Dan's Dive Shop Winter 2011 Newsletter PDF CLICK

Hi all,
2011 Winter Newsletter
I hope this letter finds you all well and adjusting to winter with thoughts of diving and dive travel on the brain.
We've had a very active, very productive first few months of 2011, with a lot of trips and a lot of local diving
happening.
2010 marked a crowing achievement for us in sales, as we were the top Halcyon dealer in Canada, #2 in North
America in world wide sales...#6 in sales for DUI Drysuits and Top 20 honours in Diverite, Atomic, Pinnacle and
Bare.
We have a lot of stuff on our plates this coming season with some great diving trips, expeditions and exploration
opportunities.
We also just wrapped up some great diving in Bahamas, Mexico and most recently a 2.5 week stint in the breath
taking springs of Northern Florida, where we certified both new divers and experienced divers in a range of courses
from Open Water, Advanced, Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Cavern Diver, Intro to Tech and began our first Cave 1
program.
Like we do after every great trip, we are reflecting back on some of the happenings and it gives us something to think
about and something to write about, whether it is a lesson to be learned, a way to improve, or a new philosophy to
implement into our daily diving routines.
Have a read through this action packed edition and let the learning begin.
Let the 2011 Dive Season Begin:
Moving into a great new dive season always excites me. With a multitude of new trips, courses and divers coming
through, it's an exciting time to share some great experiences and some great laughs with our divers and help them
move up in their personal diving to a higher level with more dives and training under their belts.
Plans for this year include organized FREE guided dives for new divers conducted by our amazing Divemasters to
give you the opportunity to learn under them and gain some additional skills and information which will help you in
your quest to better diving.
We will be holding a couple of special events for owners who purchased their equipment from Dan's last year and this
year, as well as some workshops and seminars for new students, prospective customers and customers alike to learn
from our dive pro's a range of topics, so keep posted for some monthly seminars and events that will be coming soon.
We will be doing wreck diving trips and charters every weekend this year weather permitting, with road trips to Toby
and Wiarton as an option in bad weather.
We will be diving a lot more in Lake Erie again and are seriously looking at adding a new dive boat to our roster

again.
We need divers diving and we need divers sharing their experiences and their enjoyment of this amazing sport.
If there is anything we can do as a store to improve your enjoyment, understanding or experiences that we're not
already doing, please share your ideas with us email: matt@dansdiveshop.ca
Diving with No Redundancy not where you want to be when bad things happen:
I've written articles on redundancy before in previous articles, but rather than just cut and paste past works, I'd rather
delve a little more into this topic like a neurosurgeon opening up your brain a little bit at a time.
It never fails to amaze me how many divers dive deep on shipwrecks, walls, inside caverns, caves, ice, etc., with no
backup's.
Most divers can't conceive of the fact that something can go wrong underwater, with the most quoted line around
diving being from the epic cave diving film "Sanctum" when the 1 actress said "What can go wrong in a cave"?
It's not even a cave you have to worry about, it's diving in general with equipment that isn't designed for the
environments you plan on diving in, or pressures that your equipment isn't rated to handle, or depths that are just
plain too deep for you to be there.
No matter the environment divers need to consider safety first.
Divers diving on dive sites in colder water can experience free-flow's or freeze up's, which are more likely to happen
deeper as intermediate pressure inside the first stage increases in pressure with every foot you descend pushing more
gas through the tiny piston or poppet in the first stage and increasing air volume delivered to the second stage
regulator, which could lead to a catastrophic gas los.
Divers who are careless in monitoring their gas supply on dives are just asking for the reaper to pay them a visit, as
they can endanger themselves or their dive buddies in a panic situation leading them to try to surface with no
regulator in their mouth often drowning or embolizing on the ascent. If the diver survives, they often can get bent in
the process.
Easily avoided by carrying a bail out tank/regulator system, a set of twin tanks on your back, sidemounting tanks
under your arms, or diving a high capacity single tank with a h-valve.
Of the options listed, double tanks or sidemount are the best option for balance, gas capacity and with proper training
safety.
Divers engaging on dives with scuba tanks that are rated at higher pressures than 3000psi should be diving DIN
instead of the typical yoke or a-clamp design that allows the regulator first stage to screw down onto the tank valve
and the external tank valve o-ring.
These tank valve o-rings are often worn, and if the divers don't evaluate the o-rings before they pressurize the tanks
and jump in there's a very good chance they will have an o-ring failure on the face of the tank valve causing a loud
bang underwater followed by a steady stream of bubbles evacuating at a record speed out of the tank valve, which
leaves the diver the option of trying to surface before air runs out, getting a hold of their buddy and signalling there is

