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  1. Metric vs Imperial SCUBA Cylinder Sizes 232 bar: 18L(141 ft3) and 15L(117 ft3) = 8-inch (large); 12L(95 ft3) and 10L(78 ft3) = 7-inch (standard); 7L(54 ft3) and 5L(39 ft3) = 5-inch (small). In many parts of the world, the most popular SCUBA tank is the steel "12 liter"; the US equivalent is the "HP100". However, in ...
  2. Finger Spools Are Not Reels The skills required to deploy a finger spool are different than those required to use a typical reel. At first glance the simple spool looks easier, but compared to reels the finger spool requires different specific techniques for successful use. If this is your first finger spool then seek ...
  3. SCUBA Cylinder Neck Threads and Pressures in North America The most common service pressures seen in modern SCUBA tanks are 2640 psi, 3000 psi, 3300 psi, 3442 psi, and 3500 psi. The 2640 psi low-pressure steel tanks are preferred by Nitrox and technical divers who expect to be blending their gases using the partial-pressure method. Most aluminum SCUBA ...
  4. Rechargeable Battery Chemistry for Dive Lights - Lithium Ion Dive light batteries have shifted over the years as a result of advances in technology: Ni-Cad, NiMH, and now Li-ion chemistry has replaced previous technology in most rechargeable canister and handheld lights. Lithium-ion is a rechargeable battery technology that offers the advantage of ...
  5. Manifold Crossbar Isolator Valves May Not Improve Safety The use of an isolator valve on the manifold cross bar of doubles is a relatively recent introduction in the sport, but their use is now nearly universal in technical diving performed in North America. The idea is that the effect of catastrophic containment failure in the gas path on one ...
  6. Blame Normalization of Deviance, Not "Complacency" Every year experienced divers die in diving related avoidable accidents that should not have happened because the victim was "always so careful". One of the more common examples in open-circuit diving is a failure to analyze gas before diving and in rebreather diving it is a failure to use a ...
  7. Take Only What You Need, No More and No Less New divers have a tendency to use equipment to replace skills, which is a reasonable approach to maximize enjoyment of the early dives. However, we have seen divers looking like they walked through a dive shop with a magnet and we wonder who recommended all that stuff. Experienced ...
  8. Mr. Cleaning Your Dive Slate and Wetnotes Divers have tried a lot of ways to clean their slate or wetnotes: kitchen cleansers, as well as toothpaste and sandpaper, but they all pretty much make a mess and are not very handy. A much better alternative solution to cleaning carbon pencil from your slate is melamine foam, sold in the ...
  9. When is Enough... Enough? The makers of dive reels and finger spools find themselves "between a rock and a hard place" as they say in cave country. Manufacturers know that for their devices to work properly, the line should only fill about 80% of the spool. Like a cup of liquid filled to the very brim, invariably an ...
  10. Lubrication and SCUBA Valve Installation In general purpose applications, the lubrication of joining threads will reduce galvanic action between dissimilar metals and when joining tapered threads is useful to reduce galling. This is especially true when the very tight join alone is responsible for providing a seal. Aluminum metal is ...
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