10 Essential Components of a Save A Dive Kit

There are certain things that every diver of any skill level should pack with them for a day of diving. A Save A Dive Kit should be pretty high up on that list. As a dive professional my kit has a whole heck of a lot more than what I’m about to list here but these are the basics. As you progress as a diver and start to get into different types of diving you’ll want to add more items. These are the basics. These are not to be left at home. These will get you through 90% of gear trouble and get you back in the water. Before you run to your local dive shop and grab all this stuff, you’ll want to make sure you have a nice compact, waterproof place to store it. So grab yourself a pelican case, put your name on it and if you really want to keep your gear nice, wrap each tool in it’s own ziplock bag. Ok….on to the list…….

1. Zip Ties – these come in handy so often on a dive boat it’s hard to count exactly how many different ways there are to use them. Most commonly we use them to keep inflators or mouth pieces secure. They can also be used to attach whistles, bolt snaps or pretty much anything that’s loose or dangly. Don’t get in the habit of using a zip ties to secure everything though. For the most part it should be done as a fix and not a permanent attachment. The best place to get these is at an electronics store. The ones for electronics have a different head on them that hold better than the ones you get at a hardware store.

2. Scuba Tool – These things are just awesome. They’ve got wrenches, hex keys, flat and phillips heads screwdrivers etc. As long as you keep it rust free these guys work great in a pinch. You can swap hoses and gauges, tighten up any nuts and bolts and it’s all right there in one. They can be a little difficult to get into tight spaces but overall they work wonders.

3. Spare O-ring kit with silicone and brass pick – No diver should ever be without these. And we’re not just talking about spare O-rings for your tank. All most every connection of your dive gear has an O-ring of some type on it. Inside your dump valve, on all your hoses, pressure gauges, dive lights, etc. You’ll want to make sure you use a brass pick on that tank ring so you don’t damage your valve and make sure you grease them up a little to keep them from cracking. If you’re a photog, you’ll want to have plenty of backups for those camera rigs.

4. Spare Mask (or at least mask strap) – I take my spare mask diving with me at all times. It sits in my drysuit pocket for the “unlikely event” that my mask or my teammates mask should break or get kicked off. It might be overkill for the average diver but you definitely want to have, at bare minimum, an extra mask strap hidden away in your kit. It’s a cheap piece that could save your dive day.

5. Spare Fin Straps (if you don’t have spring straps….which you should) – Just like the mask strap, having that piece of rubber snap on you will ruin your dive day. It’s not a bad idea to have the extra buckles for your specific fins too. Those little plastic pieces are like magnets for falling gear, dropped weights and divers with big feet. But seriously, if you’re a diver and plan to keep diving. Get yourself some spring straps. They’re worth their weight in gold.

6. Spare Mouthpiece – I keep a couple of these in my kit. A good one for me…..and a couple cheapy ones for my buddies. My favorite mouthpiece is made by Atomic. It’s nice and thick but not too long.  Ask any diver and everyone has their own favorite. If you haven’t tried different mouthpieces I highly recommend that you grab a few and test them out. They even have some you can mold to your bite pattern.

7. Allen Wrench Set – Usually you can get away with just a couple of these guys but I like to have a full set. Both in imperial measurements and metric. Just like with any tool, you’ll want to put it back in the right slot as soon as you’re done using it. I can’t count how many times I’m missing that 1 allen wrench because it didn’t get put back in my kit. (best way to avoid it is to make sure no one else uses your stuff……or make sure the DM on the boat puts your stuff back right away)

8. Angle Cutters – Typically when replacing scuba parts you’re gonna have to cut through some line, a zip tie or some sort of rigging. Angle cutters make quick, easy work of those things and you don’t have to worry about cutting through other important parts like hoses and BCDs like you would trying to use your dive knife.

9. Screw Drivers – Yeah, you should be able to use the one in your Scuba Tool but there’s always some hard to reach place that the scuba tool won’t fit in to. Or you let the scuba tool rust and it won’t open. So I always keep at least one flat head and one phillips head screwdriver in my kit.

10. Wrenches – Just like the screw drivers I keep a couple extra wrenches in my gear. Having 2x 9/16ths and 2x 5/8ths open ended wrenches around allows me to swap hoses and tighten down gear with ease. Most dive gear fits these sizes and having two of each lets you pull apart two different regs or gauges with lightening speed.