a problem ( I usually suggest give the out of air sign to have that diver deploy their regulator to you, then they can
identify the problem and shut down the tank and exit the diver safely out of the water.
DIN allows the o-ring to stay on the regulator itself, which you can inspect each dive before you screw it deep inside
the threads of the scuba tank valve.
DIN also tolerates higher pressures well of up to 4400psi or 300 bar.
DIN prevents the diver from getting their regulator yoke screw entangled around fishing line or wires inside
shipwrecks and it also prevents you from smashing the yoke knob off of an overhead environment which could
dislodge the first stage causing a break in the yoke seal, because DIN does not utilize the yoke screw design.
There is a very high probability that a diver will experience a serious problem with dive equipment in their own gear
over time, but it is nearly a guarantee that divers diving rented or borrowed equipment will have problems.
Taking the proper precautions like a pre-dive safety check, equipment evaluations including bubble checks in water,
replacing o-rings that look worn or borderline or having someone replace them for you is important.
Learn about the equipment you're using to it's highest capacity by taking your Equipment Specialist Course or your
O2 Service Technician Course and gain the knowledge you should have.
This past Florida trip we had 1 catastrophic o-ring failure on an over-pressurized single yoke tank pumped up to
3600psi, a blown high pressure swivel, 2 leaky hoses which turned out to be ground up o-rings in the second stage
regulator hoses, hoses that loosened off the first stage regulator that caused bubbles, BCD inflators filling up the wing
automatically because the o-rings were too compressed and a partridge in a pear tree.
The most crucial environments where you need redundancy is in an environment that prevents direct access to the
surface, which can include: Ice Diving, Cavern Diving, Cave Diving, Wreck penetrations or the invisible barrier of
Decompression, which could hold you under an invisible line until just the right moment where you would ascend to
the next stop, and then the next stop, and so on.
Overhead environments are not a scary place to be with the right mind set, training and equipment, but take 1 of
those things away and bad things can happen.
Diving in o/h environments up's the stakes a little bit, as divers need to be sharper with skills like buoyancy and
finning, more aware of their environment such as their positioning in the water with respect to their dive buddy, if
there is any current that they'd have to content with, or where the way out is.
Divers also need to make sure that they keep their air consumption under control and utilize proper gas management
techniques including rule of thirds (going inside the o/h breathing 1/3 of their gas in, 1/3 maximum out and exiting
with 1/3 of their gas for emergencies).
Through a lot of practical knowledge and skill development divers will gain the experiences needed in a controlled
open water environment to deal with any situation they can encounter inside the o/h environment and it is through
skill development and repetition that divers become proficient in this, so that when they engage themselves in the o/h
environment and the skills are completed there, the response is accurate and efficiently executed.
If you're diving in the Great Lakes region, diving inside caves, wrecks, under ice or diving deep, no matter where you

