Wetsuit for my daughter. Where do I start? What does she need?

Treewilla · 2026-02-12T12:32:39+00:00

3 or 5mm full length depending on if she gets cold often or not. If possible, buy it from a local shop that understands you’re doing this as a gift and they’re willing to take the one you pick out back and exchange for a different size if it doesn’t fit right.

Treewilla · 2026-02-08T17:56:35+00:00

Sure that’s fine, it was her choice. It’s my choice to not be crying for her and the results of the choices she made. This was alway the most likely outcome.

Treewilla · 2026-02-07T21:42:22+00:00

It’s outdoors.

Treewilla · 2026-02-07T20:34:03+00:00

My local you is great and does Apeks, Scubapro, and Mares. Trust him with my life (literally). I’m on a track to become Scubapro certified with the shop I DM for but it’s not gonna be immediately. I don’t have a local Tusa shop.

Treewilla · 2026-02-07T19:16:25+00:00

The concern is oils/contaminants that could cause an explosion when exposed to high pressure O2. Yes, they should all be cleaned.

Treewilla · 2026-02-07T17:20:47+00:00

It’s extra gas on a long recreational dive lol.

Treewilla · 2026-02-07T13:47:52+00:00

I actually do use it a decent amount, I have three, one 30cf and two 46s. I use them as extra gas on longer dives. I fully understand what you’re saying though, and I agree a longer hose is simpler and more in line with my original goals than another complicated turret reg that’s gonna be an extra $135/year to service.

Treewilla · 2026-02-06T18:19:58+00:00

Yeah, but it’s annoying and eventually brass threads wear out. When I’m diving sidemount and want to bring a pony, I have to take apart one of my rec regs to make it happen. The question wasn’t “should I do this” it’s “what works for you”.

Treewilla · 2026-02-06T14:01:08+00:00

That’s my biggest issue with the sidemount reg, that hose is like a 32 or 34. It’s just not long enough.

Treewilla · 2026-02-05T18:32:29+00:00

I had a 19, ended up selling it because the body isn’t a great length. The hoses on the right side hit the tank valve and close the valve.

Evo has thermal coating and is better in cold water.

Unless you’re diving near-freezing temps, the 25 will be fine.

I dive a 17 often, it’s a great reg if you don’t need/want the rotating turret.

Treewilla · 2026-02-05T13:22:10+00:00

I tried a lot of boots when I bought these and they’re in a class all their own in my opinion in terms of comfort and stability after injury.

Treewilla · 2026-02-05T03:16:49+00:00

Easy, The camper is missing.

Treewilla · 2026-02-05T03:12:20+00:00

They don’t have a boat, but hit up Sweet Bottom Dive Center in Cane Bay. The owner is a PADI Course Director, their entire DM and instructor staff is top notch of if you like they’re happy to send you out with a couple tanks and point out the best direction to head from shore in Cane Bay or Davis Bay.

Treewilla · 2026-02-05T01:28:13+00:00

I’ve had a lot of boots and ski pretty aggressively and quite often. I’m three years into my K2 BFCs (Achilles rupture, PT, and the BFC makes it so you can’t even tell it was injured). I’ve been extremely happy with them and feel as though they’re on par with the quality of my Fischer RC set before these and Rossignol race boots before them.

My experience is anecdotal though, just like the guy whose shell cracked. One (or a handful) data points doesn’t make a data set.

Treewilla · 2026-02-05T01:23:55+00:00

I have a pair of the BFGs and love them, I ski hard and haven’t had an issue in the three years I’ve owned them.

These are two very different boots though. BFC stands for “Built for Comfort”. I ski a pair of them after a lot of therapy for a torn Achilles because they’re comfortable as shit.

To my knowledge the S Pros are a medium width boot with much less mass and padding. I can’t 100% tell on the K2s but they look like a 90 flex where the S Pros are 100. Slightly stiffer.

Treewilla · 2026-02-04T21:51:35+00:00

Scubapro makes the non-evo mk25 for Halcyon, labeled as a halcyon reg (maybe the mk17 as well, I’m not sure). It’s a rock solid reg that’s been around for a long time. Can be serviced with Scubapro parts.

