Do you have zippers that look like this?

Regular cleaning and lubrication of your wetsuit or dry suit zipper will help a zipper last the lifetime of the suit. Without proper care, expensive zippers degrade and need costly replacement.

How to Avoid a Stuck Zipper

A stuck zipper can be caused by corrosion, rust, sand, salt deposits, or other particulates getting stuck in the zipper mechanism. The friction in a degraded or dirty wetsuit or dry suit zipper can make it hard to use, and in some cases the zipper will get stuck. Broken zipper teeth can also result from an improperly maintained zipper. The best way to avoid a stuck zipper is to keep the zipper clean and lubricated.

Maintaining a Zipper

Zip Care™

Keep your zipper free of harmful dirt, sand and salt deposits with Zip Care™, both a cleaner and lubricant in one bottle. To clean and lubricate your zipper with Zip Care, follow these steps:

Step 1: Unzip item and use Zip Care’s brush top to remove grit and dust.

Step 2: Brush Zip Care generously on zipper teeth to clean and lightly lubricate. Wipe off excess.

Step 3: Carefully open and close zipper to thoroughly distribute Zip Care.

Zip Tech™

Zip Tech™ is preferred for multi-dive lubrication. It’s a paraffin free, silicone free, solid zipper lubricant. Use Zip Tech to lubricate and protect watertight and airtight zippers on dry suits from corrosion and harmful salt, chlorine and other pollutants.

To use: Open zipper and apply Zip Tech sparingly only to the outer teeth of the zipper.

Max Wax™

If you prefer a more traditional stick lubricant, Max Wax™ is great for general zipper lubrication. The silicone-free lubricant in Max Wax works in all water temperatures.

Which zipper care product is right for me?

Zip Care is typically used as a cleaner and light lubricant for wet and dry suits before applying Zip Tech. Zip Tech is recommended for use on zippers that are subject to submersion in water and for cold water dives. Zip Tech is an extremely durable and long-lasting lubricant. Max Wax is a more “traditional” stick lubricant also recommended for use on wet suits and dry suits. For dry land applications, we recommend Zip Care for cleaning and lubricating tents, backpacks, etc.

This information is provided thanks to McNett Corporation.  Their products are available at We B Divin’.

We are tied to …

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.

So True.

Maldives

Maldives

By Judy Kay, PADI Course Director

A group of divers from We B Divin’ started 2013 with a trip to the Maldives.  This is on most people’s ‘must do before I die’ dive locations, it certainly was mine.

I was a little worried about managing in Dubai because my Arabic is very weak (as in I don’t speak it at all, LOL).  No problem, every sign I saw, airport, road signs, hotel, etc, was in English and Arabic.  Every person I interacted with spoke very good English and was very polite, considerate, and interesting.  We really enjoyed the time in Dubai.

During the flight from DFW to Dubai (non-stop, but be sure to take ambien), we met a couple of Americans who work and live in the Dubai area.  One was a teacher and the other a pilot for Emirates.  It was very interesting talking to them about living there.

I know, I know it’s all about the diving.  We were on the Carpe Vita liveaboard and dove from their donghi, the Carpe Diem.  Cute, huh?  The donghi was a 61 ft long dive boat with an air compressor, nitrox membrane system, full bath and sun deck which comfortably accommodated twenty-two divers and four crew members.  We did three dives a day with a couple of night dives during the week.

A couple of different days we did sites that included cleaning stations and we were lucky to see a number of manta rays.  On one dive while doing my safety stop with my buddy I looked to my right and here came three big mantas.  They passed so close to us that I could have touched them if I had just put my hand out.  WOW!  My camera was all turned off, should I miss the moment trying to turn it just to miss the photo or enjoy the moment?  Duh!

There was another dive site that was a mini wall.  When we entered the water we were in about twenty feet of water, we swam over the edge and then along the mini wall that descended to about sixty feet then sloped off to infinity.  Along this wall were overhangs, kind of like a mini-cave that went back twenty to a hundred feet.  There was lots of cool stuff in them.  One in particular housed a sleeping shark, maybe five to six feet in length, white tip.  I did not want him to feel trapped, what with me blocking the door and all, but I wanted a photo.  So I very slowly crept up, no kicking at all, just walking with my finger tips along the rock.  When I left, he was still there sleeping!

Lot of cool fish we don’t see in the Caribbean, oddly only a couple of lionfish all week and small compared to what we are used to in Cozumel.  Oh right, they have natural predators in their home town!  You will be seeing a lot of these fish in the ‘Creature Feature’ over the next few issues with details about each.

This is a video of the middle of a school of fish I joined.  You can’t see me, but it was really cool being there and it is a good video.  There is some really beautiful coral too.  Take a minute and watch it.  Video

The clams there were two to three feet in width.  If you pushed your hand toward the open clam they would react to the pressure wave and expel water from the big valve.  It was a really strong surge of water, surprisingly strong surge of expelled water.  FYI, these clams were beautiful, but the clams in Australia were probably twice their width.

Then there were angel fish and butterflyfish. We know those and what they look like, right?  Duh, that looks like an angelfish/butterfly, but no idea which one it is!

Oh my, I saw so many starfish.  Some of them were dancing! Some of them were extending an arm across space to grab a piece of reef, as in traveling along.  I did not know they did that.  Really, they were extending an arm to reach out while holding onto the reef with the stubby ends of the remaining arms.

Anytime you are in the Pacific or Micronesia there are all these beautiful nudibranchs.  There seems to be an unlimited variety of colors shapes and sizes.  I doubt if they even all have names.  Here’s a few.

Ok, this guy looks like someone took a bite out of his face, literally. But they all look that way.  It seems to embarrass them as I had a hard time getting a photo of their face head on so you could see the features.  It is called a Phantom Bannerfish.  There are a lot of oddly shaped fish in that family.  Look for some of them in coming issues under the ‘Creature Feature’.

