Saturday, May 18, 2013

New Fins

We decided that Austin would get Dad's fins, leaving Dad to find replacements.

During a Saturday morning trip to Scuba Toys our scuba-tanks were dropped-off for inspection and fin shopping began.  www.scubatoys.com

After comparing of available sizes, travel weight and cost, the winning fins were Mares X-Streams.  These fins were a bit lighter weight than my old fins.  The manufacturer seems to have accomplished this by drilling numerous holes in the foot pocket.

http://www.mares.com/products/fins/open-heel/x-stream/5653/?region=eu


While I'm in mode to reduce weight & bulk, I take a look at the new light-weight travel buoyancy control devices (BCD).  The BCD is kind of a back-pack with an inflatable air bladder and pockets to hold weights.  The back-pack holds the scuba-tank and while diving, air can be added or removed from the bladder to achieve neutral buoyancy.  Depending on the depth of the dive, this process may be repeated throughout the dive.  Since air is more compressed the deeper you dive, air must be released from the bladder as you go up.     

With the help of two helpful sales associates, they dug through their inventory to allow me to try every option before deciding on the first BCD that they showed me.  The winner is the Oceanic Biolite.  Weighing just 5.5 pounds, this BCD is almost 10 pounds lighter than the current BCD.  Liz liked it so much, she got the women's version the very next week.  This will cut about 20 pounds off of our luggage and take up a lot less room in the suitcase.




http://www.oceanicworldwide.com/us/biolite/

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