My Technical Diving Gear Set Up

My Technical Diving Gear Set Up... you asked, I made a video! This is a guided tour of my standard OC Technical Diving gear configuration for the technical diving we do here through Miami Technical Diving in South Florida.

As I said in the video, there are thousands of possible gear configurations for technical diving, this just happens to be the one I've found that works great for me and the type of technical diving we do here in Miami.

Here are the affiliate links to the products I mention:

The links above are affiliate links. Purchases made through these links may earn us a small commission at no additional cost to you and we thank you for supporting our channel!

As always, thanks for watching!

D.S.D.O

James

-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
What do we dive? Our full and independently chosen gear choices are here:
------------------------------------------------
Connect with Divers Ready!:

Twitter: @diversready
------------------------------------------------
FOR MORE INFORMATION or to collaborate with Divers Ready! you can reach out to us via our website:

-----------------------------------------------
If you want to take a PERSONALIZED dive course at any level with James from Divers Ready, you can contact us here:

-----------------------------------------------
***Disclaimer: Divers Ready! firmly believes you can not teach someone to dive through the internet. We strongly urge people to ensure they receive dive instruction through an internationally recognized training agency and to dive safely and within the limits of their certification level at all times. Our channel is aimed at already-certified divers looking to further their skills.***

----------------------------------------------
In accordance with COPPA laws, please note that content on the channel Divers Ready is not specifically made for, or targeted at, children.
----------------------------------------------

Dive Safe. Dive Often.
#scubadiving #diversready #improveinspireexplore

Music used under license. Get yours here!

My Technical Diving Gear Set Up

Though we are based in Florida, Hawaii, California, and Michigan have 100 ft and 300 ft ocean and lake underwater coral reef, shipwreck, cave diving, freediving, scuba diving, and rebreather trips. To learn full face mask, beginner scuba diver, advanced scuba diver, tech scuba diver, cave diver you can reach out to a professional scuba diver. Everyone should get scuba diving insurance with Divers Alert Network.

We support all types of diving products, like a full face mask, fins, BCD, dive computer, regulators, closed circuit rebreather, underwater scooter, from many companies like Simply Scuba, Mares, Dive Rite, Cressi, Zeagle, Huish, Hollis, Scubapro, Shearwater, Garmin.

[sittingduck]

I appreciate the level of professional knowledge and the humility this man talks with.. Defenitly would like this bloke as an instructor

[timothystevens]

Diving dry, I think wings are waste. We started diving with Unisuits when they came out back in the 70s on shipwrecks (Michigan) and found BCs unnecessary. There were no octopus rigs when I started but I did carry a 33cf pony bottle, obviously with its own reg, but it was not for public consumption. I was the only one in my group that ever had to use their pony, and then it was only twice; one time to finish out decom stop.

We carried real knives. I got tangled up in some electrical wiring hanging down from a ceiling in about 125' in the Monrovia, and was glad for the size and type of blade it was. On the other side, I dove on wrecks for almost 10 years, and it was the only time I used it.

Dive lights today are amazing compared to what was available when I stated diving (1968). I wound up making my own from a friend's design that would never hold up in warm water because it was a 6 volt tractor headlight that I ran 14 volts through. We were diving in 39 to 42 degree water, and never had a bulb burn out. It was extremely bright, and friends always new what room I was in because all the portholes had light glaring out of them.

We carried spools of line back then, but not anything with 400', and certainly not the same quality. I got lost on the stern of the Danial J Morrell and found out my 220' of line was not enough. I only used it once, but without it, I wouldn't have gotten the decoming I was able to complete. We always had a tank of pure O2 on board for just that king of emergency, and a good supply of aspirin to thin the blood. The dose was 8 to 12 depending of body size, which was the recommended by the research Doctors at U of M . We were told to take the aspirin, lay still for at least an hour, breathing the O2. I should have spent at least 45 Min at 10 ten feet decoming, but I did what the doctors said, and didn't get bent. 4 hours later, I went down an retrieved my line.


Diving equipment has certainly changed, and I would say mostly for better, especially concerning dive computers. My first one was the SOS Decompression Meter, which we affectionately called the "benz-o-matic". It could only do one thing, and not very well. Obviously, we had a working knowledge of the Navy Dive Tables.

BCs using dry suits at depth and octopus rigs; No thanks, way to much unnecessary junk. Of course, we only had compressed air (mixed gas was mostly a theory in until the late 70s and wasn't available to sport divers until much later), so we needed life underwater to be as simple as possible.

We had 2 sayings that we lived by. 1. Plan your dive, and dive your plan. 2. There are old divers, and there are bold divers, but there are no old, bold divers.

[myrandomlife]

I recently got certified open water and I think you are my new favourite YouTuber. Your videos are passionate and entertaining and I am as a result I am even more into scuba and looking to book my Nitrox and Advanced 30 course.

I remember seeing a FFM on the shelf in one of your videos and was wondering if you did a video on them? I must have missed it.

In any case, keep doing what you are doing!

[thetattooedpsycho]

The Fourth Element Tech Shorts are the bomb!!! A little pricey, but you get what you pay for. Highly recommend!!!!

[MysticalDragon]

4:50 interesting as padi's drysuit class taught empty your bcd and use your dry suit for buoyancy control. Yet the more I watch, most experienced divers say the opposite, like you, to use it to prevent suit squeeze and for warmth while letting your BCD do what its intended to do.