So that’s it. Obviously you can go way further with your kit but these are the must haves. If you want to step it up a couple notches you can add a spare spg, cave line, spare inflator, LP hose, DIN to Yoke adapter, shrader valves and shrader valve tool and a DIN fill adapter……..and so on……and so on……and so on………

My kit is a little nuts. It’s actually a 3 in 1 kit with first aid, tools and spare parts inside a rolling pelican case. Get creative. Have fun with your kits…..one of the coolest kits I’ve seen actually had all the tools vacuum sealed in their own little baggies. Whatever you do, don’t get caught without your kit and let it keep you out of the water.

Fourth Element – Halo 3D Test Drive

Halo 3D Undergarment by Fourth Element

I was recently given a chance to take the new Halo 3D undergarment out for a test dive. Our friends at Hollywood Divers have become a test center for Fourth Element, and besides having a huge inventory of Fourth Element gear for purchase, they have a multitude of Halo 3D sizes available for rent. I personally own a bunch of Fourth Element gear and was stoked to try the undergarment I’ve heard so much about and have been drooling over for months. I’ll attempt to put all personal bias aside and give you all an honest review, so…here goes!

Esthetics: At first glance, the suit just looks awesome. Wearing it makes you seem like you put in some major gym time, and it’s really comfortable even without a base layer. I spent a couple of minutes bouncing around the boat practicing my ninja moves–or as I told everyone else, “testing the flexibility of the suit.”

Construction: The stitching of the seams and overall construction look and feel extremely durable. The undergarment is made up of three layers of material with extra protection in the the critical areas, i.e. front of torso, shoulders, and thighs. The SPACETEK material feels like a car air filter substance which helps reduce drysuit squeeze by maintaining a continual loft of the undergarment and helps increase overall warmth.

While the shoulder pocket is a nice feature, I did miss my waist hand pockets during surface intervals. There is a dual zipper design for a donning and relief zipper. The zippers seemed to be the one weak spot on the suit. I didn’t have any trouble with them on my test dive, but they don’t feel quite as heavy duty as other undergarment zippers which was a little surprising considering the rest of this undergarment feels bulletproof. The suit also comes with P-valve integration holes stitched on the inner thighs which is a really nice perk. There are standard thumb loops and very nice foot straps which I found to be much more ergonomically designed than most other undergarments. They are a thin material but also nice and wide, providing both comfort and a snug hold of your sock.
I noticed a difference in feel as soon as I the water. Even in my drysuit, I still get a small chill every time I hit the cold Pacific water. That feeling was drastically reduced wearing the Halo 3D. I gave my drysuit a nice full stretch and did a quick weight check. I figured with the size difference between my normal undergarment and the Halo I’d probably need to add a decent amount of lead, but was pleasantly shocked to find out that getting perfectly neutral only took an extra two pounds. Dropping down, I noticed that the suit squeeze in the torso and thighs was far less than normal, and I could still run my suit fairly lean to give it the extra loft. Water temps were in the 55 degree range all day, and after three 45 minute dives, I didn’t feel chilly at all.Diving it……..This undergarment is quite a bit thicker than my 300 gram DUI Polartec, and my

drysuit is already cut pretty lean as is. This extra padding seemed to cut down my flexibility quite a bit–most noticeably in the legs and waist–but  I’m definitely chalking that up to my drysuit more than the actual undergarment itself. Just something to be aware of when buying either a new drysuit or buying the undergarment. I dove the Halo 3D just as I currently do my other undergarments: with my Fourth Element drysuit socks and no base layer.

I also wanted to check range of motion while I was down there, so I did a quick valve drill and found no problems in flexibility. I tested a flutter kick, a frog kick, back kick and helicopter turns throughout the dives and found them to be almost easier with the extra padding in the thigh area; the transfer of air through the suit with the new

undergarment seemed unchanged.

On dive #3, my suit started leaking a little and I felt a small chill, almost as if it was suit squeeze. I didn’t realize just how bad the leak was until I got back on the boat. The entire front of my undergarment was wet, and only a small part of the inside was damp. That was un-freaking-believable! I was running around the boat showing everyone, “Hey! Hey! Check this out. This side is wet but the fleece inside is still dry. How cool is that?”