Talk about weird looking, here are a couple of creatures that could certainly inhabit the nightmares of small children.  One is from the lobster genre and the other from the cucumber clan.

On one of the dives I came across this really cute octopus.  He was very photogenic showing me first one side of his face then the other.  I was able to approach, very slowly, quite close as long as there were no quick movements.  He is called Day Octopus.

I almost forgot to talk about the night dive.  I had a new light, the NightSea from Light & Motion.  It emits a blue light that causes things to fluoresce underwater!  I may start only diving at night, LOL.  Here is an anemone.

I could go on all day and night, but the bottom line is that the diving was great, the company was congenial and entertaining, the food was wonderful, the crew patient and accommodating.  All in all a wonderful trip, I remain addicted to live aboard diving.

Dive Club Meeting: June 23 at 6:30pm
Speaker: Randy Joy, Master Instructor
Subject: Wise County Sherriff’s Department Dive Team Success Story
It is going to be a great presentation, come if you can.

Commercial Message:
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Curacao

Curacao,  July 23-30                      $1199_DVR
We will be staying at Lions Dive and will have breakfast included every morning,  6 days of 2-tank boat dives and unlimited beach diving during the week.  Lions Dive is located next to the Curacao Sea Aquarium and we will have free entrance.  

Curacao offers beautiful easy diving for divers of all experience levels.  It is located off the coast of Venezuela in the Dutch Caribbean near Aruba and Bonaire.

http://www.curacao.com/

Allergies, Tis The Season

No, not to be jolly, unless you’re lucky enough not to suffer from sinus issues like most of us.  The fat man in the red suit is long gone and now the only gift I get is a stuffy head every morning when I wake up.  News has it that sinus season will be starting early and lasting longer this year due to the mild weather through the winter.  Hearing this made me start to wonder, what’s a diver to do?  One of my students on a trip to Florida last year was having a sinus problem and started surfing looking for suggested solutions.  After searching the internet for about 10 minutes he very excitedly says the words “DAN recommends”.  I was driving at the time but instantly cocked my head in interest and slight disbelief.  I asked him to book mark the page and send it to me, that I was very interested in what medications DAN recommended for sinus issues prior to diving.  Of course I forgot about the page until recently when my seasonal stuffiness began.  I went back and read the page that he had bookmarked

and it did appear at first glance that he was correct but careful reading only triggered more questions.  I have spent nearly 43 hours in researching this topic on the internet and this is what I have found.

First, DAN does not and most likely will never endorse any medications.  Reason, that would be like prescribing and no doctor will in good conscience or practice prescribe a medication without first seeing the patient.  What DAN does recommend for sinus issues is that you just not dive, yea ok, that’s not happening and DAN knows it so they also suggest that you go to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist with dive experience and follow their advice.

Second, I am not a doctor, and I am not suggesting that you take any medications.  I am merely sharing the results of my research as information that may help you make an informed choice.  Just as with STD’s and pregnancy we know the best choice for a long life is abstinence, but then what is the point of a long life if we can’t do what we enjoy.

Ok so the results, now that the disclaimers are out of the way.  By far the most widely medication regiment used by other divers is a combination of two specific over the counter drugs.  The drugs are Sudafed, the one from behind the counter preferably the 12 or 24hour one and Affrin nasal spray.  The suggested dosage is that you start taking the Sudafed a week prior to your trip or dive, taking one the day of the dive about 30 minutes prior to getting into the water.  Just before getting into the water you take a blast of Affrin in each nostril.  The Affrin is on an as needed basis and should not be used for more than 3 days in a row to prevent any rebounding issues that are often associated with nasal sprays.  As with all things there have been reported issues while diving on this medication but no accidents have been linked directly to these medications as the cause though it may have been a contributing factor.  The Sudafed in particular is not recommended for anyone who may have a heart condition and has been reputed to contribute to an increased occurrence of nitrogen narcosis though not proven.

The short of things, we all know that medications effect different people differently.  To take a medication is a very personal choice that comes with risks, in or out of the water.  Diving alone without factoring in medications has risks.   Make the best choice for you based on those risks, even if it is not to dive that day.

May 2011 Meeting

This meeting produced very lively discussion.  Tim Landers presented ‘Dive Lessons for Life’ selected from real life events published in Scuba Diving Magazine.  Many of the events prompted ‘What were they thinking?’ comments from the group!

If you would like to review some on your own go to this link:

http://www.scubadiving.com/training/lessons-life

 

April 2011 Meeting

It is April already!

Thursday April 28 is our monthly meeting.

This month we are having a presentation on chambers and their operation.  Should be very interesting.
Be at the dive shop 6:30 pm so we can get started with this great speaker.

UW Amputation, Really

Did anyone see the recent ‘Off the Map’ show where the doctors amputated a leg under water?  Yes, really, amputated a leg under water……

Teenage girl diving with her estranged Dad, some kind of rock slide, leg got trapped……

I wonder if there is a DAN program to prepare us for that?

Code 3 Scuba

At the last meeting we discussed the Scuba Olympics being held to raise money for Code 3 Scuba. 

Code 3 Scuba, a non-profit organization, provides a positive experience thru scuba to At Risk teens each summer.

Date:  February 12th
Time:  110:00 am sign in
Location:  UT Dallas Natatorium
800 West Campbell Rd
Richardson, TX 75080
Host:  North Texas Scuba Retailers
Entry Fee:  $15.00 per person, all proceeds go to Code 3 Scuba

Highlights:  Cool Awards, Fun Games, Sharpen your Skills, Free Discover Scuba for non-diving friends and family

Let me know, do you guys want to participate as a club?