I was reminded about the importance of good buoyancy recently, when I accompanied a bunch of try divers as a guide. It was their first experience diving in the ocean – we were only at 3 meters – and of course, their buoyancy was appalling! Most of them ended up bouncing along the seabed dragging themselves along with their hands, then putting too much air in their jackets and popping up towards the surface. Of course we were all there once.

BCD’s (buoyancy compensation devices, or jackets) come in a variety of styles to suit different types of diver. Essentially they all have the same basic functions:

• To provide buoyancy at the surface
• To allow you to adjust your buoyancy for neutrality when submerged
• To hold your cylinder fixed to your back
• To provide points to attach things

Additionally, some also offer:

• Storage pockets
• Integrated weight systems

These days BCD’s come in two basic types:

Generally speaking servicing of regulators should be carried out by a competent professional, but all divers should understand how their equipment works, and be able to carry routine maintenance tasks. This post cover basic cleaning and servicing of the most common diaphragm type second stage regulator – something you should do if you have a minor leak, or if your kit has been unused for some time.

Before starting work make sure you have a large clean work table, with good light and a cylinder of air or nitrox.

This was our final day aboard Whirlwind, and I elected to do just one of the two dives on offer. This was because my right ear finally gave up after all the diving, and I was having problems with it. I finished on a good one though!

Most of us probably haven’t really studied narcosis since we were rooky divers, aside from the usual “narked” jokes we all make about mermaids and dolphins. So it seems like a good time to cover the subject in an easy to understand format.

I’ve recently carried out a little informal survey with many divers, and there seems to be no obvious indicator as to when or why it should occur. It just sometimes happens, but most often doesn’t.

Let’s answer some basic questions about Nitrogen Narcosis:

What is it?

Simply Scuba send us a newsletter every month with their current special offers, and we pass on details of the best ones for you.

This months they have a special running on the Suunto D4, which is now available in 4 different colours. SS are offering it this month at 250 Pounds with free UK shipping. Remember if you’re in Europe or the US, you can take advantage of the current weak pound and get a real bargain!

It’s no surprise that the Aladin Prime has become a staple computer of dive schools. It’s robust, fairly easy to use and keenly priced at the budget end of the spectrum.

This was the big day - the day we were to dive the world renowned Thistlegorm, but first we headed for another wreck, The Kingston. She was an 80 meter long steamer which went down in 1881 on the delightfully named Shag Rock.

We dive pretty much every weekend, and this weekend we headed out to do a dive that we may have done 100 times before - swimming out along the coral "finger" that runs due East of Charco del Palo.

The usual suspects were along for the trip, Crisis Chris, Medical Mick, Bilious Brian, Shivering Steve, Mark the accountant and yours truly. We'd decided to follow the finger at 15 Meters depth, so that when we reached the big drop off, we could get maximum time as we went deep.

I tested one of these lamps over the weekend, and I surfaced impressed. The C Lite 8 is a good value for money lamp - here in Europe it's priced at €99 and most US sites seem to sell it for around $100. That's the price of the lamp itself, although you can buy it with a nifty little backup lamp, which is much smaller, for another €30.