The EXP Fins are here after months of testing and slow production to ensure they are what they should be. The fins are retro – the original monprene blend that Apollo used. Monprene is the best choice for a high performance blade and exactly what we want in a tech fin. Our blades offer the best blend of power to work ratio.

I have tested a pair for the past three months and knew the formula was right because I found a set of original Apollo fins upstairs to dive against in testing (sorry Dan, I trashed your original Apollo fins while testing). I could swim in high flow for 3 hours nonstop without any calf cramps.

Two weeks ago, I was teaching a cave course the day our full production models arrived so I put both students and the assisting instructor in the blades to test rather than the rubber fins they were wearing. All three guys refused to give them back and bought them on the spot. Their comment was it was the best fin to actually swim with.  A little something most divers don’t think about: in cave diving we swim for miles, nonstop. We aren’t floating and we use a wide variety of kicks. It’s the best environment to test fin performance. If you have doubts come swim with me.

Lamar

ES410 Fin

I defined technical diving back in 1991 as “having to manage multiple regulators (gas supplies) while diving.” I told Dr. Hamilton and Mike Menduno this at the first AquaCorp Tech conference in New Orleans just days before DEMA. They were asking the attendees their definition of technical diving. To-date the managing of gas supply underwater is still the most common issue.

I bring this up because today the definition of a technical diver seems to be “someone who doesn’t settle with an equipment solution out of the box.” Everything should be adjusted to fit a diver’s stature for ease of access and comfort. That’s why there are so many hose lengths for divers now. A standard hose length won’t work for every body. We just shortened the traditional 27” BC inflator hose to 22” because it works better on most BCs and so far everyone seems to prefer it (we still have the 27” in case you want it).

Our new Tech SPGs are naked so the tech diver can pick the right hose length for his body stature and application (see the TIPS section for recommended starting lengths). The old standard is 32” for single tanks, yet tech divers want a shorter hose on their doubles and certainly their sidemount bottles. The most popular doubles gauge hose lengths are 24” and 26” depending on your height and I bet some women would like 22” (let us know). I personally prefer the 26” because when I am diving with dry gloves I like to clip it up on a chest D-ring so I can easily look at my gas supply and not have to unclip it from the belt in cold water.

Lamar

LED lighting technology is rapidly changing and we are delivering the best lighting that we can. While others package existing technology from other industries into a dive light, we have actually engineered our LED technology specifically for our own underwater handheld and canister lights.

It was a challenge to the electrical engineers to create the packaging and heat sink for our product. Our LED products can run out of water without excessive heat buildup. The latest generation of canister light the LED LUX is the culmination of this design. We were able to increase the output and the rated burn time. We started testing the new design with the later LED 700 releases seeing them get up to six hours of burn time on a light that was originally rated at four hours. The LED LUX is brighter and will burn up to six hours on a new battery.

In our product manual, we are rating it conservatively at 5 hours after I tested it on my own three-year old batteries. We rated it for the lower time of five hours to be conservative for divers wanting to upgrade from the older MR11 HID light. The light is designed to never leave you in the dark, the rated burn time is based on a constant voltage of 10.5 volts and when it drops below that it tapers like the LED handheld to give up to an hour of lower output light. We use NiMH batteries to take advantage of their discharge capabilities and recovery from deep discharge to take advantage of LED performance.  

Look for a new canister with longer burn time coming soon.

Lamar

The new HID 1000 adjustable reflector assembly has some improvements over the old H10 reflector. The HID 1000 reflector is recessed into the shroud so there is less backscatter and a better pin-point focus. The new shroud protects the reflector from damage as well. They don’t survive sitting your cylinders on it.

The HID 1000 reflector comes standard with the metal Goodman handle on it with the big pad to rest on the back of your hand.  If you have the H10 light the new reflector from the H1000 will fit and you will feel and notice the difference. I wrote this because I have been asked in the field about upgrading the reflector. You can do an upgrade directly with us at the factor and it will only be $59 if you reference my blog. Otherwise, the retail is $99.

Lamar

Our new shipment of dry suits are in with more improvements. Suits have the big pockets on both sides with a line leash inside for stowing gear. The new boots are an incredible fit, a combination of neoprene and rubber coated neoprene, they are warm and form fitting so you don’t need to go up a fin size for a good fit. The outer seam tape is gone and the cut of the suit has changed slightly for a better fit. I have put a number of dives on mine over the past few weeks and the changes are noticeable.

