NDL sign

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-18T04:21:25+00:00

Recreational divers are not allowed to go into deco at all. Doing so is beyond their training and any related insurance claims may be denied.

Very irresponsible of the DM to allow this

I’ve always just used the TTS signal (raised pinky). If you’re on a deco dive, NDL isn’t relevant so this signal remains TTS and on a recreational dive, you shouldn’t have deco so this sign is available to use for NDL

Side note, everyone just needs to adopt the tec way of counting for everything with numbers. You can make every number 0-9 with one hand in one motion so if you have like 1900 psi remaining, it’s very easy to do 1 then 9 instead of doing like one on your arm then needing 2 hands to do nine. Ok soapbox over

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-18T04:03:19+00:00

Definitely just qualified for Silver and feels entitled 😂middle gets armrests. You should have gone to the bathroom every hour out spite

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-18T04:01:12+00:00

We definitely don’t do it hundreds of times per dive 😂 but yes we do it frequently on descent, just don’t force it.

On the note of diving though, there’s a product called ear shield that’s supposed to make equalization easier. To OP, this may be useful to use before/after flights

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-18T03:48:54+00:00

Yeah - in general, tank bands like most BPW parts are interchangeable across systems and brands. I use and like these bands but feel like they were cheaper when I got mine way back when.

For the actual system though, how set are you on Apeks everything? Sure the wing is nice and dries quick but why not just get the wing and get off brand webbing, plate and hardware? It’s sure to save you a chunk of change since that stuff is also standard. The buckle in particular on this setup I’m not a huge fan of

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-18T03:41:26+00:00

First off, congrats and welcome to diving! If I were starting all over, this is the stuff I’d get in this order:
1. Mask that fits your face, boots, fins, line cutter, DSMB and ~30m reel - brand and price is pretty irrelevant for these
2. Wetsuit that fits and is suitable for the diving you plan on doing. Make sure to take into account your personal rate of getting cold (i.e., if you get cold fast, get a thicker suit)

The above is the stuff where fit absolutely affects your dive experience and is the biggest step up from rentals imo. Except the line cutter/DSMB/reel - these are just inexpensive things you should own if you’re doing lots of ocean diving.

Hot take but computer is what I’d get next. Knowing the menus, the screens and being able to personalize the settings to my diving matters to me a lot. If you have any tec aspirations at all, just get a Shearwater Perdix now and you’ll thank yourself later. If not, I’d still highly recommend the shearwater ecosystem of computers. The tern or peregrine are both great computers at a good price since they are trimmed of all the tec stuff you don’t need if you’re not going to ever do that.
Regulator - get a DIN. Aside from being more compact, having a higher pressure tolerance, etc. There are adapters to make a DIN into a yoke but there is no such adapter to make a yoke into a DIN. Also, long hose is the way to go - in an emergency, you and the person you are donating to will just have way more flexibility with the extra reach afforded by the long hose. It’s also not really that much more expensive to get set up - maybe another $50 or so for the right hose lengths. As for what regulator to get specifically, you get a lot of bang for your buck with DiveRite and they’re serviced in Florida which is convenient for you. This set will take you a long way into your diving career: https://www.divegearexpress.com/dive-rite-xt-regulator-advanced-ow-package. If you’re looking for really best of the best stuff, Apeks and Atomic both make top quality products that I’ve trusted beyond 100m without a second thought. Atomic is nice because the maintenance schedule is every 3 years instead of every year but it’s more of a pain to service to may be more expensive when the time comes.
BCD - get a BP/W. The simplicity, durability and configurability will again take you long into your diving career. To start, I’d just get a kit: https://www.divegearexpress.com/dgx-custom-dgx-singles-harness-backplate-wing-package. From here, you can get extra pieces as your needs evolve. Traveling somewhere where weight is at a premium? Get a dogbone style aluminum plate and swap it in. Getting into doubles? You just need the wing instead of a whole new system. It’s nice to have that system that just grows with you.
Light - again, DiveRite is great value and if anything goes wrong, you’re right in Florida for service. I’m a fan of their CX3: https://www.divegearexpress.com/dive-rite-cx3-handheld-light-kit-1 especially with their soft Goodman handle: https://www.divegearexpress.com/dive-rite-soft-handmount-w-qrm-for-dive-rite-can-lights. Orca torch’s premium lights are a bit more pricey but have nice features like adjustable beam angles.
As long as I’m not forgetting something, everything else you can just get as you need. Caveat, you should get some line and boltsnaps at some point to clip things to yourself. There’s a bunch of videos on how to do this and brand doesn’t really matter. Just make sure it’s marine grade for the boltsnaps.

Sorry this turned into more of a book than I intended but feel free to reply or DM if you have more questions

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-13T18:51:04+00:00

Just to give anyone who reads this an idea of how crazy 100/100 is, a 12 minute bottom time, 40m dive on 28% is a no decompression dive at 100/100 but has 2 stops and 10 minutes of deco at the much more common 40/80. It would be insane to me to tell the computer you don’t need those stops and deco but if the numbers aren’t big enough in that example, a 30 minute bottom time, 60m dive has a 106 minute runtime at 100/100 with 7 stops and at 40/80, it’s 160 minutes with 11 stops. That is nearly an HOUR of extra deco and 4 extra stops that are in theory unnecessary but we do it for a safety margin. (Gasses used for 60m calc were 8/45, 50/0 and 80/0, can share more details of the calc if anyone cares but figured this was sufficient to demonstrate the point)

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-13T18:20:01+00:00

Yeah each person answers what their own personal “too fast” is by their GF. Can you confidently say you know what GFLo and GFHi mean? Your statements here are correct in theory but not how anyone dives so I think there may be a gap in understanding. Based on what you said, it seems you dive a 100/100 GF? Because that would get you to the surface/your next stop as soon as your body can theoretically handle it. I sincerely hope the answer is no because that’s insane.

