5 Pieces of SCUBA Gear You Should Check Out
In the last few months, things have been buzzing here at Dive Right In Scuba. With helping our awesome customers, wrapping up another epic dive season, and making improvements to our customer’s experience, we’ve all been making moves around the shop. With that in mind, we wanted to take an opportunity to highlight a few products that have maintained their popularity over time as tough and dependable pieces of equipment. Having said that here’s some gear that you really need to take a close look at!
The Perdix AI by Shearwater
Adding to the awesome catalog of dive computers, the folks at Shearwater have broken the glass ceiling with the release of their popular Perdix dive computer with air integration. Merging the high-tech, sleek design of the Perdix with the functionality of air integration represents a solid step forward in diving technology. Built for sidemount and techreational diving in mind, the Perdix AI has the capabilities of monitoring pressure on up to two dive cylinders. So if you sidemount, carry a single deco or back up gas, or want to monitor the gas pressure of a dive buddy, the Perdix AI surely fits the bill! Of course, don’t just take our word for it...the folks at Shearwater sum it up best in this quote on from one of there products:
“Shearwater is proud to introduce the newest member of the Shearwater family: The Perdix AI. Offering all of the same great features of the Perdix, the Perdix AI uses its large, easy-to-read screen to clearly display the tank pressure as well as your gas time remaining (GTR). The Perdix AI is capable of connecting to either one or two transmitters giving the diver the option to monitor both tanks or dive sidemount.”
So, take your diving tech to the next level and grab the Perdix AI! Need an additional transmitter? They are also available for a reasonable cost!
The Nomad LS by Dive Rite
As the next step in the evolution in the “L” series of sidemount rigs from our good friends in Lake City, FL, the Nomad LS is a response to diver feedback from previous units. Featuring a diamond shaped bladder, the Nomad LS allows for more lift where the sidemount diver needs it, the hips and midsection. In addition, the LS features a zero-lift baffle that prevents air in the wing from settling at the top of the wing, but still allowing it to be vented from the pull dump. This serves to lower the diver’s profile and further reduce drag. The LS features 35 pounds of lift, a deluxe style webbing harness that is replaceable, and the new Dive Rite adjustable bungee system. The Dive Rite Adjustable Bungee System (ABS) allows fast and easy customization to fit any sidemount diver. The bungee cord is weaved through a custom designed, laser cut Delrin plate providing an infinitely adjustable bungee. The Adjustable Bungee System can also be quickly changed between Dive Rite’s standard ring bungee system, loop bungees with a snap, or traditional loop bungees.
The BTR-500 Drysuit by Hollis
Upon grabbing one of these suits and removing it from the bag my first impression was that this is one tough feeling drysuit! The trilaminate material has a bit of a different feel to what I was used to so I grabbed a laptop and looked up the specifications on it and what the good folks at Hollis had to say about it. According to them, “The new BTR 500 drysuit uses our latest Butyl Trilaminate Ripstop material to produce a lightweight but very durable suit. Everything from the material to the taping has been fine-tuned and optimized to make the BTR 500 an absolute pleasure to dive in, whether you are at 30ft/10m or 330ft/100m.The BTR-500 uses our specially developed 600g/sqm Butyl Trilaminate Ripstop material which incorporates a 140g/sqm High Decitex Nylon 6.6 Ripstop external lining for optimum tear, puncture and abrasion resistance that has the benefit of a easy clean and wash down finish. The internal lining is made from a patented coated that maximizes water integrity and seam tape adhesion as well as making the suit easy to get in and out of. The internal coating also make suit repairs exceptionally easy.As with all our suits each panel that makes up the BTR-500 is cut on the bias of the material to increase the stretch and flexibility of the material by up to 15%. This, combined with clever panel designs makes this front entry suit especially easy to get on without the need to struggle to get the neck seal over the head. A composite zip maintains flexibility in the torso and is protected by a Velcro secured flap.”All of that just substantiates my first impressions of this suit that it’s sure to be a contender in the championship ring of high quality drysuits. Priced at a modest 1349.95 you can add one of our DRIS signature warranties and have a worry free drysuit for years to come without having to pull from the kid’s college fund or take out a second mortgage! So go ahead, let us get you fitted up and put one on the truck to your front door! You’ll be happy and dry, we guarantee it!
The Santi Max Heating Set
The Santi Max Heating Set is a fusion of 3 components that when used together along with your quality drysuit create a warm, safe, and comfortable dive condition that supports your desire to explore year round at any dive destination you choose! The three components include; the Extreme BZ400 Heated undergarment, an E/O drysuit connector, and heated gloves. All components of this set are CE certified and tested rigorously.
The EZ400 is the next generation of undergarments, featuring a construction of 420/g thinsulate. This unit will keep you warm during your dive even when the batteries are low or dead. The cutting edge heating wire is synthetic to resist heat and cuts. In addition the wire is silicone coated to resist cracking or breaking. Adding to the safety factor is an emergency on/off switch to prevent you from overheating when you encounter strong currents that require some kick power to get through or when you get above that thermocline!
The drysuit connector features Santi’s proprietary technology, and is only for use with Santi drysuit heating products. The connector accepts a standard E/O connector and routes it through the inflator valve on the drysuit to provide a secure, watertight, and worry free connection. Accepting “Apeks” and “SI Tech” inflator valve screw sizes, this connector is interchangeable with almost every drysuit on the market!
The Heated Gloves by Santi are designed to be used with the above components and provide gentle and well distributed warmth. This configuration allows a diver to wear the gloves under the dry gloves without additional valve and dangers associated with internal batteries. The heated glove is made of a warm and breathable fabric that will provide you with warm digits even if the heating element is turned off!
The DRIS 1000 Lumen Dive Light
The DRIS Dive Gear 1000 Lumen Dive light is built on the same platform as our 500 lumen model, this thing cranks out the power in handheld light! In addition, the safety of surface use of this light makes it versatile! The twist head design allows the light to be turned on or off and due to the aluminum design, it doesn’t automatically turn on at depth. With an 11.5 degree beam angle, and a nice spill, this adds a lot of light for your dives!! With an impressive 5 hour max burn time on 3 C cell batteries, this light will illuminate the way for an entire day or more of diving before you even need to consider swapping out the power cells.
All of our signature dive lights are made from high quality materials, no cheap plastic that will wear out and crack here! The DRIS Dive Gear 1000 Lumen Dive light is manufactured from XML T6, a high quality aluminum that provides a tough, robust unit at a light weight. Even the lens is high quality and strong 5mm glass that provides a leak and shatterproof housing for the CREE LED scuba diving light bulb. The robust 2 o-ring construction provides a large sealing surface for the twist on/off activation so you can be assured that the light will not flood! This tough package will assure you of a working light all the way down to a maximum of 360 feet of depth! The 1000 Lumen Dive Light also features attachment points that allow for easy mounting onto your BCD or the shoulder straps of your BP/W. In addition the compact package makes for easy hand mounting with our goodman glove!
As you can clearly see, any of the above pieces of SCUBA gear would be a welcome addition to your dive bag. Still have questions about the equipment featured in this article or any other piece of gear? Hit us up with a phone call, email, or live chat! The crew here at DRIS loves to talk diving!
