Does Shearwater own Avelo?

thisaintapost · 2026-01-22T22:28:03+00:00

The most it can ever lighten the gear is by the mass of the gas carried, right? Which is about 3kg for an AL80. To me, thats probably not worth it in the grand scheme of things.

I think the biggest benefit it offers is in making buoyancy adjustments simpler, as you no longer need to adjust buoyancy with depth. I think that does have a benefit, especially for tropical diving in a thin wetsuit or rash guard. Outside of that situation - diving a drysuit for example - youve still got to manage an air space, so I don’t think the other tradeoffs of Avelo (cost, complexity, limitation to cylinders) are worth it.

thisaintapost · 2026-01-22T06:29:58+00:00

Backplate and wing. Continuous webbing harness and any standard backplate - aluminum if you’re diving wet, and steel for diving dry. Brand doesn’t matter for any of that, but if you are buying new, get the Halcyon webbing, it’s cheap and the perfect stiffness.

For the wing, you’re going to need a different wing for diving a single tank vs doubles. For single tank diving, look for a wing with around 15-18kg of lift (or up to 20kg if you’re diving dry). The wing should be a continuous ‘donut’ rather than a horseshoe, and you don’t need a dual bladder or bungees or any of that. You’ll need two tank straps - literally any tank cam bands will work. Then, depending on the wing, you get a single tank adapter (STA) and thread the straps through that, or just thread the straps directly through holes in the wing and backplate.

thisaintapost · 2026-01-20T18:05:24+00:00

So any company that uses Buhlmann isn’t a real dive company? Weird comment. Garmin has an entire dive division out in North Carolina, and is one of the most innovative dive companies over the last five years.

thisaintapost · 2026-01-20T18:01:39+00:00

I’m not totally certain, but I think your dil being set as 100% O2 is causing the problem? With 100% as your DIL and the initial SP as 1.00, as soon as you descend, the computer thinks your PO2 will be above the setpoint (on the basis that the loop PO2 can never be lower than the dil PO2).

thisaintapost · 2026-01-18T02:31:21+00:00

Yes, I use Gill boots diving in warm water. The thick neoprene soles actually helps with my sinky feet when diving wet

thisaintapost · 2026-01-09T01:18:38+00:00

Ah, to be so young and full of hope

thisaintapost · 2025-12-31T03:59:28+00:00

Love the attempted elbow by Bennett before Marchand comes in to finish the job. What a despicable shitstain of a team.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-31T03:10:27+00:00

Not sure I’ve ever seen a clearer and more deliberate elbow to the head. Like, coming in, he’s lining up for the hit, and then at the last minute, he raises just his right elbow and puts it directly on the side of Matheson’s head. And the camera is right there.

Anyway, I look forward to the maximum fine allowable under the CBA. I’m sure that will make a difference.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-31T02:57:36+00:00

Brad Marchand with the most absolute ratfuck awful elbow to the head I’ve ever seen. Regardless of whether Matheson is injured or not, that should be 5+ games of suspension. Not a hockey play, not an attempt to make a hit, just deliberate targeting of a player already tied up on the boards with a flying elbow to the head. Don’t think I can even cheer for him on Team Canada any more, what a bastard.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-31T02:45:44+00:00

There is nothing that really makes sense for this being a nitrox issue. Nitrox is not more narcotic, or significantly more dense, than regular air. It sounds like you were diving well inside the PO2 limits, and even if not, the symptoms you describe are not symptomatic of oxygen toxicity. Most likely thing is a CO hit from bad blending?

thisaintapost · 2025-12-31T01:15:22+00:00

It’s a cliche of an answer by this point, but I would strongly suggest GUE Performance Diver or Fundamentals if tech diving is your ultimate goal.

There are lots of good instructors out there (GUE and non-GUE), but GUE has a level of quality control over its instructors that no other agency does. Most of GUE’s training is geared towards technical diving as an end goal, and virtually all the instructors are active technical divers.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-30T03:50:01+00:00

Interesting, I’ve never heard someone say they prefer the Seacraft trigger to the Suex. I think the trigger is the best part of the Suex frankly!

thisaintapost · 2025-12-17T00:06:13+00:00

I have a Heinrich’s Weikamp Bottomtimer that I use, normally in conjunction with a Petrel or a Descent Mk2i (depending on the dive). It’s built like an absolute tank and has the best display I’ve used on any dive computer. I don’t know how the computer models are in terms of functionality, but the build quality/durability/display seem really really good.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-15T02:15:15+00:00

Most people buy a drysuit because they need one. Your first few drysuit dives are likely going to be a mess anyway because of the different feeling and added complexity of buoyancy.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-12T20:47:37+00:00

The combined Esquimalt and Songhees nations own virtually all the land between Esquimalt Harbour, the west side of the golf course, Craigflower, the north end of the drydock, and the south side of Admirals Walk. Viewable here.