[mgelax]

Adding lights to your "studio/dive locker" will definitely help, but using dive lights can cause problems. They are meant to be more directional and can make for harsh lighting. In this video you have some pretty harsh lighting and shadows on your face. A light diffuser in front of the dive light you use as studio lighting will do wonders! In fact, adding more overhead lights that have built in diffusers spread around will help add more light and reduce shadows.
In your last video you mentioned the desire to step up your production quality. May I suggest 3 things? One is the better camera, which you now have (2 of them), better lighting, and better microphones. I'm not saying yours is bad, but as you want to improve quality, think about those. Having some more lighting around the whole room and a few on your face will do wonders. The trick is that light needs to be diffused and preferably from multiple angles (left front, straight on, right front). A good ring light, or 2 or 3, will help with this. For microphones - until you feel confident having multiple microphones (editing multiple for one person is tough) just stick with one really good one. You seem to have done well with microphones and I don't remember what you do, but sometimes things are off a little. A good shotgun microphone mounted on the camera can be good if you aren't moving around too much. I prefer them over lavalier microphones since people always seem to bump or rub them making really bad noises. Or they turn their head and we hear nothing.
Anyway, good luck! My wife and I are doing AOW in the next month or 2 and are getting excited for our trip this summer with dives in the Florida springs and off coastal Carolina!

[joshrowland]

I my self like Apeks and the XT-50 is a bullet proof reg. I am thinking about getting into tech diving and I am looking at much of the same gear. So, thank you for going over your setup. I am in the same boat with the shop I work is a AL and Apeks as well as Dive Rite so I am still shopping. Thank you for your hats work and all the stuff you do.

[blackoceandiving]

Finally someone that doesn’t puke at the sight of a dual bladder wing. I have your exact setup from Apeks. (Backplate/harness, Tek 3 Regs and of course the WTX-D60R wing) I’ve been told by multiple training agencies that I can’t train with it. Looks like I might be coming to you for tech training.

[yungteach]

Old video much enjoyed, would also enjoy seeing a video on your gauges.

[kevyneuro]

This was a great video for those starting tech. I appreciate it.

[mattcrews]

I LOVE my Mares XR tech shorts! Stout zippers, good wide pockets with plenty of attachment points, and the stretchy Velcro waist looks gimmicky but after a little adjusting is actually solid and comfortable. There’s also a Kevlar butt area that doesn’t wear at all. I’ve had mine for a year and they still look brand new even with many tech dives/dming

[maxtorque]

Regarding the dual bladders, it's really a personal thing, i genuinely don';t think there is a wrong answer, so long as you are practiced in using your partifular setup. Realistically a bladder failure for well looked after and inspected gear is pretty rare, i don't think i've ever actually seen one, but it's possible, so redundancy (esp when bottomless as mentioned) is key, but how that redundancy is allocated is un-important imo. For me, i feel the second LPi and hose just gets in the way too much for the 99.9999% of dives where i'm not using it, and all my tech dives are in a drysuit, so that's the option for me at the moment, and realistically, any failure of primary buoyancy means dive over at that point. if i were doing extended Deco in cold water, or deep pentrations, then yes, i'd almost certainly swap to a dual bladder allowing a seamless transition in the event of a primary bladder failure :-)

[siloamsurio]

I like that you're practical with your advice where I don't have to buy branded equipment, etc. I am researching what to buy for my rec scuba gear, and the prices can be financially overwhelming when you search online for the "best" equipment. X_X

[Goodspeed]

04:30 Thank you for the grate insight and perspective. I became dry suit certified (CMAS) last yare in November and was thought to use the dry suit as the primary buoyancy control underwater and the BCD on the surface and as a backup if the suit valves malfunction. But again thanks for the different angle, appreciated!

[NickJ]

Agree with you on the redundancy in your wing, you could still use a dry suit for triple redundancy if both inflators fail

[underthesurfacemovies]

Hi James! Great advice as always - Really enjoying your channel! Just wanted to let you know, that I've been using the Fourth Element Tec Shorts for about 50 dives in warm water now, and I couldn't be happier. Since I use a wing configuration, that doesn't provide any pockets, they have become my main place to store about anything I bring on a regular dive (torches, boltsnaps, spare mask, SMBs, line, white balance sheet, etc.). I really like the pocket layout and size, especially the super large lids, which are even suitable for use with gloves. If you have the chance, I'd really recommend having a look at them. Have a great season, stay safe and best regards from Switzerland!

[hdi]

I think the Standardized gear configuration works best in a team environment. E.g., I know where your gear is and how it operates, and you know where my gear is and how it operates in case of an emergency where SCR's and critical thinking skills are increased. This "way" of diving also helps mitigate risk to the team as a whole. While your configuration looks excellent, and I am sure it works just fine—we would both have to have a gear configuration chat before tech diving together on the surface. That might require recreational familiarization dives until one feels comfortable responding to an emergency to a buddy's gear selection. Food for thought.

[rgorji]

Great video. Always nice to hear and see how you do things.

[michaljachimowicz]

I am a recreational diver in Norway, so I pretty much only dive a drysuit here, and on most dives I only use the suit for buoyancy. If you're properly weighted, then there shouldn't be too much air in the suit anyways, and the air you put in the suit is also used to insulate, so why would you put that air in an air sack where it only compensates for buoyancy.

[alcopwn]

Funny I pretty much have the same set up. Exep my fins are OMS ones and I have the non redundant donut 😁. And I also chew threw the apeks shorts. It's sad because they are good shorts but the pockets just aren't up to scratch.