August monthly prize draw!

Whether it’s poking your nose under a rock to check for that next monster cray or going for an always epic night dive to check out the nocturnal sea life, every diver should carry at least one torch. A back up is also always a good idea, as well as a necessity when night diving. The Hollis LED Mini is a great torch for either purpose, hunting for crayfish or as a back up at night. It’s compact, and for it’s size carries a lot of “oomph”. The simple click on, click off mechanism is so straight forward that even my cat could use it. The simplicity and durability of this torch means you’ll experience minimal flooding (if you’ve ever had a flooded torch, you’ll understand this pain) as well as a bright beam from a compact piece of kit. See below for the specs. 

• Single 3W backup light
• Concentrated 8 degree beam
• Output 210 Lumen
• Burntime – 4 hours total
• Bulb life 50,000 hours
• T6061-T6 Anodized Aluminum
• 3 AAA alkaline batteries
• Rear tie-point for boltsnap/lanyard included
• Double O-ring seals
• State of the art PMMA reflector

Once you’ve gone head first into that cray hole with your awesome torch and returned safely with your catch, you’ll need to be sure he’s up to size. Included in the prize for the month of August will be a standard aluminium cray measure. Ensuring your catch is legal will save you a potential headache, as well as giving the wee fellas a chance to grow up to size for good eating. The aluminium measure is tough, and can be clipped to your gear for easy underwater measuring.

Crays are spiky little buggers, if you’ve ever tried grabbing one bare handed you’ll understand this pain. This is their defense mechanism (one of many) and luckily for us we can combat this using kevlar palm gloves. Kevlar stitching is durable and definitely able to withstand those pesky cray spikes. In your kit you’ll find a pair of Oceanic Kevlar gloves. These gloves are warm enough for NZ waters, as well as being tough enough to tackle the biggest of crays.

And finally, as a cherry on top of this badass sundae, you’ll need somewhere to put all these crays you’ll be catching. An NZ made, Dive HQ catch bag will do the trick for sure. This heavy duty catch bag will retain your catch, saving you hanging on for dear life to a frantic crayfish. Nothing worse than doing the work only to discover your dinner has snuck out the back way.

Spend $100 in store anytime during the month of August to go in the draw!

Desirable Dive Buddies have many important qualities, of course there is the fun factor, but really the reason for a dive buddy is simple – Safety!

Finding the right person to share the adventure of diving with can make a huge difference to your experience. Learning to be a good diver should include learning to be a good buddy diver too, however too often it seems the more experienced a diver becomes, the more they forget some of the fundamentals of diving safely and considerately with your dive buddy. Do you still remember to do a Buddy Check?  Dive your Plan and Plan your Dive? How about doing a dive brief and a de-brief?

One of the best ways to find a good dive buddy is to be a good one in the first place!  Another tip is to consider how they behavior out of water, and you should get a picture of what kind of dive buddy they will be!

Want to Meet New Dive Buddies?
Joining onto a dive trip, or enrolling in a dive course are some of the best ways to meet a dive buddy. Enquire with Dive HQ Christchurch for trips to Akaroa Peninsula, Kaikoura, Motenau, as well as the Solomons in 2018!

The Best Buddies are:

Patient – Are they a patient person, or do they hurry through tasks and take short cuts.  Will they wait for you if you have a problem or will they make you feel rushed? Diving with someone who tells you to hurry up, can lead to stress and mistakes.
Aware – Are they aware of their environment and others? Will they be able to spot dangers, or attractions and avoid getting lost.  Will they be aware of you, or will they ignore you under the water and go into their own world!
Positive  – What attitude do they bring to your dive? Are the positive and do they enjoy diving, will they be enthused about similar things to you and want to share in the enjoyment.
Good Communicators – Do they take the time to talk about the dive plan with you, and plan who will lead, or will you dive side by side. Do you plan what you will do if you lose each other?
Respectful – Are they a respectful person, to others and to their environment?  Or do they only think of their own needs, and do as they please during a dive rather than consider you and the surroundings.

