Sidemount Diving by: Lamar Hires The ultimate side mount rig has to be more than just a side mount harness. Considerations must be made to insure the entire system-harness, air cells, d-rings, regulators, hoses, SPG's, cams, and pockets are set to withstand the toughest of challenges. If any aspect of the system is not tested to the utmost, it will most likely fail in one of the innumerable pitfalls of exploration and expedition-style diving. The TransPac II is designed as an exploration/expedition harness. The only one of its kind. I have tested it in remote areas and thousands of feet back in caves, with multiple scenarios of hiking, climbing and rappelling with equipment-up to eight hours of walking, wading, crawling and diving. I have tested the harness in every possible environment. It does back mount as well as it does side mount. It's the Hummer of diving harnesses. Grand Cayman Carrie Lee Wreck by: ADM Resting on the edge of the abyss at 260 fsw, the Carrie Lee looks ready to steam off of her sandy slope into the trench below. This 150' freighter carried supplies between Grand Cayman and the sister islands until 1985 when she capsized and later sank becoming one of the most spectacular deep wrecks the islands have to offer. Oxygen Enriched Trimix by: ADM Ever since Benke et al. (1935) concluded that compressed air at depths greater than 66 fsw (20 m) exerted narcosis characteristics, divers have been limiting depths, attempting to acclimate to narcosis, or looked to alternative gas mixtures. Research continued throughout the years by a wide array scientists from Shilling and Willgrube (1937), Case and Haldane (1941), Kiessling and Maag (1962), Fowler and Ackles (1972) to name only a few. The research is not new and the conclusion is old news. Nitrogen at a PN2 of 3.18 to 4.0 begins to exert narcotic properties resulting in decrements in reasoning ability, reaction time, and manual dexterity. HID High Intensity Discharge by: Curt Bowen Methox! New Technology or just Wasted Gas by: ADM Bubba Beauregard thinks he's sitting on a goldmine. In a run-down dive shop deep in the Florida Everglades this onetime pig farmer has accomplished what many tech divers have been attempting for years: to create an inexpensive and (allegedly) safe breathing mixture, from a plentiful natural source. The gas is called METHOX and it is already creating quite a stink in the technical diving community. Stories of incredible bottom times, minuscule decompression obligations, and virtually unlimited maximum depth allowances prompted the editors of Advanced Diver to head down to the Everglades and find out the real story. What we discovered changed our view of tech diving forever. Halcyon Rebreather by: Curt Bowen The first new rebreather operating system design in three decades. Respiratory coupled & intuitive. Rebreather manufacturers are often fond of pointing out that the underlying technology found within rebreather design is older than SCUBA itself. To be sure, some of the first air recirculation techniques originated in the late 1800s with the often-cited Fleuss mask of 1879. However, in many ways current rebreather designs are still in their infancy. Today's diver must weigh a range of variables before they consider the use of rebreather technology for non-task-specific diving. Fantastico by: Kevin Sweeney & Jim Rozzi In the early hours of Saturday, March 13, 1993 a Spring storm of tremendous strength crashed into Florida's West Coast. Labeled the 'No Name Storm' it brought with it near hurricane force winds and tidal surges as high as 12 feet. The storm caused more than 500 million dollars in damages to properties along Florida's Gulf Coast and killed at least 26 people. S-16 WWI US Submarine by: James Rozzi March 19th, 1918 the S-16 submarine was constructed by the Torpedo Boat Company of Bridgeport Connecticut. Launched on December 23rd, 1919 and commissioned on December 17th,1920. She would serve under Lt. Commander Andrew C. Bennett and left New London, Connecticut on May 31st, 1921. Sailing through the Panama canal the S-16 traveled to California, Hawaii, Guam, the Philippine Islands and reached her new base at Cavite, Luzon on December 1st, 1921. For the next several years she would be placed on many active duties and patrolled the waters off China, Japan and the Philippines. Sabak-Ha by: Andreas Matthes Looking for new places to dive, new underwater caves to explore can become an obsessive pursuit. It harkens back to the very beginnings of man when people gathered in caves to protect themselves from mother nature. No place yet discovered on earth is better suited for this quest than Central America. The Swiss cheese-like limestone rock of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico is one of the prime areas of underwater cave formation. Extreme Depth by: Bjarte Vestol & Jim Bowden That which is difficult to do or considered impossible to achieve only waits for the right individual to overcome the difficulties. On May 28, 1999 Bjarte Vestol (right) accomplished an ocean depth record with a dive to 225 m / 738 ft. Bjarte is from Nor Advanced Nitrox Dive Planning by: Curt Bowen Since the introduction of nitrox within the recreational diving community divers are now capable of prolonged bottom times for depths above 130 feet. With proper mixtures divers can easily extend bottom times to over 100 minutes with minimal decompression obligations. Lake Erie's Mystery X Schooner by: Chris Laughrey The Great Lakes, North America's vast inland sea, formed eons ago when massive glaciers gripped the continent in the frigid hand of the ice ages. These vast ice sheets, up to 2000 feet thick, deepened and enlarged the river valleys of a previous era as they carved and scoured the earth beneath them creating the Great Lakes basins. The glaciers finally released their icy grasp on the lakes region about 10,000 years ago, but below the surface, at depths beyond the thermocline, the waters of the inland sea remain perpetually cold and dark, a boreal memory of an ancient time. Literally thousands of shipwrecks lie entombed in these glacial depths today and technical divers find Great Lakes wreck diving a challenging and rewarding pursuit. DNAx Denitrogenated Air by: ADM By now, every experienced diver should be familiar with the benefits of using nitrox. The accelerated decompression times, and safety factors that nitrox offers have brought it to the forefront of the technical diving comunity. Longer bottom times and shorter surface intervals have grabbed the attention of the mainstream dive industry and what once was feared is now embraced and courses are being taught by every recognized dive training institution in the world. But just as we are getting used to the term 'Enriched Air' and the hassles of partial pressure filling, along comes Underwater Breathing Systems, Inc. with a safe, versatile, and cost effective membrane filling system that just may change the way we look at nitrox.