Filmed before I was born, but remarkable in its pioneering efforts, the Disney film Jules Vernes 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea captured imaginations of a generation. Check out these incredible photos of the production process.
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Free Download of Incredible Resource The proceedings from the most important conference in the history of rebreather diving, Rebreather Forum 3.0, is being provided for download free of charge by DAN. Click here to get your copy of this incredible book.
Minimal Loop Volume I recently received an email from a diver who was having a bit of a struggle with buoyancy on his new rebreather. An experienced rebreather diver, he was diving a back mounted counterlung for the first time and wondered whether this was a part of his frustration. My advice to him included two things. The first step was to work on achieving comfortable minimum loop volume, which entails exhaling additional volume until your deepest inhalation just begins to trickle the ADV. At this volume, any molecules of oxygen that are used up are replaced by the solenoid…
A Quick Guide to Buying a Rebreather I’ve written many articles on this blog about how to shop for a rebreather, but given the numerous inquiries I have had recently, perhaps a reprise of information is warranted. The bottom line is that the last decade of statistics shows us that the actual equipment brand does not seem to be a factor in accidents. Best available stats show us that there are no more accidents on one particular brand than another based on ratios of units sold. The same appears to be true when we look at manual versus electronic units….
Travelling with Lithium Batteries Spare lithium batteries may not be carried checked in baggage. They may be installed in the rebreather and two spare lithium batteries may be hand carried. Preventing lithium batteries from short circuiting is very important to impeding the likelihood of overheating and fire. Always keep lithium batteries isolated from metal objects (e.g. jewelry, keys) or other conductive materials by enclosing each one separately and insulating terminals with a non-conductive material (e.g. electrical tape). Pack them so they cannot shift during transport. Physically damaged or dropped cells can become volatile. A lithium battery inside equipment is protected…
Journalist Tarquin Cooper interviews Jill for Redbull. Diving inside underwater caves would be most people’s idea of hell. For Jill Heinerth, it’s heaven. Canadian underwater explorer Jill Heinerth has dived in some of the most extreme locations on planet earth, from underwater caves to icebergs in the frigid waters off Antarctica. But she’s not in it for the kicks but to bring back valuable knowledge of our fresh water systems. See images and read more.
Cleaning Low Current Electrical Contacts Always use cleaners specifically designed for the precious metal contacts used in low current applications found in high-tech electronics. The low current makes the contacts exceptionally sensitive to contamination yet their ultra thin precious metal plating is easy to damage during cleaning. Never use the cleaners commonly associated with SCUBA maintenance. Many such cleaners contain solvents that are polar and also may leave residues, making them a potential problem in low current applications. This is also true of many household products such as rubbing alcohol. Never use ordinary ‘tuner cleaner’ products for cleaning precious metal…
What We Can Learn From Air France Flight 447 On the evening of May 31, 2009, 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard Air France flight 447 disappeared into the South Atlantic. For almost two years, the mystery remained, until the back boxes were plucked from the sea floor nearly two miles deep, revealing that it was not poor weather conditions that brought down the plane, it was simple human error. In an age of such advanced technology, how could human error override a perfectly functioning airplane? Under pressure, human beings can lose their ability to think clearly and to…
It Worked We had some excitement at the house tonight. While entertaining Bill Stone and members of the United States Deep Caving Team on my back deck, we heard an explosion. We ran around the side of the house to find my “blast box” erupting flames from the side. The blast box was built to contain charging mishaps that seem almost inevitable with lithium batteries. (It is no wonder there are limitations for airline transport.) We managed to contain the fire and fortunately nobody was injured. Ironically I put up this video exactly one year ago on YouTube after a…
Always Know Your PO2 Smithers Code is a system of blinking lights that communicate PO2 information to a diver in the Heads Up Display (HUD). The “PPO2 Mode” as some rebreather systems call it, allows the diver and buddy to view actual PO2 at all times. Three color-states are used to indicate actual values of each individual sensor. If PO2 is 1.0, an LED will blink orange. At 1.1 an LED blinks green. At .9, an LED blinks red. The value for each sensor is displayed in succession followed by an extended pause. The lower the PO2, the more red…