Lamar

After a weekend of diving caves with visibility on average of only 20 feet, we compared the HID 1000 and LED 700. To our surprise the LED 700 was more effective in the low visibility situations. Apparently the LED throws more light out close to the source. This is a great benefit in low visibility situations.  It was bright with no backscatter from the lower visibility conditions.

The HID 1000 is better in the clear waters where its focal length punches thru. We compared the two a few weekends before in some deep caves with large rooms.  I guess the best light is dependent on diving conditions.  I have both so I will pick and chose based on the dive plan.

Lamar

When traveling it is not always easy to get a set of doubles, especially in remote places or where the diving is largely recreational. So what are your options? You can sidemount, but sometimes it is not the right solution. When I travel I want the ability to rig a set of independent doubles. The Remora setup was designed for this: two of these in your luggage lets you quickly make a set of doubles. They have a mounting hole for the bolts to slide onto a backplate or TransPac. This is an inexpensive way to always have the option for diving doubles when needed. The most expensive part of the system is the four cam straps. If you have extra cam straps or can use cam straps from the dive shop on location, this is the economical solution. I take two Remoras and a bolt kit with me when I travel to Mexico so I can set up my own doubles. I then carry two aluminum 80s sidemount for the ease of carrying four cylinders on a long dive.

Lamar

People ask me which light to get: the HID 1000 or LED 700? The adjustable focus of the HID 1000 has always been popular wih cave divers. The HID adjustable focus lets the light punch through the water in dark caves so you can get a feel for how big a room is rather than feeling you are all alone.  The HID 1000 has more light output than any other light of its size and can double as a video light if you add a reflector.

The LED 700 is the answer to a robust, compact light that can handle being on a boat in rough seas or jostled around during travel. In my opinion, the Sun Spot MR11 was not robust enough for the wreck diver, so now we have a light that can handle being banged around. The LED 700 is the replacement for the previous 10W HID lights, with more light output and increased durability.

Of course, I have both lights. I use the HID 1000 for cave diving at home and the LED 700 for travel, which includes wreck diving as well as destination cave diving.

Lamar 

This light has been a major success for us and we have listened to customer feedback. We’re delayed in production right now in order to make some improvements you have asked for. The next shipment is scheduled for release in a few weeks.

Any alkaline battery will work. The driver will compensate for low grade batteries and operate without overheating (don’t use expensive long lasting batteries for high tech devices). Granted performance will not be as optimal as it would with the recommended Duracell batteries, but the light will perform.

Rechargeable batteries available at your local department store will also work. We are testing them with success, but performance is still questionable because these batteries don’t like to be deep discharged. I don’t recommend trying to run the light until it burns out with these because it could damage a battery cell. Moderate use of six hours on Energizer 245ma rechargeable batteries appear to function just fine.

Lamar

Which light should you buy: the LED 500 or the new LED 700? For any active tech diver, the answer is both. The difference is a lot more than 200 lumens.

The LED 500 needs 700 milliamps of current to operate. This is easy to maintain with good, quality alkaline batteries. The LED 500 gets a minimum of 12 hours of burn time; which is achieved with this style of light by utilizing a voltage driver. The result is 500 lumen output with fresh batteries. The reason the LED 500 can burn so long is because the driver tapers the power consumption, which in turn decreases the load on the batteries in order to maintain a usable light output for a long period of time. There is a decrease in light as the batteries are discharged, but it is slow and not significantly noticeable. This rate is so slow the eye doesn’t notice an appreciable change. Your eyes adjust to the surrounding light and it appears to stay the same intensity. There is a noticeable drop as the driver reduces the voltage requirement after the first 8 hours. This is why the LED 500 can burn for so long.

The LED 700 is a true replacement for the 10W HID primary light. The 10W HID has 450 lumens of light output, but the Kelvin temperature (6500K) makes it appear brighter than it really is. In order to achieve a brighter light with LED technology, we designed the LED 700 differently from the LED 500. First, in order to achieve 700 lumens of light output we are using 1000 milliamps of current. Since we want this to be a true primary light, we selected a driver that gives consistent light that does not taper. This gives the LED 700 the punch needed to surpass 10W HID lights.  The higher milliamp draw coupled with the driver renders the same burn time and color temperature as a 10W HID light.

Beyond lumens, there are also differences in design application. The LED 500 is the perfect light for travel or anywhere charging batteries is an issue. It’s also the perfect back up light for any tech diver. The LED 700 is truly the new age of primary lighting with longer bulb life and more robust design than HID lighting for technical diving environments.

Lamar