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This is a great point, and thank you for mentioning it. Yes, that single tank cylinder can be a bit unruly and need shifting! I know that's why some are more attracted to side mounts and doubles to help balance it out!

Love the idea for quickly getting up to speed with your dive buddy! Might give this a try in the future, too!

Before entering the water, do a Valsalva at the surface to clear the sinus pathways and equalize to surface atmosphere. From there, as you descend, keep equalizing frequently and often. You'll find an equalization at the surface will really help make equalizing on the way down easier.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, there can be a wide variation with some signs, but I have known most of these are common. I like the one hand numbers, but almost everyone will understand two hand numbers in the worst case, haha. I did learn the showing the digits on the arm at some point, too. It's fuzzy, but I think SSI teaches this.

@@itravelwisely you are absolutely right that is what SSI taught us and I still use it. It seems still to be popular but understanding others has is advantage 👍!

Love this tip, and I am glad it worked for you. We are eyeballing getting a Perdix this winter after the wallet cools off from buying a dry suit and other cold water gear but will be giving that integrated air a try and exploring my SAC more!

Yes, exactly, CO2 headaches can be some profoundly horrible headaches. I've received them twice, both from current dives and just making bad choices with my energy to fight current too long. Only need to experience this terrible headache so many times to learn to try and relax and be lazy with diving, even in currents haha.

Not anymore! I've dived with many bullsharks, oceanic white tip, and tigers, and while they will demand your attention and caution, they are rarely something to be feared. As all predators, they can be unpredictable, but keeping caution when they are around is usually enough, and you can observe them safely.

I'm glad you liked it! It was a fun one to make to slim down the signals that seem reasonable universal, and we're an important baseline!

Great call out and I totally agree with you, even if you keep breathing but take a giant breath in one can be in for a world of hurt. I do speak to this topic in some other videos I am scripting so will try to clarify this better in the future!

Happy to hear you enjoyed it! Yes, I tried to not make it specific to gear as I wanted it to help give a general way to assemble for numerous recreational diving styles from cold and warm water. I figure'd I'd do it in my cold gear as it covers some added gap that warm gear doesn't cover quite as much.

@@itravelwisely don't pay attention to the haters you are doing just fine. Your money your gear .

Thank you, and I'm glad you liked it!

Side mounting is so something I haven't explored, but I am getting into doubles! I think weighting can be a best with ask gear changes regardless!

@@itravelwisely once you get used to sidemount you will be kicking yourself for not trying sooner it's a pain at first but is is so much better over time. I like backmount as well but the bulkiness of the tanks is tough

@ivoryjohnson4662 sounds promising! I've heard good things on it! Will look into it. Thank you!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Great question! This is called a long hose configuration, and the primary reason for it is to make it easier to share air if someone is out. The idea behind it is, if someone is out of air, I can take it right out of my mouth and donate immediately, to a perhaps panicking diver and have plenty of space for them to calm down. The long hose gives them a lot of clearance. Also, my octo is on the necklace, so I can grab that with my left hand and start using it immediately.

Thank you for the feedback! It's definitely a balance between being too stiff and too active, still trying to fine-tune it, haha. Getting the right balance is harder than one might think!

Whew! That's a long story, but the shorter version is I ultimately pursued engineering as it was well paying and ultimately could open doors for me to pursue an adventurous lifestyle. It definitely took a long windy road to get to where I am but nowadays, I am able to travel quite frequently and have decent work/life balance. I do stay very busy and find it difficult at times to balance everything, but I somehow usually pull it off still. My primary inspiration is truly trying to live a well lived life, but also, I do want to try and make some positive impact on this world which ultimately lead me to starting this UA-cam channel. I do hope to see it open new doors someday to advancing those inspirations forward. I am also the type of person who needs to be challenged in order for me to enjoy something, growth in things I commit time to is important and a lot of these more technical things from mountaineering, skiing, and scuba diving have very steep climbs for growth. I've definitely gravitated more to Scuba Diving recently and looking to take things more to the next level for my own scuba diving journey as I start approaching more technical diving as ultimately, I'd like to start to move to wreck diving in the future.

Good eye, I did get this gear because I was taking a course with GUE but I also wanted to start cold water diving so I needed a new set of gear for colder water anyways. After trying some different equipment and talking to folk, I do agree Halcyon is expensive. It is very good quality though, I made the leap!

