I know this is some sort of dark board necromancy action right here but we all know SCUBA is the bomb dot com so what gives?

I am wanting to get back into diving and am about a click away from investing in my own first set of tech/rec gear. Wanting to get the Hollis SMS75 cause it can be configured for Sidemount, Back Singles, and Back Doubles. Leaves me a lot of room to adjust if I only want singles for some warm water resort style dive but also letting me go sidemount for some underwater urban exploration.

1. Hollis SMS75 integrated harness and wing front


2. The Cave Adventurers package I'm about to throw down for


3. 2x HOG D3 enviro sealed 1st stages


4. 2x HOG Zenith 2nd stages


5. Back view of the SMS75 with grommets for banded twins and slots to mount single




Just moved to San Diego and am probably going to sign up for a Nitrox course and Wreck. What do y'all think? Ideally I could take all the PADI specialty courses but I am also on a budget so for you Divemasters out there, which courses benefited you the most?

Last UE I heard involving SCUBA was Therrin (rest his UE account's soul) in a mine. Anyone done anything else, even wrecks lately or any sort of semi-professional modern archaeology?


6. Shipwrecks don't always have to be overhead space dives


7. Setting a survey grid?


8. Synthesizing the data into something useful. What I would give to make this my profession one day


So yeah, anyone have suggestions on gear or do anything remotely related to surveying either in the water or on land explorations?

Well it is not much to show for a "Urban Exploration dive" but I found some linked training rounds in a military boat basin today. There was actually some pretty sketchy stuff down there and I would have loved if visibility had been greater than arms length but we all make do. About half of the boat ramps are abandoned and in ruins while the other half are still in use for training.




This is a bathymetric version of the basin I was diving. Nothing glamorous but I was there more buoyancy checks and trim adjustment. Got proper buoyancy and trim on the second try so I still had a ton of PSI to burn through. Pretty much swam around the entire basin and into the harbor area then back to my starting point.




Here's the ammunition I found in the West end of the basin, still in the belt (which has pretty much turned to rust). It even has some shells and unidentified flora on it.


Anyways I just through I would update and share. If anyone is into SCUBA and lives near SD/LA California and wants to explore or dive feel free to let me know. I do not have any sort of penetration certs yet but it is on the docket for the near future.

And if you see this guy around, do not be alarmed, he (thinks he) is a professional.

InB4 That's not where your mask goes!

That's right, I will definitely keep replying to my own post until more people get in here

My question goes out to anyone with underwater camera experience. I would like to document some of my underwater explorations but am a bit hesitant on what system I should invest in. A few months ago my Contour bullet camera seemed to have walked out of my vehicle. The Contour had underwater housings and things you could buy but I had never tested any of them out. I suppose the other major contender is the GoPro with a housing.

I have a helmet that I use when diving that I also mount a light to so I have room for either a GoPro style camera or a bullet style camera. Anyone have any suggestions for a camera and/or housing?

Depths as of now will not exceed 40 meters. The other issue is low light conditions.

I clearly don't read the boards often enough anymore.

I currently like using a GoPro on a tray with a couple of strobes. I'm not familiar with many other options outside of getting a DSLR housing and all the rest.

I've been pretty inactive for the past few months as far as diving goes, but I do have a shipwreck symposium coming up in May that I'm quite excited for.

Anyways, I'm glad to see someone is finally posting on here!

Yeah, every time I look at cameras now the GoPro is looking more and more attractive. A friend of mine has one and we have taken it on explore a few times so at least I have some familiarity with it.

Hope you enjoy the symposium. I have been to a few of the museums here in California and they are super rich with exhibits that they will necessitate a few more visits. Of course the water here is pretty consistent temperature wise, so there is really no off-season for diving so museums have been back-seated because of time.

I am still pretty green in terms of number of dives but my experience has been fairly drawn out and diverse. I seriously need to find a higher paying job to enroll in some more challenging courses so I can explore inside some of the deeper wrecks.