So after more than 100 hours googl”ing’ info about scuba Watches, and reading tons of reviews… I found the coolest, and most sexy scuba diving watch for my wife . Ladies meet the latest in Scuba Diving Fashion: The Submersion Mid .

what I love of this dive watch is that it is in fact a Scuba diving Watch, but it has the elegance that you need in a normal watch. It doesn’t look like any of that bulky watches that scream : hey look at me! I’m a diver…

“Women’s performance dive watch with an edge. Don’t let the Submersion fool you, it’sa full blown dive watch depth rated to 200 meters. Like all Freestyle Watches, The Submersion Mid is backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty and 200 meter water resistance. Ride with them till death, perfect for any female divemaster out there”

Check more info at :
http://www.freestyleusa.com/products/Dive/Submersion+Mid/#

I assumed it was a female BCD, because the colour co-ordinated sizing was token pink. But that was about the limit. The main throwback? Being squeezed. Fully inflated meant fully squished, simply because the design was not sculpted around a womans curves.

So, scuba girls have special needs and requirements? Hips, boobs, back and waist; the ultimate trial.

Why not just deal with it? Be squeezed, dug into etc, and just wear a mens BCD. For years, that was the deal. Even doing a Course, or renting gear, it too can be the deal. I’ve read of scuba girls who have nearly given up diving due to the lack of comfort issue. Near frustration can do that.

I’ll ask the question again;

Do marketers really understand scuba girls needs?

Read the rest of this entry »

This scuba girl has sampled three. One was a little number I like to call ‘the instant bruise’. The other resembled a workman’s tool belt. But the grand prize winner was ‘Bright Weights’ with their cute slogan swim like a fish. Think small individual weights, rounded at the edges that can fit a dive girls body’s contours easily. If it didn’t have to be so heavy, I’d say it was comfy.

Weightbelts. Yes a necessity in dive gear.

The first weightbelt I used was the standard belt that the great lead chunks slide onto. The things slip around the belt, clang on the tank, and are just plain awkward. It’s not only frustrating, it’s painful, and totally unsuitable for a female diver.

The only other time I’ve ever had bruises like that, was in one of those rides at the show where you are strapped into a little booth, and are slammed against the side as the thing throws you in rotations through the air, while you hope the thing was serviced recently.

Enter Bright Weights. The makers have realised that individual body shapes need different arrangements of weights, not just different total mass. They’ve also noticed something else about us dive girls. Yes we have hips! Each individual half kilogram piece can be positioned to suit any shape, and they won’t slip, or shift, or all gather on one side, as the weights slide into the belt, rather than onto it. They even have harness versions, and individual holsters for additional pocket weights, for BCD’s that function with integrated systems.

The final draw card. The belt even features a tiny stainless steel loop and miniature weight-shaped keyring to slip spare ‘o-rings’ onto. Ingenious. Such a small, yet handy and often ‘saveth the day’ edition to an already relevant piece of equipment in a scuba girls toolkit.

Check it out scuba girls! Manufacturers have broken the trend of aqua blue masks being the norm. Pink. Not 80’s pink, or even bubblegum pink. Tusa has designed one somewhere in between, just for us dive girls, and it is the perfect dive accessory to make you stand out underwater. In a world where everyone has the same black diving hood, revealing divers as a unisex being, a pink mask can mean only one thing. A Dive Girl.

More importantly, it doesn’t fog! The whole duration of my dive and not one frosted panel crept in from the outside, not one blurring of my vision. Years of using, (and cursing!) the same mask, and finally I discover the ‘Tusa – Imprex Serene’. Although my spit probably had something to do with it, I still stand by the idea that cheap masks fog up instantly, spit or no spit. And that is annoying to say the least.

Many have said that the most important piece of gear a dive girl will own is her mask. It stands to reason. With no other gear, a mask still allows you to see and enjoy the underwater world that draws us female divers in. With every bit of gear, bar the mask, all you see is a hazy blur. It’s hardly worth it. It’s even a little freaky.

So to finally find the perfect fit is lovely. Owing to the smooth, comfortable silicon skirt that snugly fit’s the smaller female face. It’s true, a slender face and cheekbones make a perfect fit mask hard to come by. So this means no leaks.

A disturbing sense of tunnel vision prevailed when I first used a mask featuring a black skirt. The Tusa model is clear all the way around, so although it’s not quite the full circle of vision we all wish for, you do get a tiny glimpse out the side.

And scubagirls, let’s not forget the mask’s side-kick, the snorkel. One way valve, special tapered top so that splashing wave crests cannot enter without a fight, smooth contours for easy surface breathing, and yes, the same pearly-musk colour. Did I mention it’s pink…?

Don’t call me mismatched! Mares Plana Avanti Fins. And Mares Plana Avanti X-3 Fins. I have one of each, and they serve me well. Look for me, there I am, the female divemaster with the mismatched fins. But yellow, reliable, a respected brand. They are not just fins.

Visually, the fins are barely recognisable as not being a pair. Consecutive models, both are coloured bright, rubber ducky yellow, with smooth black lines (for aesthetics as well as ease of movement) flowing from a vented, comfortable foot pocket. As a girl diver, or any diver for that matter, the longer you dive the more you will crave perfection in your dive gear. The ramblings below are things a female divemaster will come to rely on.

The clips are such that disconnect to loosen for easy removal. The main benefit of the inability to fully unbuckle them, can be verified by difficult exits; getting into boats where no one is assisting you, or even after night dives, where gear may easily go astray in the dark. It is a simple matter of slipping the straps over your arm, without the hassle of re-clipping the buckles for the process. The adjustable rubber straps sit comfortably, and are easy to tighten/loosen in air or sea. Once adjusted to suit your foot, they stay that way though, with no annoying slipping that you find with cheaper plastics. The standard style of the strap means replacements are easy to come by, or even alternatives if you prefer the older slip in clip. But they are damn hard to come apart from the main boot, so replacements probably won’t be necessary.

Differences? They newer model is slightly stiffer, due to the slight change in webbing design. This can mean two good things. Muscle building! Toned legs, that’s always a plus for us scuba girls. And greater power per stroke. Both blades are made from strong plastic though, which salt water will find difficult to perish. And the foot pocket a soft pliable plastic that moulds to your foot, reducing cramping.

The only downfall? Being an odd pair, and having to alternate my feet per fin, to avoid getting one freakish muscular leg. But that’s my problem! You scuba girls only have to pick one model. I notice no ones asked me how I came to have an odd pair? Well, that’s another story…