Dry Suits

Dry Suits are constructed from several different types of materials, water proof zippers and seals around the neck and wrists. Dry suits trap air or other gases between the suit and your skin. Air has a lower heat capacity than water so it acts as insulation and causes less heat loss than water does.

Wet Suits

Wet Suits are the most widely used exposure suit and are usually made from Neoprene foam (neoprene foam doesn't absorb water). A wet suit traps seeped in water between the suit and your skin. Your body heats the water and if there is no water circulation it doesn't cause further heat loss.

Body Suits or Skin Suits

Body Suits or Skin Suits are one piece light-weight suits made from stretch fabrics like Lycra. They are used to protector people from the sun and accidental abrasions.

Suunto Vyper Air Dive Computer w/Transmitter Review

The Suunto Vyper Air is a wrist top dive computer that gives the diver depth, dive time, regular time, temperature, computes decompression limits, advises safety stops and with the wireless transmitter provides tank pressure information. I’ve been using the Vyper Air for almost a year after upgrading from an older Suunto Vytec DS with a wireless transmitter and I have to say I love the Air.

If you compare pictures of previous models to pictures of the Vyper Air you can see an immediate advantage in the larger screen and text display area. Moreover, the navigation buttons are larger and covered in full plastic which means easier navigation as you don’t have to use your fingernail to change settings or view past dive logs.

One of the newest features introduced in the Vyper Air is the digital compass. When you first get the Air you’ll need to walk around above water to configure the compass. Once you’ve configured it the compass works in a three dimensional manner below water - almost as easily as a regular compass. Personally the only problem I’ve had with using the Air as a compass was it took the focus away from being a dive computer. I like having a separate wrist top compass and wrist top computer but the compass display is large enough to cause me to loose focus of other important information the computer is trying to tell me.  Then again having a backup compass is quite nice.

The Lionfish Creates an Uproar

This video and article was posted in the WSJ. With the population of Lionfish rapidly growing and spreading up and down the East Coast (outside of the tropics) scientists are getting out the effort to hunt them. Lionfish consume far too many other fish, crabs, shrimp, etc. and as such they threaten the existing species in these new ecosystems.

The Blue Ocean in RED by Howard Hall

Check out a video called The Blue Ocean in RED by Howard Hall. A coworker sent this video to me and it's very cool:


The Blue Ocean in RED from Howard Hall on Vimeo.

I'd recommend checking out more of Howard Halls videos. They are quite good.

Dry Suit Diving

A few months ago I signed up for the PADI Dry Suit Diver class because I wanted to try diving a Dry Suit – go figure! I wasn’t sure what the differences were, other than it takes you twice as long to get in them and you supposedly stay warmer. Here’s what I learned: