What Nature abhors - more about gear

[Fondueset]

about two years ago a friend of mine sent me a link to Tanya Streeter's website. A couple months later I actually looked at it. 'Holy Crap! I forgot!!' I forgot how much I loved freediving as a kid.
All these years - decades really - of only a very occasional visit to the blue room in my old Tusa mask and USD fins. I hadn't owned a wetsuit since I was sixteen.
From there - I ordered a surf suit, Cressi matrix and weight belt. Diving was fantastic that summer - the visibility was incredible and the springtime abundance of schooling fish was spectacular - even in these humble fresh-waters - my daughter and I dove from june through october - she with no suit - me with an ill-fitting surf suit. From Tanya's site I found this one - and that's when the serious shopping began - last winter.
After much wheeling and dealing - yard saleage and various other ways to get spare change - the still-life below ensues (just my kit - my daughter has her own)

A big thanks for all the extremely opinionated input!

 

[matrixed82]

Nice kit Fondueset,

I should be putting my final order for my elios suit shortly, I can't wait for next spring to try it out. I would try it out earlier if theres anyone crazy enough to cut a hole in the ice and jump in with me

What kind of camera/housing do you use? The reason I ask is that I want to buy a housing for my canon a95 but I'm affraid of it leaking. Do you need to apply some sort of silicon grease around the o-rings?

Dan

 

[Fondueset]

Canon a95 u/w housing

I see they make a housing for your camera too - I'd get that one! It'll be perfect.
My housing is made just for the casio exz50. I haven't put any silicone grease around the ring yet - they suggest that the ring be removed for storage and placed in a plastic bag with some of the grease. Hasn't leaked a drop. I check it when I first get in and periodically thereafter.
My first dive with the 5mm Elios was last january 1st - water was 36f -it was great except for the intense nausea when the water hit my face!!

Eliossub absolutely rocks. Don't sweat it if it takes them awhile to do the suit - it's worth the wait. You can see I also have a 3mil suit with a plush lining and detachable hood for summer. It was cheap! One of their 'off the shelf' models - supposedly premade - but they took my measurements and the thing fits perfectly - I think their idea of premade is maybe mostly just a word It got alot of use this summer and has held up perfectly.

 

[Adrian]

Is that a copy of the I Ching? (on the right fin?) I usually find that I have to use coins because the sticks float away when I throw them underwater.

Nice kayak, must be a breeze to carry. About the silicone grease, do use it even when on the camera, it'll help not scratch the o-rings when you close the casing, and even helps a bit in waterproofing. And, very important, take the o-rings out of their grooves when not using the camera because it'll cause them to lose their elasticity and then they might not fit any more. It happened to me. I use a guitar pick or a credit card to pry them loose.

Adrian

 

[Fondueset]

LOL - that Kayak is a nightmare to carry! I need to get wheels for it or something. It has no good handles, weights about 50lbs and gets caught by the wind. It is really stable in the water though and great if you have a dive buddy.

That's the best I ching I've found so far. I've learned to seek out the trigrams in Carp scales and schooling patterns. The bass ate all my coins and sticks work only on very calm days.

Thanks for the O ring wisdom - I shall implement it!