Probably about 0.5 to 0.55. (Not exactly sure what Andy used.) I dive metric at about 16 to 17 l/per min while maintaining medium workloads. I am reasonably fit. My twin cf120 set that I hired was still within thirds at the end. Are you planning to dive the Traverse?

Hey! Thanks for the feedback. I've tried a few different configs and found this method to work best for me. I don't always know what is strictly DIR or not. Some people think DIR is a religion and not a methodology. On my system the gauge can be removed for more simplicity. I'm looking at my waist on this video. Happy to report I've lost the weight again... 🙂

I equalize my gloves to avoid squeeze... Boyle's Law always gets in the way of comfort when you use drysuits and gloves...

Hey! I prefer proper lights to colored filters. filters are nice on sunny shallow tropical dives though. Inside wrecks and caves, good lights are your only option. On deeper twilight dives (blue ocean), I also prefer good lights. Take a short vid clip of your white slate. This is a good "white balance" reference you can use post production when you video edit. Hope this helps...

They are metal tubes filled (and sealed) with air. very light and durable. It makes the system neutral in the water. They are about the size of a small soda can.

Hi Belinda. I use the Backscatter Flip4. No settings needs to be changed on my GoPro. I simply flip on and off... The trick is to get the distance to the subject right. (Practice is required.)

Hi Basil. I don't think you need much light at 15-30ft in the tropics. viz is good and the sun should reach almost everywhere. Colour will start to become blueish as the warmer colours start to disappear, but not too much yet. A good light is probably still a good idea as it will restore the colours a bit when filming close-ups or when peeking under a overhang or into a crack. I personally believe that a video light with less than 1000 lumens is a waste. 1000L is very bright as a focused beam, but weak if it has a 120-160+ degree beam. My advice would be to futureproof and get the better lights that you can afford. That way you’ll be future proof for those deeper dives you might do in the future. Since you’ll be in the Yucatan you absolutely must go into to cenotes also. You owe it to yourself. A brighter light will serve you extremely well in those conditions. Most operators in that area will offer a cavern dive cenote experience. You do not need technical/cave training for the cenote dives. (Assuming you’re a sport diver.) Hope this helps and enjoy the trip.

@@PCoetzee24 Thanks so much for your advice. You're right investing in a at least meduim good light maybe with 4000L this i have it for a whiletill I'm ready to upgrade down the road. As i said i'm just a Travel adventure doing gopro filming at leasr for now. Yes, I plan on doing some Cenote diving for sure...Thanks again

Hi Daniel. Herewith my thoughts on the matter: I believe that 90% of your video quality is attributed to the lighting system and not the camera. The camera is however still an integral part of the system. I also think that the action camera “craze” is largely over. Smartphones made sure of that. Today the latest Apple and Android phones can make excellent movies and companies like GoPro has lost huge market share because of that. In the GoPro glory days, many other companies, like Sony, Nikon, Kaizer, DJI and others, tried and sometimes succeeded in making cameras “as good” as GoPro and sometimes even better. I am however not sure if that is still the case. GoPro however seems to still be pushing the envelope with their new cameras. Here is what you need to consider: When diving you require something that is robust with decent waterproofing. GoPro has an excellent range of accessories that is not often matched by competitors. The Scuba housings available for GoPro alone makes me prefer the GoPro to other brands. The size is also ideal when doing demanding technical diving. I hope this answers your question.

@@ezibuy6147 thank you for the response. I am still waffling on which to get, I’m tempted to get a DJI for a couple dives, and then possibly switch to like the Sony a6600, or Sony A7SIII, the 6600 would probably act as a 2 to 4 year stepping stone to get to the A7 series but still not sure.

Hey! I have a camera bracket with 2x 8" Buoyancy arms plus all the ball clamps. The total width of the system is probably 0.7 to 0.8 meters wide. Both my lights have a 120 degrees beam.

Hey! The answer is No... The simple truth is that tank bands don't catastrophically fail. They are extremely strong and should be inspected regularly for wear-and-tear. The most common tank band failures occur when people don't "cam" the cylinder properly. The little fabric loop you describe is very useful amongst beginner divers as they provide an approximate measurement point for the ideal cylinder height. I don't think you should depend on it to save your cylinder and you probably don't need it if you are comfortable with setting up your gear. You will not see this loop amongst technical divers or divers using plates and wings. It is simply NOT needed. Hope this answers your question.

@@PCoetzee24 Yes this answers my question. Thank you for responding so soon.

Hello! Glad you found the video useful! The secret is simple. Keep the lights far from the camera and share lights with you friends. Having all the light in one place is seldom good. A good idea is to brief who does what before the start of the dive. Example: One diver aim forward left while another diver aim forward right. If you swim at the back you can simply aim light forward. Also important to hold camera as still as possible. Look around with your head. not your camera. Otherwise your footage can get nauseating. I use a macro kit for a Hero 4 Black made by Backscatter. They have updated models for the newer GoPros. www.backscatter.com/FLIP7-Pro-Package-with-SHALLOW-DIVE-DEEP-Filters-15-MacroMate-Mini-Lens-for-GoPro-3-3-4-5-6-7

send me a direct msg if you have more questions. Kind Regards.

@@PCoetzee24 Thank you so much for the tip. I will do a couple of dives the coming days, lets see what comes out from the camera!. Thank you again!

You NEVER use your dry suit to adjust buoyancy, regardless of what some training agencies teach. All buoyancy should be controlled using your wing or other type of BCD. The dry suit should only be inflated to prevent squeeze during decent. Gas should be dumped from shoulder or cuff dumps during ascent. Over inflated dry suits are difficult to control and dangerous as it can lead to uncontrolled ascents. If you've mastered your dry suit, you can adjust the dumps to control temperature by trapping some gas and ajusting the gas volume retained in the suit. This should however not be attempted to aid buoyancy.

Thank you for the feedback! I'll make some more content soonish.

You are correct if you only use the system for single tank diving. A lot of people switch between single and doubles regularly. Single Tank adapters make the switch easy and is therefore more modular. Your advice is however good for somebody getting started with the setup.

Hey Sam. Not a simple answer... Aluminium or plastic plates are ideal for travel but require more weight when diving. This is OK if you dive in warm places where 3 to 5 mm wet suits are used. When you travel to colder places, especially where dry suits are required heavier plates make more sense. It also depends on the carriers you choose to fly with. If we ever get to fly internationally again in this new crazy COVID world. I personally use steel plates that I put in my overhead storage together with my torches, batteries, dive computers and regulators. You can get away with it most of the time as this can fit in a regulation size bag. That way you can put your suits and other things in your check-in bag. If you travel a lot and dive mostly in wet suits and single tanks, then aluminium or plastic should work well. as long as you can get weights at your destination. If/When you use double cylinders and dry suits, steel is probably a better choice. Traveling is harder, but doable.

Hi Perry! If the STA has slots at the top and bottom then yes. Two straps is better. I think that if the single band is too high or low the cylinder might not be secure enough. The crotch strap will make the setup a lot more stable and comfortable. It wall also add more attachment points for towing etc... Probably not required for single tank diving, but strongly advised. Kind Regards

I'll see what I can do for you...

Pieter Coetzee - thanks! I’m waiting for my apeks wtx and single harness to arrive in coming weeks. I’ve heard that it’s not so easy at first so any help would be appreciated 👌

@@elmo319 Happy to give you some tips and more pictures...

The single tank adapter is not strictly necessary but it makes the system more modular. Without the single tank adapter you'll probably have to weave the straps through the slots in the plate. This makes swopping between single and double cylinder configurations hard. Swopping the wing is also harder.

Hi Richard I agree that the wing would not sit too far below the cylinder. The cylinder should "kind of" hold the wing in place. The trouble is that there aren't really wings designed for short or tall people. In my opinion wings are sized according to the cylinder and plate and not the diver. This will probably suit the majority of divers. The Apex 30 and 40 pound wings does seem tall from judging the images on the web site. The distance from the bottom bolt hole to the lowest part of the wing however does not seem to tall. I have a WTX 45 doubles wing and that is actually shorter at the bottom than most other brands. The wing used in the video is the DGX 30 pound from Dive Gear Express. The cylinder is a Euro spec 15 litre. Should be similar to a cu100 US. What cylinder size do you use? US cf80 Alu should fit a single tank wing perfectly.