@@itravelwisely FYI, halcyon is IMO just rebranded gear from other manufacturers. Not weather it is though. But xDeep, Apeks, Hollis, Dive rite and even Mares offer similar quality for less money.

​@@provuksmc6619 I support budget dive gear !!!

This one was a steel HP 100, I prefer steel for cold water as I almost need no extra weight, haha, beyond the back plate and integrated weight for my tank adapter.

@josephdracula7487 definitely try to live by example of being safe as I can be and teaching everything I know forward on safety! Diving is a lot of fun, and the safer we can do it, the better!

Yes! I was renting a Halcyon unit from Eight Dive (great shop) because I was thinking of buying one and also was taking a GUE course (so needed one anyways). I ultimately did like it, its not a huge upgrade over the Hydros Pro but I like the simplicity of it and able to swap parts out. Both my wife and I ended up buying the Halycons, pretty colorful ones too likely see in future videos haha. Super appreciate Eight Diving though, a bit far of a drive for us but they've been super to work with. Been renting cylinders at different shops too, looking to buy my own soon here when I can find a good deal.

@@itravelwisely I finally bought my own tank a couple weeks ago, really going to enjoy not having to worry about dive shop schedules as much.

Thank you for this warming comment and glad you enjoy it!

Definitely, weight adjustments are often needed, especially traveling and renting some equipment. Buying new gear, or maybe gaining or lose some personal weight. The true end game of scuba diving is nailing and adjusting your weight quickly, every time, haha.

Haha, this was a rental. we were giving a try and figured I'd shoot the video with it. We did buy one one too, slowly converting over.

I totally know the feeling, this is that same sense of dread I had when it came to dark water, really just not being able to know what's there. I live in Seattle and often visibility can be really terrible here during Summer aside from lakes which are hit or miss. Sometimes going deeper visibility improves. It does help having a dive buddy and going in tight formation, sometimes only as a point of reference to the unknown. I've even been in deep water where as far as you can see there is nothing but darkness with your lone torch as a beam into it. Definitely freaky ha ha. The more you do it, in small doses though, the more you get accustomed to it. I am a firm believer most fears can be conquered with pushing into the comfort zone bit by bit and over time and practice, the comfort zone widens.

It's definitely a legendary level hike! It's not that difficult but certainly is very worthwhile! Glad you liked this one!

Yes, definitely! The Scuba Pro MK19 EVOs are quite nice and have good performance in cold water. They are flexible with customization and will take you as far as you want with them. Several instructors I've met swear by them, too.

And G260s for the second stage.

It’s not impossible

Fair, I am not going to argue that the statement is a bit polarizing but we can at least say it's much harder. With a wing or hybrid that keeps the air on the back it will push you into position easier. With a jacket, you can still achieve something similar in good trim and keeping the air in the back and making sure not to put too much air in.

This is fantastic to hear! I know what you mean on the wet suit hygiene, haha. I didn't mention it here, but I should have. It took us a while to buy our own gear, but after deciding to go for it, it was truly night and day. Ever since, sadly, we also bought a completely different set of equipment for cold water. Scuba diving is not a cheap activity, haha. But I am an advocate of getting a few pieces you own for sure.

If your looking at it from a perspective of usable gas sure, but the no deco time or bottom time will be restrictive and thus a very real limiting factor on dive time at some dive sites that are deeper.

But you make it sound like Nitrox is a magic gas and it isn't. You should have said it in a different way in your video. There are just 3 reasons to use nitrox. Longer bottom time at intermediate depths, shorter surface intervals or use it as a safe gas. That's how it is. :-)

@mogensbraae6952 that's fair. This particular video I didn't use a script and it was more off the cuff. I am trying to make better videos and make sure I word things better in newer videos by preparing scripts. The problem with zyouTube is it doesn't allow changes to the video once it's out there unless it's a full re-release. I do have a video I just scripted for Nitrox which I do mention these points much better. This one was more of a quick mention. Hope you check it out once I shoot it and release it!

@@itravelwisely Thank you for a good and appreciative answer :-)

La Paz is stellar if only to spend some time at the sea lion colony and see those adorable pups interact with you!

Glad you enjoyed!

I'm glad to hear you are okay! Out of air situations is one of the most dangerous things in scuba diving, but doing drills, practicing, and preparing for not if but when it happens helps turn something that could be devastating into something that your preparedness has mitigated. Something we should all aspire for and practice.