are, do it safely and properly with the right gear.
Take proper training that will test your ability, your awareness and your response. Rescue diver will start the process
of, but courses like Intro to Tech will pave the way from there, as will Cavern, Wreck External Survey/Penetration
and of course moving into the technical diving realm will give divers the greatest skill sets available.
Our students spend countless hours working on the worst case scenarios that can happen underwater so that when
something bad happens it's habit or instinct, not panic.
Diving in environments without redundancy is a bad idea that can become hazardous.
Guiding friends and customers around Mexico:
One of my absolute favourite places in all of the world to dive is Mexico.
I stay in the quaint little town of Akumal about an hour south of Cancun. It's been my base of operation in travels
there for over a decade now, as it's central to everything dive related.
The great thing about Akumal is that you can dive reefs to your hearts content, as it is home to one of the nicest wall
dives around, that easily rivals Cozumel, but also is close to all the cenotes (a sink hole or exposed rocky edged area
full of water) which branch out into some of the worlds most breath taking underwater caves....once thought of by the
Mayan people as a passage to the underworld.
I was proud of myself, I did 2 reef dives while away on this trip with my friends, as we went out and speared lion fish
who are invading the reefs. The wall looked as gorgeous as ever, coral was still colourful, but fish life was certainly
down.
Diving the ocean often saddens me because mankind has been so destructive with their bad choices, their pollution,
lack of recycling, over fishing, shark finning, dumping of toxic chemicals/garbage, etc.
I find the environmental impact less noticeable inside the caves. They are a time capsule that are millions of years
old, as they were all once dry caves frozen in time and flooded by the waters both salt and fresh after the glaciers
melted and filled up these dry caves raising earths water level approximately 100 meters above where it was at 2
million years ago. The end result are some of the largest most complex cave systems in the world.
Mexico is an amazing place and we'd love to have you join us November 2011 or January 2012 for a great diving
experience that will be guided. Divers can take advantage of some great dive sites in the cenotes and ocean.

Our First Formal Diver Propulsion Vehicle Program in Florida:
Having a DPV and knowing the in's and out's of it are 2 different
things, so the purpose of the Diver Propulsion Vehicle programs we
conducted in Florida the last couple of weeks gave divers the
opportunity to learn the machines a little bit more and learn a lot about
the what-iff's and do's and don'ts.
Driving a DPV straight is easy, but what happens if something jams the
trigger on? Or your dive buddies DPV fails and you need to tow them
back? What do you over run the batteries? How do you stow the DPV
on an ascent? What additional ways can you control the direction and
speed of the unit? What does DPV even stand for?
Shooting the right Photo or Video Underwater:
Our first formalized DPV program was a ton of fun and got the divers
into the spirit of springs diving, as we played around Troy Springs State
Park for the day working with the Halcyon HDV-T16 DPV's and Intro
to Tech skills.
If you're up for a fun speciality course that will make you smile and
enjoy the excitement of diving, learning how to use an underwater
scooter or DPV is where it's at.
Pool trials are also available so sign up today and test out a Halcyon
HDV-T16 or HDV T-14 dive vehicle today.
It's funny how many divers you see out in the world with underwater cameras or video housings, when you look at
the "big picture".
The most crucial tip in any sort of photography underwater is proper buoyancy.
Have you ever seen a diver trying to take a picture underwater while kneeling on a barrel sponge or standing on a
fragile coral head? If you or anyone you know have been guilty of this, you are the reason the reefs are dying in the
ocean.
Never damage the aquatic life to take a photo. Always maintain ZERO IMPACT with the fragile bottom through
neutral buoyancy.
If you can't take a photo while hovering horizontally leave your camera at home.
We've had students take Intro to Tech just so they could learn to hover motionless over a soft sponge with a macro
lens on their camera housing to take pictures of the tiny cleaner shrimp that live inside the sponges while diving the
most minimalistic configuration of equipment possible.
Our aquatic world is too delicate and already in a downward spiral, don't make matters worse.
Once you have your buoyancy down you should adjust your manual controls, setting your distance, your light meter