Buddies to Beware of:

Buddies who won’t do a buddy check!
Buddies that go down or surface without you!
Buddies that don’t dive to plan.
Buddies that don’t dive close to you
Buddies that get into underwater arguments!

Why Bother with a Buddy?

Aside from the enjoyment of sharing the dive experience with someone, there are a number of scenarios where you would count your lucky star fish that you have a buddy to help, including:

Worst case – Out-of-air emergency
Low on air
Getting trapped in ropes/seaweed/net
Equipment failure
Illness or medical emergency
Getting caught in a current
Leg cramps
Getting lost
Feeling narked and making poor decisions
Feeling panicked

HAVE YOU EVER?

Lost your dive buddy while taking photos or spearfishing?
Had cramp in your leg while diving, but had no one to massage it for you?
Surfaced without your buddy?
Started a dive without doing a buddy check?
Spent a whole dive chasing your buddy’s fins just to keep up with them?
Forgotten to turn on your tank – clear sign of forgetting the buddy check!
Come to the surface after a dive and found only one of you saw lots of cool stuff while the other missed it?
Had an underwater argument?
Felt that your buddy has put your safety at risk while diving?

Let’s keep the Dive Buddy standard a high one and enjoy safe diving together.
To find out more about dive trips and courses contact:
Dive HQ Christchurch
103 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
Call 0800 DIVEHQ (348347)
www.diveskiworld.co.nz

Are you a Safe Scuba Diver?
We hope so! One of the easiest ways to stay safe is to ensure your Scuba gear is in good working condition.  That means getting your BCD, Regulator, and Tanks serviced and tested regularly. If you periodically get your gear serviced, then you are already a winner in our books, but we would like to reward and encourage you even more…

Get your gear serviced or tanks tested this September and be in to WIN!

Get your equipment serviced and/or your tanks tested during the months of August and September and be in with a chance to win $150 valid in store*.

For every tank tested (hydro or visual), get your name in the draw once.

For every BCD fully serviced, get your name in the draw once.

For every Reg fully serviced, get your name in the draw twice!

One lucky winner will be drawn on Saturday 8^th October to win a $150 voucher valid in the Dive HQ Christchurch shop.

*Voucher valid for purchases in the Dive HQ shop – excludes trips and courses. Voucher valid for six months.

Why get your gear serviced?

Your Dive Gear is your underwater life support system, so please don’t let it fail you or your buddy when you need it the most! Over time, o-rings and seals can perish, hoses need pressure checking and potentially replacing. A good clean out of the insides of your gear is never a bad thing either!

Gear that is regularly serviced ensures you with a smooth, safe dive! It also means any potential problems can be picked up early to prevent an incident.

When to get your gear serviced?

Regulators – Annually, or every 6 – 12 months if you dive more than 100 dives a year, or as per the manufacturers recommendation.
BCDs – Annually – as with regs, it is best to get your BCD serviced every year, or more often if you are a very regular diver!
Tanks – Visual Test Every Year and HYDRO every second year. (Note: A Visual is also performed when you have a HYDRO test done)

What next?

If you would like to learn more about servicing, and what goes on inside your regs, you can become a PADI Equipment Specialist. 

Ask us for more information about the Equipment Specialist course! Call us on 0800 DIVEHQ (348347), or visit us at 103 Durham St South.

To all outdoor adventure enthusiasts (and divers), 2016 is going to be the year where the action camera market will reach greater heights. Of course we all know that “Gopro” is the first camera we think of when it comes to action and sport cameras, but how long will Gopro make its stand as the best action camera in the market? Will they still continue making their action camera the top of the line, or will they end up like Kodak? Without further ado here are my top 5 action cameras for 2016!

