Scuba Repair 101

02/11/2026

NOT AI (over a decade old)

Ocean Gravity is a short film that rewrite the rules of the underwater world and takes us this time into the world of the weightlessness. Just like in the sp...

09/23/2025

To kick-off our arrival on the Monterey Peninsula, we participated in the California Coastal Cleanup on Saturday hosted by the Surfrider Foundation at (among other locations) Del Monte Beach, which worked out well because San Carlos Beach up the coast was booked by this guy and about 1000 of his closest friends and rivals.

09/23/2025

Scuba Repair 101 has moved! We bid a fond farewell to the rainforests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest in favor of the kelp forests and coastline of the Monterey Peninsula. My repair bench is rebuilt bigger and better than before, and I’m now accepting equipment for service. New address is on the website, and please reach out to confirm kit stock availability before shipping.
To great local diving! Cheers!
🌊🤿🏡🍻

09/12/2025

🥲🐙💔

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A dying octopus in a Southern California aquarium is receiving an outflowing of love and well wishes as she spends her final days pouring her last energy into caring for her eggs — even though they will never hatch. Many on social media have reminisced about seeing the giant P...

09/02/2025

Hammer time!

Pollution, warm oceans and hungry urchins devastated Pacific kelp. Now, thanks to divers with hammers, one of the world’s most successful rehabilitation projects has helped it rebound

06/04/2025

What do I even say about this? Ever watch a thrilling scene in a movie and think, that’s just some stunt man on a set performing choreographed moves to predetermined camera angles with dramatic music and foley and special effects? Well, this m**o ain’t no stunt man. This is like being into jazz and having Wynton Marsalis accept your friend request. And if you’re seeing this, John;
Respect

05/23/2025

These are components from an Apeks Flight that was serviced by an authorized Apeks dealer (who has been doing this for long enough to know) right before the dive trip that sent it to my bench. It's diver complained of how hard it breathed, confirmed by it's 50% 1st-stage performance and subsequent 200% 2nd-stage opening effort (molasses through a straw). The cause? The previous service tech used the wrong kit(s) and installed improper components. Pictured top-left, the Flight HP valve (blue) was missing and in it's place I found the Apeks standard HP valve installed (black). You'll notice a significant difference in the shaft length, which accounted for the drop in performance. Additionally, the filter installed was the silver disc instead of the Apeks bronze disc, pictured bottom-left. The previous tech noticed that the filter provided in the standard Apeks 1st-stage kit is the bronze cone, middle, which wouldn't fit, so being an industrious albeit under-supplied fellow, he opened a kit from a different manufacturer to get one that did.
Is that all? Hell, no! The Flight 1st-stage kit also provides a replacement diaphragm clamp, pictured bottom-right with a LP port plug for scale, which, of course, the previous tech did not have so the old one was used. This component is composite and subject to possible damage during disassembly, as well as stress from use, that requires it's replacement during every service. It's counterpart in nearly every other diaphragm 1st stage regulator is metallic so that it can handle it's structural role dive after dive, service after service. It also accounts for the fact that this reg was likely not re-tuned, and that shop never checked it's outbound performance, they simply relied on the previous service's tuning or the pre-setting that assumes correct components, because if they had they would have noticed an Apeks rocking a 73 on the IP gauge.
In sum, this tech had multiple clues that he was proceeding in an unadvisable direction, and a seemingly-ok part swap could have been a contributing factor in a catastrophic situation that might have hung someone out to dry, diver or shop owner.
So, who works on your life support equipment?

10/20/2023

Doug Bishop is one of my clients. His job is grizzly, but to those who never came home and their families, Doug’s work is priceless. I’m proud to support his efforts.

Bone Rush teams up with Doug Bishop and United Search Corps to search for missing persons cold cases within Phoenix, Arizona and Maricopa County.Warning: The...

01/06/2023

https://www.divenewswire.com/industry-mourns-oceanic-founder-and-industry-icon-bob-hollis/

A life full of adventure came to a peaceful close on January 4, 2023, in Salt Lake City, Utah with family surrounding Bob’s side. Born on April 25, 1937, in Orland, California to Robert and Elinor Hollis, Bob leaves behind a legacy as a pioneer, entrepreneur, businessman, and most importantly, a l...

12/01/2022

Well, this is a bummer. If you haven’t watched “Chasing Coral” on Netflix, check it out. The benefit of coral reefs is immeasurable. Australia may be taking the heat now, but this is a global issue that affects, and is affected by, everyone.

The United Nations' conservation organization, UNESCO, has recommended that Australia's Great Barrier Reef be placed on its "List of World Her...

11/08/2022

Grassroots PR. Save the cephalopods.

08/16/2022

As alien a landscape as any other planet

There's still so much we don't know about our oceans, including what lurks within their depths.