or aperture setting, as well as your shutter speed (is using a professional camera). Most point and shoot models will
do this for you.
Set the lighting 1 level brighter than what you're seeing through the lens
and it should compensate for the darkness of your computer screen or
tv, unless you can touch up the brightness with a photo editing software.
Line up the objects in the view finder as centered as possible (although
you can crop in this modern world quite easily now).
Take your shot or hit record and go.
Working with strobes and lights is very fun, but something most divers
are always adjusting position of, so try different placements of strobes or lights and if diving in shipwrecks or caves,
you can use other divers lights as background light, you can plant additional strobes that will give more light or you
can open up the iris function letting more shutter light come in as you open the lens more.
The video that was shot in Mexico and Florida these last 2 trips will be
edited and released sometime soon, but you can see in the un-edited
versions how we set up the shots and try working on different lighting
techniques, which is something that we'll be playing with for a while.
There's nothing more fulfilling than looking at your end results and
having them turn out a triumph.
There are some great materials that can help you capture the right
footage too, including the Digital Underwater Photography manual
that we sell. Take your PADI Digital Photography or Videography
course today and improve the quality of your photos today.
You'll get to take the most professional caliber photos or videos when you purchase the right camera, housing and
lighting, without those three things, as well as a good keen eye and buoyancy, it's not as good as it could be.
Diving is an investment in time, equipment and as you do the off-shoot specialties you'll find new activities that will
shape your focus luring you into a world you may not have known existed. Stay active in your diving and keep
training and keep up to date with the latest trends in the sport.
CAVE 1 The Ultimate Journey into the worlds most amazing natural spectacle....Underwater Caves:
Over the last several years that we've been running cavern trips to Northern Florida,
some may notice that there was surreptitious event unfolding in my deeper
consciousness which was to cultivate divers who were interested in exploring deeper
than cavern and who would be interested in the regime of cave diving.
I've been wanting to teach cave diving for the last decade, while I was realistic that I
wasn't just going to jump into it blindly, so I racked up years of experience in both
backmount and sidemounted cave diving, a couple no mount dives in well known caves and places where I've been

the first to explore.
Over the last couple of years the reality was that many of my divers went elsewhere for
cave training and while some came back and said they enjoyed it, others came back and
said there was a serious philosophical difference in the style and type of diving I teach
compared to their cave instructor, which may've caused a little unease between both
parties.
New school cave vs. old school cave and which skills are important and which are not.
Back finning would be the perfect skill to contest, as the old school say it's not an
important skill, whilst our divers know first hand be it on an S-Drill or hovering in the flow, or just in a pool how
important it is to be able to back up with your fins in a reverse frog kick.
When students come back and complain to me that I made them do skills that their cave instructor said wasn't a
requirement it creates a divide, tension, confusion and in my case frustration. I've had other students come to me
and say they would never dive in a cave with anyone but me, much less train in cave diving with someone they didn't
know/trust or have a rapport with.
When those students materialized with those kind words, it made my decision that much easier to follow through
with my plans to do my cave instructors program.
You are now reading a post from Canada's Newest Cave Diving Instructor :)
The Cave 1 program is a unique program in the cave diving community because it will give you more than any other
cave program currently on the market and they do it all under a single leveled program.
The norm has been to do Cavern, Intro to Cave, Apprentice Cave, Full Cave.
Great way to go as the old school thought was to start the divers off in single
tanks for cavern diver. For intro to cave divers would put an h-valve on a high
capacity single tank, for apprentice divers would have to learn how to dive
doubles, full cave is in doubles.
Rather than doing the course in bite sized segments, the Cave 1 program allows
divers to complete an intensive, thorough, demanding training progression
encompassing all the principles of cavern and cave diving in 1 amazing course.
Divers start at Cavern Diver or Cave 1 with double tanks, so divers are not purchasing gear they will never use again
(like an h-valve) and will learn how to dive the setup properly.
I will be combining Intro to Tech and Cavern prior to all Cave Diving Courses, as this progression has proven
flawless over the last 2 years in Intro/Wreck Penetration and Intro/Cavern combinations, now we can move from
there directly into Cave 1.
Cave 1 will give the divers approximately 40hrs of classroom and watermanship time where divers will learn about
accident analysis, dive planning, types of caves, environmental considerations, equipment requirements, gas
matching, reel handling and awareness, emergency procedures and much more.
For more details on our cave 1 program, check out this link
I'm very excited to be teaching Cave Diving, it's been a long time coming, but the more I go away to Mexico, Florida,
the harder it is to come back. Cave Instruction will allow me more time away guiding and teaching too.

