12/4/2006 - Gear Care

I'm sick and tired of having to service gear that hasn't been looked after properly. I'm sure most of you know this all anyway, but here's my suggestion for looking after you gear properly, to make sure that it doesn't turn to crap on you.

1.   Make sure you get the gear serviced annually. This is your entire reg set, as well as your BCD. Funnily enough, there are several components in the BC inflator which can screw up if you don't look after them, as well as your dump valves which can wear. If you dive a LOT, I might even recommend taking your gear in for a clean and check up every six months, just to be on the safe side.

2.  RINSE YOUR GEAR AFTER EVERY DIVE! If you're pedantic and really care about your gear, use warm water and soak the gear, this way you'll most likely get rid of all the salt crystals (which is what causes the problems).

To rinse your regulators

The best way to rinse this is under pressure - simply leave your scuba unit together (tank, regs & BC) with pressure in the system, and dunk it in a tub, leaving it to soak. I know that a lot of times you can't wash them under pressure, so be very careful if you wash them all individually to not get water in areas where it shouldn't go.

MAKE SURE THE DUST CAP IS ON! If your regs aren't environmentally sealed, you have to remember that you have an entire dive for salt water to penetrate the ambient chambers of your reg. Most people only dunk the regs quickly to wash them, this probably isn't enough time to adequately clean the regs. Soak them (in warm water as I suggested earlier) for an extended period, making sure that you move them around every now and then to get water flow happening.

To rinse the second stages, never ever hold the purge button in if there is no pressure in the system. If you do, this will send water straight up your hoses and into your first stage which is Very Bad. Again, soak them in warm water. If you want to move them through the water for flow, make sure you don't move the second stage against the purge button pressure so you inadvertantly let the water pressure push the purge button (let me know if that sentence makes NO SENSE).

For gauges and compasses, make sure you get salt and sand out of everything. Turn bezels to make sure they run smoothly, and again, let them soak to get the water out.

To rinse your BCD

Never push the inflation button if the system has no pressure in the line. This will send water into your inflation mechanism and more than likely cause corrosion.

To clean the bladder, inflate the BCD and drain all the salt water out of out using the dump valves. Then inflate it again and fill it with fresh water. Rinse the fresh water around, then drain it. Inflate half way, add some BC Life if you're into your 'products' and then hang it to dry out of sunlight.

I'm running out of time, so I have to go. Let me know if I've missed some important steps (which, knowing me, I have!)

Cheers!

6/7/2006 - Plastic Pencils

Years and years ago when I attended things like youth group, we had many craft projects to keep our young minds occupied while our parents had a well deserved break. Part of our craft projects was creating Pencil People – we’d glue pompoms and cotton balls to pencils and attach ‘eyes’ and decorate with glitter and lace. Definitely fun, and apparently my sense of style and art has changed drastically since those days! Anyway, my mother always kept our ‘treasures’ in a box for some reason, the way I guess most mother’s always keep their kids’ crappy attempts at art. A while ago when I was looking for something else I came across the Pencil People – talk about a blast from the past!

Why am I telling you this? All the Pencil People were made out of PLASTIC PENCILS! Anyone who has EVER used a slate and pencil underwater will know the unending frustration of having the wood split and losing your graphite. With plastic pencils, that doesn’t happen! It’s just like a normal wooden pencil, instead of having wood though, plastic surrounds the graphite!

Unfortunately, I only made three Pencil People – one red, one green and one blue. I, much to my mother’s chagrin, callously ripped the pompoms and glitter and eyes off the pencils and commandeered them for my slates. I have yet to find plastic pencils in any stores, and am greedily guarding my green and blue ones until such a time as I can replace them (my red one is attracting far too much attention of the "can I borrow your pencil?" variety). If anyone knows where I might find plastic pencils, I would be most indebted to you!

And no, I don’t like pacers. They rust and anything that technical has an intrinsic dislike for me and deliberately doesn’t work. The leads never stay in, or never come out, and I’m always loosing bits of the damn pencils.

Anyway, these plastic pencils were apparently known as "Tree Saver Pencils" but I can't find them anywhere, and I think they'd make an ideal christmas gift for some of my DMs and fellow instructor's who have the same issues with slates & pencils that I do! I mean, how frustrating is it on those deep dives where you give your students the slate with a question, and they can't answer because the graphite fell out of the pencil?! Always makes me feel like a bit of a loser.

Lastly, Tree Saver Pencils save the trees and protect the environment - long live the Koala's!