactly 20 minutes. We gave each other the signal and slowly made our way to the first micro bubble stop at 100 feet. As we ascended up the line I watched the tail section disappear where we left it. The chance to realize my dream, even if I wasn’t the one to find it, still gave me a sense of fulfillment.

On this day we dove with a 40% Deco Mix so we switched at 90 feet in between venting BCD’s and dry suits to control our ascent. For the next 30 minutes we went to our pre determined stops at 60 feet, 40 feet, 30 feet and then the final one at 15 feet. I was pumping my fists and celebrating this dive. I reached over and shook Gregg’s hand and voiced to him “Thanks Man”. He knew I was grateful and I think that even though he had logged dozens of dives on this plane, he felt renewed a bit too. It had been over three years since he had last dove on the wreck.

We surfaced and with my frozen lips I screamed out some sort of incoherent sentence about how cool the dive was. Gregg agreed and we floated there on the smooth surface as the sun warmed our faces on what turned out to be a perfect day for a perfect dive. For me it was also a Birthday Gift as the next day I turned 40.

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Instructor Bill is a PADI Master Instructor and TDI Instructor. He is also a USCG Captain and currently manages the Dive Shop operations and instructional efforts for Dive Las Vegas and OnlineScuba.com.

Scuba Regulator Package under $400

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