All in all, I’d give this undergarment a solid two thumbs up. Although it runs on the higher end of price range for undergarments, if you’re looking to dive colder water, get some extra warmth or even to be more comfortable in your drysuit, the extra cash is more than a worthwhile investment. Compared to other undergarments in the same price range, I’d take the Halo 3D hands down.

second weekend

Steppin' In this time

I LOVE teaching the second weekend of an open water class. As an instructor it never ceases to amaze me just how quickly human beings can adapt to things.  The anxiety levels are lower. The students are comfortable with how classes are going to be run and know what to expect when the’re on a dive boat.   Seriously, if you take a second and think about it that’s kinda nuts.

This weekend was no exception. Granted there were a couple things that made this weekend a lot easier than last weekend…..like being in a pool hotter than most of my showers and a giant stride into the ocean that you might as well be stepping into a pool as opposed to falling for eight feet.

Ok…..gonna have to go on a little side tangent……….Did I mention the “leap of faith” off the Spectre last weekend? Well if not…….the Spectre is known for a couple things, the hot tub of course and then there’s the famous “leap of faith” as we instructors like to call it. The deck of that boat sits nice and high out of the water. Which means it’s the perfect boat for people like me, with a semi-twisted sense of humor, to take their OW students on for their first dive. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Ok, I don’t fully intend to scare the crap out of my students….only a little bit.  But it sets up a good first hurdle for them to get over and once they do that, the rest is gravy.

Sorry….back to this weekend……like I was saying, we had a lot easier go around this weekend starting with the pool. We ended up in a pool that was almost 90 degrees! Whoohoo!!! Teaching in board shorts! AH CRAP!  I DON’T HAVE ANY!!!!……..I’m so used to teaching in pools that require at least a 3mill suit that I don’t even pack a bathing suit anymore. I had to go buy a pair before we could hop in.  Now, I’m all for being in a pool that’s warmer in the water than it is on the surface BUT I do have to

Modeling in the Pool

say this. I’m glad we were there for second weekend and not the first. If you don’t have to wear a wetsuit or weights in the pool for your first weekend and you’re going to dive in CA you’re in for a major change of pace when you hit the ocean. Yeah, it’s a lot of crap to deal with and your wetsuit is cold the next day but I would much rather have you comfortable in the equipment you’re going to use, than to change it all before I throw you in the ocean for the first time. (see I’m not TOTALLY out to mess with my students) We rocked through the last of our confined water skills, posed for some glamour shots and played a little shark attack…..insert Jaws theme music here….duh dunt, duh dunt, duh dunt, duh dunt.

Sunday on the boat turned out to be gorgeous. We headed out on the Sundiver Express from Long Beach and made our way to Catalina. It was a little rolly on the way out and the wind couldn’t make up it’s mind as to which way it wanted to blow but the sun was shinning and there was a good energy on the boat. There’s something about that post-rain sunshine that just makes everyone happy. We ended up on a mooring in Pirates Cove for the first dive.  After a thorough briefing we stepped into the ocean and swam over to another mooring line a little closer to the reef. As we were getting ready to descend another class started to swim over. There was a bit of commotion going on and then I heard the familiar warning sign….”you alright man, you look kinda…..”   that was all I needed…..I signaled my student to start descending. Just before my ears submerged I heard it……BLLLEEEGGGGHHHHHH……intermingled with the sounds of chunks hitting the water. Luckily we were slightly out of the line of fire and got under before the vomit spread. Poor guy.

Our actual dive was fantastic. We made it through the skills and went for a cruise. Within 10 seconds we were hovering over the biggest pacific electric ray I had ever seen. It was RAD! At least I thought so. I was making the “too much rock for one hand” signal while my student had my arm in a death grip.

Cruisin' Round the Reef

She’ll come around one of these days. Rays, sharks, eels all RAD! Not scary. We spent some time cruising along the reef, weaving in and out of the kelp. Unfortunately there were the remains of some hoop-netters along the bottom. Tuna cans, booze bottles and left over nets are the tell tale signs of netters. Now, I’m not opposed to recreational fishing at all. In fact, spearfishing and lobster diving are some of the most environmentally stable forms of fishing there are. But these guys need to have SOME respect. If you’re going to sit on a boat and try to pull up lobster in a net fine. (sounds totally boring and lame to me but to each his own) However, DON’T LEAVE YOUR GEAR AND MORE TRASH ON THE OCEAN FLOOR!