5:  TomTom Bandit

Taking more of a barrel design than the common box shaped design mimicked from a particular camera *COUGH COUGH GOPRO COUGH*, the bandit has a very unique arsenal. Sure 4K at 30fps does sound like the new norm at this point, and 16mp still images sounds cool and all, but a USB Battery and Memory Stick that can be used to upload videos to your computer and be charged at the same time? Absolutely genius. The “Batt-stick” is a USB and battery for the camera, and it can support a Micro SD Card, that once it’s chipped in, there’s no need for SD Card adapters/converters. In addition, the camera does come with Wi-Fi and a Gopro Mount Adapter to mount this camera to any convenient attachment you may find in retail. A separate accessory available for purchase is a special dive lens that will make the camera water proof to 50 metres. Read more about the TomTom Bandit, here.

4: Intova X2 and HD2

 (Left: HD2 – Right: X2)

Going back to what Intova has previously done with their action cameras is very interesting, and makes them one of the best specifically for divers. They have the standard high definition of 1080p at 30(HD2)-60(X2) frames per second, can take 8mp(HD2)-16mp(X2) still photos, have an integrated LCD screen at the back to view images, but now also have a 150 lumen light built in, used to help improve photo and video quality when underwater. For me as an underwater photographer, I love the concept of an action camera with a built in flash, and these guys were the first to do it and are extending it further. Along with that, they are waterproof to 100m, have a removable battery that can be charged, built in Wi-Fi (for the X2) and require a Micro SD card up to 32GB(HD2)-64GB(X2).

3: Sony HDR AS50

In my experience using the Sony HDR AS30V, right off the bat I can confidently say I love the built in stabilization that they offer, nothing can beat smooth video for an action camera that is facing the toughest conditions. However when it came to diving, I wished they created a more usable dive housing that you could take down to 40 meters or more and still have access to all the function. After talking to Sony about this – because they are very open to feedback – they have surprisingly answered my prayer for a better dive housing… and thus fourth the Sony AS50 was born. Unlike its predecessor, this action camera now shoots 4K at 30fps, this also includes 4K time lapses and the high definition we know and love, can shoot at 120fps meaning that you can film your subjects in slow motion at the highest definition. The camera has built in Wi-Fi that can be access via the Playmemories app, and it has GPS to show off where you have been diving and how deep you have been.

2: Nikon Keymission 360

Trying not to be fully biased between which one is better – Canon or Nikon – but in terms of Nikon’s history, they had made the Nikonos series film cameras, that allowed photographer in the 1970s to photograph images underwater! Going to the modern era, they have created the AW130, which can go down 30m underwater with no dive housing and the AW1, which is the only mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that can go down 15m with no housing. Now this October, Nikon is introducing the new Keymission 360. As implied it is a 360 degree action camera, shooting at 4K with built in image stabilization. It too will be able to go to a depth of 30m with no additional housing and has built in Wi-Fi connection. At this stage I do not know what Canon will do to compete with that, but I will assume that they will make a “good” action camera and then slap their branding on it just so people will buy it. And I know, this made me sound very bias that Nikon is better than Canon… but now for the final action camera for this list. Find out more about the Keymission 360 here.

1: Olympus TG-Tracker

We have all heard and seen the Olympus Tough Series cameras and they are the best in terms of waterproof cameras, but their first action camera, the TG-Tracker may be the “badass” of action cameras! Slightly bulkier than any other camera in this list, it comes with a variety of gadgets on hand. A flip out LCD Screen, a 60 Lumen LED Light, Waterproof to 30m without a housing, and a GPS Tracker that can record your deepest dives much like a dive computer… Now that is what I call an action camera! Of course much like its competition, it shoots 4K at 30fps and 8mp still photos, built in Wi-Fi to replay your moments and double check on depths and time you were underwater, and a 204 degree wide angle lens that will put most action camera lenses to shame. The camera also comes with an attachable pistol grip to hold the camera more steadily, and will make you feel like you are in a Sci-Fi movie on your next dive.

You can find a detailed breakdown of the Olympus TG-Tracker here.

Which Action Camera is on your wish list? Do you think Gopro has finally met its match?

Feel free to leave a comment on what you think about these awesome action cameras.

Thanks to Diploma Student Patrick for sharing his top action camera picks with us!  

