Loopy,
I am sure anyone who can load a 16mm RA rubber on a 130cm model can load MT3 with 9/16" (14mm). I never try RA but judging from the short butt, I don't think it is any easier.
Boys,
Here is a good story. A few years back I almost died from this faulty right ear of mine. I nearly black out on a night dive on a wreck. I forced to equalize and took like 10-15 minutes to hit 120 feet. 4 of us went down together and when I reached bottom, the rest were about to ascent. When I was at the bottom I felt a kind of stoned, lucky we have an ascend line that day. I signaled a friend that I am not feeling well, I told him to look at me. So we started to ascent but at every 3 feet the reverse block I had was like explosion on my head. I nearly fainted. I grabbed his BCD hard but he was ascending too fast (normal ) for me. It took forever for me to ascend as the pain was so unbearable every few feet. I had to concentrate on thinking of my sons as I was about to pass out every time the air expanded and exploded in my ear. I was really afraid of dying that day. If I passed out in the water at that depth, I'll probably won't survive.
Later I went to the doctor. They push a camera in my nose, all the way in !!! So disgusting, again I almost fainted, it was not a pain issue but YUCK !!!. The Doc tested even tested my ear in a special studio. Nothing wrong was found. I gave up diving for 3 months after that. Everytime I can't see the bottom of a dive location, I had the feeling that I will pass out. If I focus at murky water with no reference, I feel like I will pass out. It took me a few years to get the confidence back but never could have the confidence I had before that incident.
Reverse block like what I had was so bad, the pain is not the only problem but the ear is where our balance is and if that sensor goes haywire...............scarry !!!
I don't like taking drugs for cold and stuff like that. My right ear is really bad. I can dive ok to 60 feet and suddenly I get ear block at that depth, I really hate it when this happen, me can't chase deeper fish. What I need is a good ear specialist who knows diving related matter. The Doc I visited is a professor but he is not a diver, maybe he is not very aware of pressure related problem. Honestly, doctor is not my favourite destination.
I also once threw all my full scuba gear to float away because of my faulty ear. It's a long story but in summary : I can't descent and the current was strong. I threw my gear so that I can swim faster and can make it to shore some kilometers away if the dive boat ever missed me, so I thought. It was a combination of bad luck and bad ear. I swam non-stop for an hour just to maintain position so that I can be visible to the boat. My gear was recovered 4 kilometers away heading towards the Indian Ocean, out of the straight we were diving.
