Quick Release Lanyard - With Ring & Stainless Ring Clip

I have reviewed Many a Lomo product as they are generally good quality and extremely good value. Recently I got my hands on their Quick Release Lanyard - With Ring & Stainless Ring Clip which retails at £5.99. This is around half the price you would expect to pay for a branded product.

 I used the lanyard for a prime dive torch but only after making a few adjustments to the lanyard.

 The lanyard is supplied with a small karabiner clip at one end and a split ring at the other. I found the karabiner to be fine but the split ring was too soft and lightweight and it started to unravel when tension was put on it. This was disappointing but not too much of a problem. I removed the split ring and utilised the loop of line that is found at the same end as the split ring. All I had to do was unpick a small knot. This then enabled me to thread the line onto the torch and loop the lanyard through it. Job done.

The karabiner clipped to a D ring and off I went. The body of the lanyard is made of curved plastic wire. The use of plastic clips enables lengthening the lanyard at the start of the dive and the clipping it all away tidily at the end.

After making the alterations I found it to be a good product giving great flexibility re torch positioning.

Mike Clark

Go PRO HERO 3+ Black Edition Test

I have just taken receipt of a Go PRO HERO 3+ Black Edition for testing. Im hoping to dive some really nice wrecks with this and i am just awaiting delivery of the dive housing (60M) and a head mounting system. this is a very exciting product and i cant wait to try it out. Keep your eyes on my blog and hopefully U Tube to find out how i get on.
Mike Clark

Finart Loch Long

Its been a while since i have been in the water, so it was great to get back in at the weekend. Weather was poor on the East coast and i headed West to Loch Long. The weather here was cold but superb and the Loch looked stunning. I arrived fairly late but managed to park up. I managed two nice dives and was impressed with the amount of marine life at this site. Here are a few pictures from my day.
Thanks goes to Paul and all the guys at DEEPBLUE SCUBA and Iain Smillie and his buddies who helped look for a spotting torch i lost on the entrance path at Finart. Its a small led lenser torch with white masking tape around the bezel, if you come across

 

 it please let me know.
Talking of torches I was testing 2 Ferei Torches and a pair of the new Mares Avanti Quattro+ fins. Reviews will follow shortly so keep a close eye on the blog to see my findings.
Mike Clark

Gear Tests

I have some superb new products for test and im looking forward to getting in the water and putting them through their paces. 
first up are the new Mares avanti quatro + fins which look identical to my current pair of the old style. Mares state that these popular fins have been recreated with new materials providing even better performance.
John Hewitt of Red Hat Diving has also sent me some impressive looking gear. Two torches from either end of the Ferei light range certainly look great on first impressions with sleek aluminium bodies and as always from Red Hat the prices are very competitive. John also sent me up a frameless Sopras Sub Comada Mask. Im always wary of testing masks out of the blue as fit is a personal thing. however in this instance the frameless design lends itself to fitting most faces and it certainly sticks like glue to mine.

So over the course of the autumn i will be getting these items wet and i will post the results in a couple of months time.
For more info on the products mentioned please visit
http://www.mares.com and http://www.johnhewitt.com/

Mike Clark

Splashing Day Out

Had a Superb day aboard the Jacob George with Iain of Marine Quest and a great group of divers from Sussex. First up it was a quick dash over the border to dive the Shadwan, on which i enjoyed a very relaxing dive taking in the sights. The afternoon dive was everybody's favorite dive of the day (I think its safe to say). We headed back across the border and dived through Tyes Tunnel in fairly good vis of around 8 metres. For me after the excitement of the swim through i was in nudi heaven spying one i have never seen before (let me know if you can ID it as i dont know what it is) and around 6 other different types. fantastic dives and socializing rounded off by some great Soup, Home baking, scones. Fantastic..
Mike Clark