Yes, the secret is you have to stay in Cabo Pulmo to be able to dive at the dive site "El Vencedor", you will see many bull sharks there. It's a very humbling dive being surrounded by some stereotypically aggressive sharks and the dive site itself feels quite special too. Cabo Pulmo is a nature preserve too which makes it such a great place for diving!

@@itravelwisely I have been twice and plan to go back.. I will take your advice, thank you

@cameronspameron El Vencedor requires permits to go and it's first come, first serve and on a weekly little system. When you go, make sure to ask about this dive site with whom you're diving with that it's where you want to go so it is the top priority. It's tough to get to but if you structure the trip around getting there, you won't be disappointed. It's truly one of my favorite dive sites I've been.

@@itravelwisely holy cow where did you see the whale?!!

This was a bit of a drive from Cabo Pulmo but in the same region at Magdelena Bay! These video clips were from Bryde's and Humpack striking sardine bait balls which I feel extremely fortunate to witness haha.

Glad you enjoyed it! I do feel liveaboard diving, albeit expensive, is well worth it. The sheer amount of dives you get in and remoteness of it all is quite the experience! Hope you can join us on a future trip!

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it!

They are more advanced dive sites due to their remoteness and current, but some of the best dive sites for larger oceanic sea life are Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone!

There are many factors, there was some current and that creates anxiety for some which spikes the air consumption and you likely work harder than you need. He is a bit of a heavy breather, too, haha.

@@itravelwisely If I sounded a bit harsh I apologise and as my own sac-rate is more on the high side than low my dives tends to be a bit shorter than I would like, my solution, when I need to extend my dive time, is to bring a “pony” 12 along, litre’s that is😁. Stay wet and a close watch at the time🤿🇸🇪

Definitely appreciate your thoughts! Improving airtime is something we can all work on and it's interesting to see how much we can improve the SAC rate and what factors into it from dive to dive. Always fun haha. I try not to make up for it with gear but having a pony bottle is never a bad idea if you can manage to bring it with your kit everywhere!

Haha, exactly, I've seen a lot of drama or bad decisions from dive buddies who've been mismatched with folk that are not about equal in terms of air consumption. It's always one of those things you can expect to be a little eventful in my many trips, haha.

@@itravelwisely Socialising on the surface is hard enough and bloody risky at 60 feet 🤣

Super appreciate this message and glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you too!

Thank you! I am hoping to visit Lambeh perhaps later this year! It's not firm yet, but I've heard great things! Banda is also very high on my list!

Ah yes, down and upward currents can be insidious as they can sneaky. Unless it's a big swell, most current is being pulled up or down from rising and cooling water, which creates rivers. They key is to not waste energy fighting it but try to move side ways out of the current. A lot of time and air can be wasted trying to fight the current, which is often where the danger is. There is also current that gets pushed and split by large objects. To which there is a specific radius which the current will be very strong as it moves around it, much like mountains. Avoiding or pushing through or around those zones efficiently is advisable. From my diving, up and down currents are fairly rare at least, I've encountered more washer machine currents that strictly up and down currents!

Thinking on it more, if swimming sideways is not getting out of it, fast enough, angle swimming against it so your not swimming right at it but also have push against it. I'd avoid using the BCD just incase you do swim towards the up current next to it.

Haha, true, but ideally, we shouldn't look to gear to solve gaps in things we can improve without it. Rebreather will help, though!

That means a whole lot to me! Thank you!

Exactly! Especially after the initial dive down to planned depth from there, small pressure changes are easier to handle by moving the jaw!

Good point! Will have to be more careful in revealing treasures like Taveuni more as the channel grows!

@@itravelwisely grateful you understand 💖 some places need to stay a mystery as long as possible. Tourism is rough. -From a Floridian

You're correct, I missed this on review with my editor at the time, my footage but missed the text, sadly UA-cam does not make it easy to fix such so I lived with this one.

Thank you, glad you liked it!

You're free to believe what you will, I've been diving throughout the world, challenged myself on plenty of dives and have been a respectable diver. I can teach because I have a lot of experience. A lot of unique experience as I am able to travel often and to some of the more rate and hard to see places on the planet. Now it's worth noting, I an not a tech or cave diver, I diver recreational. I take footage during and through years of recreational diving. I don't remember most of these things taught to me when I went through open water. They were learned over time and experience. Of course, learning from many others along the way.