So we made our way back to the boat. Warmed up a little and motored on over to K20 for the next dive. After some good surface interval time we geared up and dropped in pretty quickly. I think someone was excited to finish up their cert dives. Again, the skills were a cake walk. We started making our way through the kelp when we saw a line of divers headed our way. I just hovered and ascended a few feet from where we were. I looked over and saw my student doing the same. YES! always nice to see your students in good form. We waited patiently as the line traveled underneath us stirring up the viz. Once the lane was clear got a move on. I had to signal to my student underwater that she looked awesome. She was nicely trimmed out, off the reef and was starting to kick like a diver, not like a cyclist. We circled back to the boat and high fived for finishing her OW!

Sayin' Hi!

We scarfed down some lunch. Talked about the food that we didn’t like as kids and now like as adults. This was all brought about by the Sun Chips on the boat. I used to hate them. Now I can’t wait for my burger and sun chips when I’m on that boat. Weird tangent I know. We were discussing doing the last dive. She didn’t have to do it. She was done with all the skills but I wanted her to have a fun dive. Luckily, so did some of the other girls on the boat. A little prodding and a tank fill later we were back in the water.  We were just going for a dive. No skills, no sitting on our knees, just a good time. I brought my camera and we played around posing for some shots again. I found a couple good sized lobster hiding in the rocks and then found an octopus! SWEET! I love those guys. Of course he was back in the rocks and I didn’t have a strobe for the camera so the photo I got is terrible. We also found a bunch of baby lobster. At least that’s what we’re calling them. They were only 2 inches long or so but were the spitting image of the big guys. Maybe it’s baby makin’ time for the bugs?????   brown-chicken, brown-cow….It was a great dive and a great way to end the day. She was stoked and really glad she did the last dive. After all that’s why she got certified. To go out, hangout with cool people, have fun and see stuff underwater. Sometimes that is hard to remember but THAT is what diving is all about.

out from the cold

So this weekend’s adventures in diving were a wee bit on the chilly side. That might be the understatement of the year depending on who you ask. On the other hand, it was also an amazing weekend of scuba diving with a killer group of people.

Setting up the gear

The cold started in the pool. I don’t know if the heater was broken or it didn’t get turned on early enough and there’s no use trying to speculate now but WOW was it cold. I had 1 open water student and 2 divemaster candidates and I’m pretty sure the DMCs turned into icicles as soon as they hit the water.  (Funny how tuff they are on the surface)  We were planning on getting through all the confined water sessions in one day but I felt the torture to a new diver…..and apparently some experienced divers….was too much. (I think Moshe and David actually hopped out of the pool early to shock each other with the car battery and jumper cables I bring to ACTUALLY torture divemaster candidates just so they could warm up)  Despite being cold in the water, it was a beautiful day on land and the students were amazing. We rocked through 1-3, warmed up with some hot chocolate and headed out for some delicious Umami Burger.  After a little regrouping a few of us headed up to Ventura to board the Spectre dive boat.

Of course, after a gorgeous day out, Mother Nature decided if would be funny to start pouring rain as I was lugging the gear on the boat and stop as we were in the middle of dinner. I was of course warned by my genius girlfriend to wait for the rain to stop but…….yeah…..I had to do it my way.  Not sure I’ll hear the end of that one for awhile.  After grubbing down on some delicious tacos and a couple of margaritas at the properly named MargaritaVilla we cashed in for the night. I was lulled to sleep by the gentle song of snoring that seemed to be provided in Dolby Digital Surround sound.

Trying to snap some photos

Huh? What? It’s 6am? oh, right….waiver time. As we all crawled slowly from our bunks we were greeted by the intoxicating, wonderful, best-est of best aromas of cooked bacon. Waivers were filled out, breakfast sandwiches were scarfed and gear was assembled. Captain Ted arrived at his usual 6:55 am and we were away from the dock by 7am on the dot.  Every time we pull away from the dock on the Spectre I get the feeling that we’ve left some poor guy on land and he’ll come running down the dock with toilet paper hanging from his pants. I think it’s because there’s no real warning that we’re taking off. (I mean besides the captain boarding the boat, the crew untying the boat and the gates being closed…..besides all those warnings)

The ride out had a medium sized swell to it but nothing to really complain about. Just about everyone seemed to enjoy the crossing, taking it easy and getting excited for the diving. We did have one diver that suffers from motion sickness on board. Fortunately she was wearing the patch and was able to hold it together for the entire day.  I’m not sure I would be out on dive boats all the time if I suffered from motion sickness. so the fact that she was out in the cold CA waters and dealing with it is totally impressive. The ride to and from the island is one of my favorite times. You get to learn a lot about the people you’re around when you’re stuck together on a dive boat for hours at a time. There were families out from Northern CA on vacation, teachers, engineers and government “consultants” on board. With ages ranging from 13 up to 75! There’s not many other activities that appeal to such a wide group of people.