As winter draws nearer, it is time to start preparing for the cold. Bring out the woolly jumpers, stock up on hot chocolate, (and don’t forget the whisky!) Shorter days, chilly weather, and cooler waters are no reasons to stop you from diving – so long as you know how to keep warm.

It is important to remember that you lose heat 20 times faster in the water compared to on land. Although 16°C may feel comfortable when you are dry, you will quickly feel the cold on a dive.

So how should you keep warm this winter? Here are a few pointers to keep you diving throughout the upcoming months:

Keep your head covered:

Your head is one of your main points of heat loss; in the same way you would wear a hat and scarf when it is cold, wear a hood when diving! With 20 to 40% of heat lost from your head, keeping it covered makes a significant amount of difference when trying to stay warm. If your wetsuit doesn’t have an integrated hood, you can buy them independently (we stock several different models here at Dive HQ Christchurch).

I know that the idea of a hood can be off-putting, and is disliked by many, but there are simple steps to follow to avoid discomfort:

• Keep your hood down and your wetsuit slightly unzipped until you are ready to enter the water
• If you have a separate hood, put it on at the last minute
• Remove your hood during the surface interval, dry your head off, and if possible put a dry hat on

Layer up:

So you have a 7mm wetsuit to keep you nice and warm, yet the chill is still getting through… Why not add a layer under your suit? The same goes for a drysuit. There is nothing to stop you wearing thermals or a sharkskin under your suit.

A great option is Oceanic’s Lavacore range. An awesome selection of thermals: tops – hooded or not, vests, shorts, pants, suits, caps, gloves… Why not try out the Elite merino lined range to guarantee warmth and comfort this winter! Not only are these great under your wetsuit or drysuit, you can use them for many other activities too. Wear them kayaking, sailing, skiing, surfing… a purchase you definitely will not regret! Pop into Dive HQ at 103 Durham St South to find the perfect Lavacore for you. We are continuing to sell all Lavacore at their sale prices. 25% off the standard range, and 30% off the elite range! 

Toasty toes:

No doubt about it, as the temperature drops you become more reluctant to don a wetsuit and take the plunge. There is nothing worse than frozen fingers and toes (ok, I exaggerate – they won’t quite freeze). Want some tricks of the trade on how to keep your extremities warm? You’ve come to the right place. You will already have gloves and boots, but are you wearing anything under them? No? Well you should be! Buy some disposable latex gloves to wear under your neoprene gloves – the trapped air will help keep you warm! Wear a pair of non-cotton socks inside your boots to keep those little piggies toasty warm even on the coldest of days.

Dry suit diving:

Opt for the warmest option of them all! Come and talk to us about our drysuit range. We can help you find the perfect drysuit for you, and talk you through the advantages of owning one, as well as taking you on a drysuit orientation dive.

Prepare for your surface interval:

If you are doing multiple dives, you want to make sure you have everything you need for your surface interval. Have a flask of something hot ready – tea, coffee, soup is a great one, and something warm to put on. Having a windproof jacket to hand is a good idea, as you can pull it on even over a wetsuit and escape from the chilly breeze.

Just remember not to rush your surface interval in your eagerness to return to the water on cold days! Safety first!

Take a break:

If it all gets a bit too much and you need to escape to the sunshine and do some diving in more temperate waters, get in touch with us about our upcoming trips. We are off to the Solomon’s in June, and Fiji in August. Feel free to ring or email us for more information!

Come and see us at Dive HQ for more tips and pointers on staying warm to keep you diving this winter!

Scuba tanks eventually wear out, which is why it is important to follow the regulations on getting your tank tested.  You wouldn’t want to be diving with a tank that was compromised in any way due to dents, rust, or cracks.  Here at Dive HQ Christchurch, on the occasion that a tank fails a Hydro or Visual test, our customers often leave the tanks with us and we make sure they are disposed of.  Then there are some customers who find a creative way to use their tank.  Being a strong heavy material makes them perfect for some of the following ideas…

The Scuba Letter Box – complete with a Dive Flag!

