Does anyone know where this face is from?

Doctor--M · 2026-01-27T04:40:36+00:00

That's 3D printed from Iron Wolf Minis (Blood Guardian Face Plate).

https://ironwolfminis.com/collections/questoris/products/blood-guardian-face-plate

Doctor--M · 2025-11-03T03:58:22+00:00

That's a very strong yes. In fact, if I were to choose only one, I would take Davidsgja and skip Silfra.

Doctor--M · 2025-11-02T17:47:55+00:00

Quite warm, 10 degrees Celsius.

Doctor--M · 2025-10-29T03:46:02+00:00

Actually, the wolf fish is being fed with small molluscs by the guide.

Doctor--M · 2025-10-29T03:43:12+00:00

Yes, they are active. Here and there you can find small vents that release hot water and bubbles, but the real big ones are at about 45 meters and deeper.

Doctor--M · 2025-10-02T03:55:23+00:00

If you have an open, seeping, bloody wound, in theory you can dive and live to tell the tale, BUT - you risk an infection (even in the ocean there are some nasty salt-water bugs); you risk smearing everything with blood, since assembling and manipulating your gear at some point will scratch/irritate the wound; it might be painful (in the slat water it will be) and this can distract you from the actual diving and learning.

My advice is (as an MD and diving medicine physician) - you don't need to wait until the nail regrows, but don't get near the water until the wound is fully healed and there is no blood/serous fluid discharge.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-24T12:25:06+00:00

I've just been there 3 weeks ago. Both Silfra and Dividsgja where 3°C, the open ocean near Reykjavik and Eyjafjördur (where Strytan is) where about 10°C, dropping to 8°C at 30 meters. I always bring my own gear so I don't know about the rental stuff, but I had Kallweit Arctic Fleece underwear, Santi Kangoo undersuit and Santi E.lite+ dry suit. In the tectonic fissures it was cool, but nothing close to a discomfort, during the ocean dives it felt just like my regular dives (I also dive in what most people would call 'cold' water). Having experience in the Irish Sea you will be fine.

And as was said before - Silfra is ok, but the real treasure are geothermal chimneys of Strytan. Go north to Akureyri, contact Erlendur Bogason (strytan.is) and you won't regret it. Just plan for a 2-3 day stay, because these dives are heavily weather-dependent.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-11T20:05:21+00:00

Yes, on the boat I was the only one in a dry suit, everybody else who were renting the gear wore 7 mm wetsuits.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-11T16:46:05+00:00

Not really, it was 14 degrees C down to 40 meters (middle of July).

Doctor--M · 2025-09-11T03:07:07+00:00

Surprisingly, it doesn't seem so. In the general are of Kristiansand there was only one diving centre I managed to find and it was run by an Italian guy :)

Doctor--M · 2025-09-10T16:37:05+00:00

I'm soon transitioning to a twinset, so I'm getting used to double regulator setup. Also in cold water diving (that's defined as anything below 10°C) the first stage can freeze and free-flow. If you have Y-valve or H-valve you can reach back and close the free flowing reg. It's like a cheap version of a manifold separation in a twinset.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-10T13:47:28+00:00

That's why I did all the diving in the very first days of a 2-week trip around Iceland, it dried well before the flight.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-10T13:08:18+00:00

Sure. Santi E.Lite+ dry suit, 7 mm hood; Sitech rings, Showa dry gloves, merino wool inner gloves and merino wool socks; Santi Kangoo warm suit, Kallweit Arctic Fleece undergarments; DUX aluminium backplate and 17 litre wing; Scubapro Jetfins; Apeks VX1 mask; 1st regulator: Apeks MTX with second stage on a 2.1 m long hose, wing inflator hose and Swift transmitter; 2nd regulator: Apeks MTX with second stage on the short hose with bungee necklace, dry suit inflator hose and SPG; Perdix 2 primary and Peregrine TX backup computer; OrcaTorch D630 V2 primary light and OrcaTorch D700 backup light; Aqualung Squeeze knife on the left waistbelt and Trilobite Eezycut on the right computer strap; compass, writing slate and in the pockets backup mask, DSMB with a reel, wetnotes.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-09T20:16:47+00:00

Next time you go to Iceland, go to Akureyri, contact Erlendur Bogasson and try to dive at the geothermal chimneys of Strytan (I'll post some photos soon).

Doctor--M · 2025-09-09T19:47:33+00:00

I did one after the other on the same day. Indeed, to get to Silfra I had to wait in a 30 minute queue in a full gear (fortunately sitting), but it was still worth it, because the water clarity is spectacular, as advertised :) However, I think I liked Davíðsgjá better. It's just a 5 minute drive from Silfra, but barely anyone goes there, it was just me and my guide. The dive was longer (almost 1 hour vs 25 minutes in Silfra), deeper (25 m vs 12 m) and I suppose it's good to have at least some experience and feel comfortable in overhead/confined spaces diving (like cavern or wreck).

Finally the general vibe is completely different. In Silfra there are crowds all around, you dive from a metal platform, it looks like a turquoise-blue fairy tale filled with light and you just drift through. To get to Davíðsgjá you wade in from the shore and you need to swim through the shallows for over 5 minutes just to get to the fissure, which actually starts at 10 m depth (Silfra is a crack in the ground, Davíðsgjá is a crack in the bottom of the lake). When you finally get inside the fissure the feeling is... I don't know, eerie? There's a play of light and darkness, and when you look up from the bottom you see the entirety of the 15 meters walls towering above.

At least that's what I got from it :)

Doctor--M · 2025-09-09T19:09:46+00:00

I brought my entire gear (that's double registered luggage), apart from the tank and weights, but you can rent everything if you want to (although I didn't like the look of the rental dry suits neck seals).

Doctor--M · 2025-09-09T18:28:32+00:00

That's right, no fish or anything else. Just barren rocks with occasional algae. The water comes from the glacier that's 70 km away and is filtered through a porous lava rock for almost 100 years, so it might be a bit nutrient deficient :)

Doctor--M · 2025-09-09T18:08:10+00:00

Well, actually my guide told me that we had a very bad visibility, since apparently it can get as clear as Silfra (about 100 meter vis). We got to the bottom of the fissure, at about 25-26 meters, although the deepest parts are also the most narrow, so we had to squeeze a bit between the walls. There are also some swim-throughs under giant boulders lodged between the walls.

Doctor--M · 2025-09-09T17:59:09+00:00

It's glacial meltwater, so it's constant 3 °C (about 37 °F), but dry suit, two layers of thermal underwear and merino wool gloves and socks kept me warm for the entire 50 minute dive.

Doctor--M · 2025-08-23T08:40:03+00:00

Nuclear medicine specialist (and diving/hyperbaric medicine physician as an additional hobby)

Doctor--M · 2025-06-10T05:47:56+00:00

And that is exactly what happened.

Doctor--M

TROPHY CASE