We pulled up to the island and searched for the calmest spot we could find.   As we motored around we couldn’t help but notice what wonders the rain had done for the three little islets that make up Anacapa. It was CRAZY green. It looked like Kauai or Thailand. But there we were, right off the coast of good ole southern California.

the flyby

For our first dive we anchored up on “Underwater Island” and hopped in for a beautiful dive.  The water was a nice clean blue color and I knew it was going to be a good day. I got my student down the line, helped her adjust her buoyancy a little and off we went. There’s something about taking someone on their very first dive that can’t be matched. It’s almost as if you can see their life changing right then and there. Or maybe I’m imagining that’s how everyone feels because that’s how I felt……nah. We cruised around the reef looking at sea stars, anemones, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers and even got buzzed by a few sea lions. The water was cold but we had 40+ viz and a good laugh making LOL signs on our safety stop.

The whole day was amazing. My student rocked her skills on dive 2. I got some great video that I’ll post soon. There were some really incredible photos taken and best of all we got to hang out with really awesome people all day.  We ended up diving Underwater Island, Goldfish Bowl Point, Landing Cove and Coral Reef.  Of course, the hot tub was well used on the way back. Boat trips seem to spawn little love connections and I’m pretty sure this trip was no different.  Maybe it’s the swaying of the boat, the excitement of a dive or, in the case of the Spectre, there’s something in that bubbling hot tub water that brings people closer.

If you’ve never been diving out at Anacapa you REALLY need to book yourself on the Spectre and head out. Captain Ted and his crew really are top notch. They run a tight ship and are a great group to be around. Let us know if you wanna go.  I’m sure we’ve got a trip planned in the near future and if not we’ll probably head up there with you anyway. Any chance we get to play with sea lions!

I’m not really a……..

yeah...that's me alright.

ok, well I’m really not a lot of things and first and foremost I’m definitely not a writer. I don’t claim to be an intellectual and I have no training whatsoever……seriously my grammar sucks. I am, however, an avid (rabbid even?) scuba diver, an entrepreneur, I’ve been a recording engineer for the last 15 years,  I study judo and jujitsu,  I surf, I shoot guns,  I rock climb, I’m a foodie, a mac junkie, I love muscle cars, dirt bikes and boats. You could drop me off somewhere in the world and I’m more than likely to make it out alive or you could throw me an a suit and tie and I’d fit right in at the finest of dining establishments.

So, yeah…..I do a lot of stuff and I like to share my experiences with people. Blogging – vlogging, whatever the kids are calling it these days, is a great venue for that.  I’ve never done this before so be prepared to watch the plane crash into the G@# D$&%  mountain.   Hmmm….that sounds kind of enticing.  Maybe I’m a better writer than I give myself credit for……or just have a morbid curiosity. Did I mention that grammar is not my strong suit? Sorry,  gonna have to move past it.  ANYWAY…….

from our last trip to Cabo Pulmo - photo copyright Stephanie Neifing

My name is Andy. I own, operate, run, am the CEO, founder, head hancho/honcho, grand poobah etc etc, so on and so forth of LA Dive and Ride. For the most part we teach people how to scuba dive, run diving charters, organize tropical trips and do other crazy things that involve riding stuff. Surfing, skydiving, jetskiing, go-kart racing……..um whatever has wheels, goes fast or can otherwise be ridden we want to do it. It’s our goal to provide our customers with the opportunities to do the things they love, the training to do them safely and the ability do them with a community of people from all walks of life.

So, if you’re interested in any of that stuff, you want to learn about scuba diving, travel to far off lands, join in on what goes on in our world or you’re a crazy cyber stalker with nothing better to do than read my crazy rantings….WELCOME!