@@PCoetzee24 Hi, I'm in the UK so I use steel 12 litre short not tall cylinder at the moment and I'll be using a 15 litre with the new wing. When I had twins I used an OMS double wing and these seemed short and because of the bungee it pulled the wing in so it wasn't too wide as well. I think you're correct they don't make wings for short people, some one from 'x deep' told me the wing size doesn't matter its the size of the harness that only matters. I'm not sure if that is correct. I just think it may be uncomfortable to have a long wing.

@@RichardSlater Yeah. I think however that the cylinder size matters more than the harness. The euro 12 short is a bizarre size. I personally prefer the 15 or 12 long. You should not have any problems with either. 12 short is an odd size that manufacturers typically do not cater for. 13 or 15 long will also give you beter distribution of weight and better trim. I got rid of all my 12 short cylinders. But I'm 1.84 cm tall...

1.85 meters.

Thank you very much! I use the Light-For-Me Video 7200 system. light-for-me.com/video-lights/#GOPROSet7200 Backscatter makes some of the best GoPro accessories you can find. I have one of the older Flip4 kits. www.backscatter.com/underwater/GoPro

Merry Christmas Harry! I use an Apeks WTX Stainless plate with a deluxe one-piece webbed harness. www.diverightinscuba.com/wtx-backplate-17367.html The DGX plates at www.divegearexpress.com is also amazing at a budget. Single tank adapter: www.divegearexpress.com/dgx-premium-single-tank-adapter-11-75-in-30-cm (remember to add two cam buckle straps.) Wing (BCD): www.divegearexpress.com/dive-rite-travel-exp-wing (DGX used to have a copy of this wing as depicted in the video. The Original Dive Rite wing is awesome.) The bolts that ship with the adapter is a bit long. just cut them to the desired length using a Dremel or similar tool.

Pieter Coetzee thank you very much and a belated merry Christmas to you

Pieter Coetzee - I was reading the Apeks product info and their single tank wings do not require an adapter so I was interested to know if there is a benefit from using this BC? I guess it’ offers more customisation? I really like the Apeks gear and I’m trying to find a good all round BC solution for both cold and warm water diving that has options. Do you have any experience with the WTX harness? www.apeksdiving.com/uk/products/bcds/product/wtx-harness.html Great channel by the way 👌

@@elmo319 Hi Elmo I do have experience with the WTX harness. I also use the Dive Rite equivalent that inspired the WTX. (www.diverite.com/products/backplates-harnesses/transplate-harness/) My answer to the question depends on what your level and/or goals are. If your a sport diver looking for good gear then the WTX harness is a great option. It is well made and full of features like D-Rings in all the correct places as well as easy adjustable straps and clips that allow you to get in and out easily. I will however still add a solid plate and a tank adapter. I believe that the WTX harness will be a lot more stable and the cylinder will be much more secure in the centre of your back if using a rigid plate and single tank adapter. Upgrading to a double cylinder config will be simple also. If you're more advanced, perhaps moving towards advanced-nitrox-deco you might want to consider a simpler continuous harness system weaved directly through the backplate slots. Technical divers and Training Agencies such as IANTD and GUE will typically frown upon fancier harness solutions and almost always prefer the DIR Hogarthian configurations that insist on using a continuous web harness. My advice (since you like Apeks already): Rather buy the APEKS WTX Back Plate and get the simpler One-Piece Web Harness. When assembled, add a small wing for a single tank with a Stainless Steel single tank adapter, or a 45pound WTX wing for doubles. www.apeksdiving.com/uk/products/bcds/product/wtx-back-plate.html www.apeksdiving.com/uk/products/bcds/product/deluxe-one-piece-web-harness.html hope this helps.

Paul Clark, you the man!