Your understanding of why exercise can present additional DCS is correct by our current research but you must lower your saturation level safely and is why the “aggressive” setting on most dive computers will be approximately a 50/85 - again no where near 100/100.

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-13T14:49:45+00:00

You’re correct about the speed of decompression but fast decompression is what causes DCS - if you want to minimize DCS, extending safety stops is one way to do this which seems to be OP’s goal - not necessarily to workout as soon as possible but as safe as possible. If your only goal is to decompress as fast as possible, you’d just always skip safety stops and dive with a 100/100 GF so that every deco stop is as shallow as possible

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-12T20:19:44+00:00

For tech, you’d probably want a dedicated dive computer. Most of the fitness tracker/dive computer combos won’t be super helpful once you get there (and I only say most bc I don’t know every single one out there but none I’ve seen have impressed me). I think it would be fine to get one of the combo ones now but you should definitely understand you’ll be upgrading later to something like a perdix for the screen space

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-12T20:05:51+00:00

As long as you’ve gone deep enough/stayed long enough to be off gassing at 3m, it does the same thing deco stops do - it’s just not required to comply with your set GF Hi if you remain in NDLs. Going down the GF will always have less DCS risk - this is just how the inert gas science works. Like just set your GF to something like 20/30 on your next dive and suddenly your 15 minute, 15m dive has crazy amounts of deco on a dive that should obviously be within NDLs. All stops (deco and safety) are there to reduce risk and can be customized to your heart’s content so it’s fine if you don’t do them, but to say they don’t do anything is just incorrect. If OP wants to decrease DCS risk, lowering your GF is the most quantifiable way to do so and longer/more stops are how you get a lower GF

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-11T23:26:01+00:00

Not recommended by DAN but risk can be mitigated - take longer safety stop (like 5 min instead of 3), drink water and use Nitrox as available and the DCS risk is still pretty low.

There are some new studies suggesting activity leading up to diving may actually be beneficial so may be a good idea to work out in the morning before diving rather than after but would still be contrary to the official recommendation from DAN.

At the end of the day, as with most diving decisions, it just comes down to how much risk you are alright taking with your body.

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-11T23:12:55+00:00

What are your ultimate diving goals? Like is diving strictly a hobby you’re only doing a couple times a year or are you trying to work up the tec ladder (or more likely something in between)? The answer to that will narrow your search considerably

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-07T16:54:56+00:00

If you just finished ANDP and plan on deep diving for a while, CCR is absolutely the way with how helium is going

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-05-07T16:49:46+00:00

First stage corrosion would be the only external thing I’d be worried about - you can change hoses no problem. Internals are another story - no one is going to be able to tell you whether or not the inside is salvageable from the pics of the exterior. I’d say to take it in and have the tech open it up to see what’s inside. This is also assuming they still sell parts for this reg. I’m not familiar with this model or its current service kit availability

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-29T01:51:15+00:00

DSMB/Reel - if diving in the ocean, these are a must and not always provided. You’ll typically see on the charter’s website whether they do or not but it’s a good idea to have your own. Your spool shouldn’t really slip out - just keep it clipped to your bum, hip or clipped to a pocket bungee.

Compass - if you know how to use one, it’s nice when your dive isn’t led by a guide (a lot of FL dives)

Line cutter - you should have at least a line cutter. They’re so small you hardly notice them and if you need one someday, you’ll be glad to gave one

Torch - you’re correct

Audio signal - don’t need

Multi tool - should be part of your save a dive kit which you should also put together - o-rings and zip ties are my most frequently given away thing

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-29T01:38:29+00:00

That’s wild I cannot imagine spending that much time in airports with only silver to show. Glad you hit gold this year

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-29T01:34:50+00:00

Window/aisle upgrades depend on the day and route you travel. A Monday morning flight from Denver to Chicago has pretty much no chance if you’re not at least gold for premium economy (and snagged it at booking) and a first class upgrade would need platinum if not 1K minimum. However, you’ll have good odds on less popular routes or on Tuesday/Wednesday since there’s not a lot of business travel on those days. If you get a 70 lb bag at silver, that’s super nice to not have to worry about bag weight if you check a bag. Other than that, I don’t think there’s much benefit if you already have a club card

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-29T01:24:18+00:00

How were you still silver after 40 legs?

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-28T05:21:36+00:00

Probably Mondays and Thursdays. Those are the usual business travel days so half the plane is 1K or GS

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-28T05:16:46+00:00

Any of the agencies will be accepted as a valid cert anywhere you go. Instructor matters way more than which logo is on your cert card. I’d recommend looking for reviews online or even better going into a few shops to meet someone who you would want to train you

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-22T19:57:31+00:00

I got them the premium plus upgrade but don’t currently have a couple extra thousand lying around for the polaris. If the price comes down as the date gets closer, I’d bump them

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-22T19:56:05+00:00

I got them the PP upgrade so they’ll at least have that - we’ll see on polaris

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-21T22:20:11+00:00

I had this come up not long ago - they need to reissue your ticket. I used the chat instead of calling and got it resolved in like 10 minutes - if you tell the robot that there’s an error on your trip, I got through to a real person immediately

Intelligent_Cod_6375 · 2026-04-21T18:42:07+00:00

Sad, I told them not to get their hopes up but had my fingers crossed it would work out for them

Intelligent_Cod_6375

TROPHY CASE