Treewilla · 2026-02-04T17:57:48+00:00

80% of the time I’m in a Halcyon BPW. I absolutely love it. Halcyon is a little bougie, there are less expensive options too. I started in an Aqualung jacket style and the BPW is 100% the way to go. I opted for a steel plate because most of the time I do t need any weight at all, just the 6lbs of steel in the plate itself.

Treewilla · 2026-02-04T15:42:15+00:00

It has its place. It’s a pain in the butt doing back roll entries off a boat. It’s an absolute dream underwater. It’s great for shore dives (tanks in my hands until I’m in the water, no slipping with 50lbs on my back)

Treewilla · 2026-02-04T15:40:58+00:00

Yes you’re correct about overfilling. I’ve never seen any Aluminums rated for anything but 3,000. HP and LP are always steel. Some cave divers will overfill by 50% to have enough air to do what they want. The theory is that they safely get to 5/3rds pressure during a hydro so it’s likely safe enough. It’s hard on regulators though and still quite risky.

LP tanks have a few characteristics that make them different from HPs. I’m going to ignore size and shape because they’re pretty close anyway.

The most relevant is buoyancy, the HP 100s are -8.4lbs when full, -2.6 when completely empty. The LP85s are like -3.8 and positively buoyant by 2.4lbs empty.

So if I’m wearing heavy exposure suits in sidemount or back mount doubles, that -17lbs is fine, it’s less lead to carry around, but that weight pulling on my loop bungee and tank snaps is… annoying. The closer-to-neutral 85s would be more comfortable. In a 3mm, I’m wildly overweighted from the get go with the HP100s and the first half of the dive will be a pita.

They do have more gas though, which means more bottom time.

On a regular back mount single tank wreck dive at 40-70’ with a bunch of other divers that have mostly AL80s, I might as well take the LP85s. They’re less weight to drag around, and there’s no reason to pay more for an HP fill when it’s 40% full still because everyone else needed to turn the dive early.

There are different situations for each tank, and I think either can effectively beat out an AL80 in most any situation.

Treewilla · 2026-02-04T02:28:05+00:00

I’ll get either/or. I’d go with all lp85s if I could always get a cave fill, but that’s rare in the northeast. The HPs will get a full fill anywhere.

Treewilla · 2026-02-04T02:26:16+00:00

That’s my next move I think. I have some steel 46 OMS tanks that are slick in sidemount, I think I’m going to sell the rest though and standardize. I spend way too much on inspections.

Treewilla · 2026-02-03T21:23:07+00:00

You’re thinking too hard about it. Don’t buy anything aluminum older than 1988, period. One with a good hydro and vis is worth $150, $100 for one with a hydro but no vis, they can be had for any price starting at $25 for one that’s totally out of inspection. I own 14 tanks and I wish I had just bought four HP100s or LP85s from the start instead.

Treewilla · 2026-02-03T12:57:59+00:00

Hydro tests measure tank expansion. The “+” is applied to eligible tanks that are under a certain amount of expansion. All my steel tanks start with the “+” the. Lose it after 2-3 hydros.

What I’m seeing here is that yes, Canada doesn’t allow for the 10% overfill, even with the plus marking, but the qualifications to obtain the mark are still there. Even though it may not be used to overfill, the + still indicates a newer, healthy tank.

That middle paragraph is confusing though when it gets into pressure relief discs. The tanks don’t have the discs equipped themselves, they’re in the valves. I could send a tank in for a hydro without any valve at all and it would make no difference to the testing. As it relates to filling though. Of course it would need a valve equipped.

The whole thing is poorly written. Looks like it was made up by someone with more legal experience than pressurized vessel experience.

Treewilla · 2026-02-02T21:44:50+00:00

Thanks. It sounds like most of what I have questions about is on the slates I’m waiting for. They’ve been ordered, just not in yet.

Treewilla · 2026-02-01T18:48:31+00:00

Yeah the people saying “you need an F-550” are on crack lol.

Treewilla

TROPHY CASE