      
Tank Lamps or Candle Holders.  They make a great lamp shade, or base, especially if you engrave the tank.

The Tank BBQ or Fish Smoker

Get creative with Cylinder Wind Chimes

The Tank Ashtray, or perhaps a healthier option – the Cylinder Phone Holder

Save your pennies inside a Tank Piggy Bank!

 
Tank Book Ends and the popular Tank Umbrella holders

 
If you are feeling really inspired, you may even wish to make a Tank Cannon!

If you have any other creative ideas for a failed scuba tank, the team at Dive HQ Christchurch would love to hear about them.

Need a New Tank?

When it’s time to purchase a new tank, Dive HQ Christchurch have a popular selection of both Catalina Aluminium Tanks, and Faber Steel Cylinders.  Have a look at our  catalogue or come in to see us and we can advise which style or size would suit your needs.

Dive HQ Christchurch
103 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
www.diveskiworld.co.nz

The Suunto D4i Novo Dive Computer has definitely taken appearance into consideration.  With a soft wrist strap and bright colour options, your dive computer also functions as a cool watch.

Wear your computer all the time!

When you get the “Dive Bug” and start buying all your own equipment, the Dive Computer can often be the purchase that causes the most questions.  This is because of all the feature options packed into a small unit.  At Dive HQ Christchurch, our staff will ask you about what kind of diving you will be doing as this will help us lead you to the right computer for your needs.  Technical divers, tropical divers, dive instructors, and recreational divers, for example will all be looking for different functions in a dive computer.

Essentially all Dive Computers are designed to help you dive more safely, allow for longer multilevel dives, and potentially shorter safety stops.  They also provide a record of all your dives, which can be very helpful when logging dives.

Here at Dive HQ Christchurch, many of our customers are drawn to the Suunto D4i Computer, which as you see has some serious style appeal.   However, we know you are not just purchasing on the basis of “looks”!

Try your dive computer on, and make sure the buttons are easy for you to press

The Suunto D4i Novo features include:

• Easy to use
• Air integration
• Wrist mounted
• Log history of 60 Dives
• Also functions as a watch and is comfortable to wear all the time
• Available in Blue, Black, White, Pink and Lime Green.

Make sure your display is easy to read

We recommend coming and having a chat to the staff in our Christchurch dive store to help answer all those questions and find the best computer for you, then if you decide it’s the D4i Novo you want, you will only have the most difficult question left to answer…

“Which colour do I choose!”

Dive HQ Christchurch
103 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
New Zealand
www.diveskiworld.co.nz
0800 DIVEHQ (348347)

When you get a HYDRO or a VISUAL Test done on your cylinder, at Dive HQ Christchurch, we will mark your Cylinder with the date of the test.

HYDRO Tests

When we do a HYDRO we stamp the date, in month/year format, into the top of the cylinder.  There may be a number of dates stamped in there, so to help make it clearer, here at Dive HQ Christchurch when we do a Hydro Test, we not only stamp the cylinder, but also give it a little paint, in the same colour that has been assigned to that year.  This year, being 2016, the colour is Baby Blue.

Here is an example on one of our new tanks, HYDRO tested in October 2015.
You can see 10  15  is the date.  That means it has had a hydro test in October 2015.  It has been painted Red = the colour for 2015.  *Note 041 is our testing station number.

On our next example, you can see this tank has had a Hydro done in 06  15  = June 2015.  So it is also painted Red.

Now let’s check out one from 2014.  The most recent date stamped in this cylinder is 06  14  = June 2014, and you can see it has some blue paint on it, which is the code for a hydro done in 2014. But as you can see it also has a RED tag!! This would indicate a Visual test has been carried out in 2015 (as its RED)

VISUAL Test Dates

Around the Cylinder you will also find a plastic Tag,  this is called an ROC, (Ring of Confidence).  The colour of the ROC changes each year.

2016 Baby Blue
2015 Red
2014 Blue
2013 Maroon
2012 Black
2012 Brown

When just a VISUAL test is done, we will stamp the date on the ROC.
When the last test done was a HYDRO, you will see just an H on the tag, so you will need to look back at the date stamped on the tank for the last HYDRO test date.

