Traveled to New Jersey this weekend to attend the PADI member forum and Beneath the Sea expo.
This was my first time at Beneath The Sea expo. If you have never been, you should go. What a show! It was like the entire dive industry was there. Manufactures, distributors, resorts, live aboards, dive shops, special interest groups.
Talked to a lot of people, planning/dreaming about all of the cool places I would like to dive this year. Surprisingly most of them are in the US. I would love to do an extended Keys trip and hit all of the wrecks.
Gear wise lots of cool stuff. Halcyon was their with their new cinch system. I had my back plate upgraded last fall when they came out. It is a great add-on makes the harness snug and secure. They also had their new regulators on display. I saved for months for those and that was tough in this economy but I order them last Friday form the folks at Virginia Scuba before leaving for Jersey. I can't wait for them to come in. I will blog about them once I get them, hopefully later this month!
Rebreaters... the ultimate in dive gear. From the research I have done, the divers and CCR instructors I have talked to the Dive Rite Optima is the way to go. At Beneath The Sea expo there where at least six different manufactures of CCR equipment.
Some of them looked like they were just built in someone's garage. I briefly watch an operation demo where the counter lung looked like two silicon milk jugs. As it was being demo it looked like someone milking a cow. Pretty scary, not a brand I would would to use.
Had a great time, saw the folks from Atlantis Charters their boat is ready to go. They are looking forward to a great season of diving. I feel the need to visit the U352 again, soon.
Was hoping to take pictures but my droid was not cooperating, or it was just user error. Maybe next year.