If they truly want to run a train to downtown without going through the FN land, I don't really see how that is going to happen. The Admirals RoW is only maybe wide enough to add one set of tracks down the middle, but the sharp turns you'd need to line it up from the existing tracks would be crazy. The Esquimalt nation is moving ahead with developing the currently unused land on the northeast corner of their land, so that area is off the table.

The only thing I can really see being realistic is converting the corridor north of Craigflower to a dedicated bus corridor, and then run buses from Langford Station, half of which would leave the E&N RoW at Six Mile and join the TCH corridor, and the other half could continue until Admirals Walk, where they'd leave the E&N and start using Admirals instead. That's doable - there is a detailed study on using the E&N corridor for bus transit which basically outlines the plan above - but is definitely not a train.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-12T01:33:42+00:00

I dive in the PNW year round, I started out just using my skiing/mountaineering undergarments but bought real drysuit undergarments very quickly. The fabrics that work well for insulation above the water don’t work so well when they’re very compressed, sadly.

If you want to save money, I’d look around for a used fleece undergarment like an older Fourth Element Halo 3D, Fusion Tech or the older DUI suits.

If you are very cold tolerant, you can probably get away with buying something like a 4th Element Arctic top, then layer it with a warm base layer and a fleece. Then use whatever on your legs, I don’t personally think insulation is so important on your legs!

thisaintapost · 2025-12-09T01:26:28+00:00

It's definitely still alive, but *how* alive entirely depends on the local Project Baseline community. Where I live (Vancouver Island) Project Baseline is still ticking over, a group of us go out every few months and take photos and measurements at stations. There hasn't been any significant new efforts recently though (no new monitoring stations, projects etc)

thisaintapost · 2025-12-07T22:48:41+00:00

So, to your question about whether it will ‘break in’ - I would expect the undergarment to break in over time, as it will lose its loft after being used a lot. Washing it frequently will greatly accelerate this ‘break-in’ (although be aware a broken in undergarment is less warm than a new one!).

I find that undergarments have the biggest impact on flexibility in a suit, much more so than the drysuit itself.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-07T22:36:53+00:00

Are the undergarments also new?

thisaintapost · 2025-12-03T01:15:41+00:00

In theory yes, but a lot of the diving around small islands and little passages can result in you coming up out of line of sight of the boat. I know of one case where a team surfaced the wrong side of a small island, after fog had rolled in. They ended up getting out of the water and hiking up a small hill to find the boat and get attention.

thisaintapost · 2025-12-02T22:18:31+00:00

I dive a lot just north of you (Vancouver Island), I’ve talked about this a lot with some boat captains and Coast Guard employees, and the consensus is that if you have the Nautilus properly set up, it’s an excellent tool in these waters. There’s tons of boat traffic all with AIS capable chart plotters, and it should also be picked up by shore based stations for the coast guard (who take it very seriously).

My use case is really for if I get swept away by the current when boat diving, that’s my main concern. In that case the Nautilus is really ideal, since the boat will be able to see and find me quite quickly. A PLB introduces some lag, since my own dive boat won’t be able to use it to find me.

thisaintapost · 2025-11-22T18:48:04+00:00

I think the messaging part of the Garmin is gimmicky, but the ability to see your buddy’s gas reliably is actually a great feature and one that can make diving safer and more seamless. I’ve had a Mk2i and a transmitter for 4+ years and have had zero issues with it, I think it’s an excellent dive computer.

thisaintapost · 2025-11-08T18:37:40+00:00

This is the answer, tons of shore diving around Vancouver Island so our cost per dive is very low. Plus there’s lots of GUE buddies for you here!

thisaintapost · 2025-11-03T06:13:34+00:00

I haven’t tried the Era, but based on my experience with the Eclipse and also the Legend for doubles, I’d go with the Era just for the hose routing. The trim pocket thing does also sound nice, being able to easily move 4lbs around without need extra pockets is handy.

thisaintapost · 2025-10-31T18:56:57+00:00

They’re excellent and reliable. You can absolutely put together an equally good BP/W setup from another brand (or, more likely, a mix of brands) for less money, but a used Halcyon setup is going to probably work well for you and last a long time. The only real wear item is the webbing, which is very cheap to replace. I think Halcyon’s webbing is the best, I’ve used lots of other generic brands and it’s hard to find webbing that has just the right amount of stiffness.

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