On the cylinder below, we can see the blue tag around the neck, with an H on it.  This means the last test done was a HYDRO.   We can tell from the blue tag, that the last Hydro was done in 2014 (Blue Tag for 2014)

The ROC below has the date stamped on it – 10  15, which means it had a VISUAL test done in October 2015.

Please Note:-

A HYDRO is required 2 years from the latest date stamped onto the cylinder regardless of when the last Visual was carried out.

Come and see us at 103 Durham St South, Sydenham, Dive HQ Christchurch, and we’ll get your tanks tested and filled, so that you are ready to go enjoy some great diving.  We can also service your BCD and Regs for you.
0800 DIVEHQ
www.diveskiworld.co.nz

The big topic on most New Zealanders lips at the moment is how well the All Blacks have done over the past 8 weeks and the way they have played like a champion team over the last 4 years. It has been such a great result bringing home the Rugby World Cup.

Dive HQ Christchurch has decided to introduce some November BLACKOUT specials. This is to show our appreciation and support to the AB’s.

Package 1: Back 2 Black

Either 1 x Impression, Linea or Micro Mask Black/Black & Impulse 3 Black/Silver.

Normally $258
November Blackout $125

Package 2: Black on Black

1 x X-shot Black Fin, 1 x Look 2 Black/Silver, 1 x Buran Black/Black Snorkel.

Normally $450.50

November Blackout $249

Package 3: The Black Out

1 x Black Ice BCD, 1 x XTX200/40 Reg Set, D4i Novo Black, Wireless Transmitter

Normally $4623

November Blackout $2999

Only available in November or until packages are sold out.

Come on in to see us at 103 Durham St South, Sydenham, Christchurch.
Dive HQ Christchurch is open 8.30am – 5pm Mon – Sat

The Suunto Cobra3 – “Maximise Bottom Time and Safety”

Another step along the path to designing the perfect dive computer has been taken, with the Suunto Cobra3.  This week Colin from Dive HQ Christchurch details some of the beneficial features of the popular Suunto Cobra3 Dive Computer.

The Display

• Large Screen
• High Definition electro-luminescent display with dot matrix.
• Display is adjustable to be on from 5 – 30 seconds
• Display lights up automatically when an alarm activates
• Simplified four-button operation which can be used even wearing gloves.

Air Integration Design

• Your tank pressure is monitored and displayed
• Rate of air consumption displayed
• Remaining air time continuously calculated
• Visual and audible alarms for depth and pressure
• Warns you when you are running low on air

Nitrox and Gauge Modes

• Programmable for mixtures between 21% and 50% oxygen
• Also adjustable for oxygen partial pressure between 1.2 and 1.6 bar.
• Can be used as a depth gauge and timer with profile memory.
• Can accelerate decompression by switching to a gas mix with a higher oxygen percentage.

Maximising Bottom Time and Data and Graphs

• The air integration design allows for calculations to be made for maximum bottom time.
• The Deep Stop option adds protection with a series of deep stops between your maximum depth and ceiling.
• You can test upcoming dives, to see the no-decompression and decompression time data for different depths before getting in the water.
• Graphical logs and dive data is logged onto your computer using Suunto DM4 software
• Movescount tracks your activity.

3-D Compass

• The Cobra3’s unique electronic 3D compass can be tilted up to 45 degrees.
• Guided calibration and declination setting so you can dive worldwide without needing multiple compasses.

Compatibility with other Suunto Products

• With the Suunto quick release, you connect to the cylinder pressure gauge with one quick move.
• With the Suunto RGBM algorithm, continuous decompression for optimal ascent time

So if you are still diving using gauges and tables, with short bottom times and long surface intervals, why not consider upgrading to a computer and dive safer for longer!

Come into Dive HQ Christchurch dive shop and Colin or one of the team will help you find the perfect computer for your dives.

Located on 101 Durham St, South Christchurch.
Ph 03 379 5804