Great White Shark Trip only 2 SPOTS LEFT!
Those interested or fence sitting on our amazing Nautilus Explorer Great White Shark Trip scheduled for October
2011 only have 2 spots to consider before she's sold out.
This life altering, mind blowing trip will get you up close and personal with
natures most beautiful fish, the charcharodon charcharias (means jagged
teeth in Greek) or great white shark!
If you're interested in joining us from October 7-12, 2011 there is room.
Learn from professional photographers how to shoot great wildlife photos,
get yourself on video petting or free swimming with the white's if you're brave enough and enjoy watching these
creatures in their natural habitat.
October is the perfect time to see the larger more aggressive females and males interact with each other.
Enjoy nearly limitless visibility in Guadalupe Mexico, the first class accommodations that the Nautilus Explorer offers
and the added bonuses of having an on-site lounge, hot tub and other amenities.
We fly into San Diego, California and make the trek to Mexico from there.
Halcyon Mfg. Price Increases April 1st, 2011
For those of you interested in purchasing some amazing dive equipment from Halcyon Mfg.,
please note that prices are increasing across the board, with most products going up 3-5%.
Additional Trips & Events for 2011:
There will be a major increase in EOS lighting systems, Evolve, Infinity, Eclipse and Explorer
MC Systems, as well as a few products that are being phased out of the lineup.
Bonne Terre Mine: April 14-17, 2011 $400 includes 5 dives and accommodations. A great weekend diving a crystal
clear open water mine in Missouri. Visibility exceeds 200' typically and there are over 20 different tours that the
guides take us on. Cheap flights are available to St. Louis from Buffalo, or if you don't mind a very featureless drive or
have 3-4 people to alternate the drive, it's driveable. If you're up for amazing diving, exceptional food and a little bit
of history, Bonne Terre is the place to be and a nice way to ease into the dive season if you're diving wetsuit.
Dan's Dive Shop Season Kick-off & BBQ May 29th, 2011. Demo the latest gear from Halcyon, DUI Drysuits,
Diverite, Atomic and more. Take a workshop on Sidemount Diving, Diver Propulsion Vehicles and more. Location
may change this year, details are being sorted.
July 8-10, 2011 Tobermory Dive Extravaganza. Our amazing annual trip to Toby includes 2 nights accommodations,
food and 2 days of boat diving for only $299.99+HST. New divers can complete Advanced Open Water, experienced
divers can complete Wreck External Survey/Penetration. Enjoy the crystal clear waters of Georgian Bay and Lake
Huron, by joining us for one of the best local dive trips ever.

August 19-21, 2011 Brockville Dive
Exposee. Join us in the Canadian Caribbean for the warmest wreck diving in the Great Lakes. Clear water, great big
wrecks, a great place to stay and food is included. Cost is only $329.99+HST. Divers will need a passport for diving
the US wrecks on the Sunday. Intro to Tech and Wreck External Survey/Penetration combination course will be
running the week of and into the Brockville trip for those wanting to really step their diving up to the next level.
Dive the Red Sea 2012 : As most of you know Dan went to the Red Sea this past year to scout out locations for
future trips and he's put together this amazing trip for you that will be covering both above and below marvels that
Egypt and it's surrounding areas can offer.
Additional Trips in the works:
Dan will be hosting a trip march 9-23, 2012 leaving from Toronto into Cairo.
Tours will include the Sphinx, Pyramids of Giza, memphis & Sekkara, museums,
the Citadel, Mosque of Mohammed Ali and Kham El Khalili Bazear, Luxor's
temples and Valley of Kings, and much more.
Diving will commence on March 16-22nd on the Red Sea with a couple of lieu
days to get back safely to Cairo for departure home.
We have a limited number of spaces for this trip. Cost is only $4995 including all
air transfers, lodging, some meals, diving, tours, etc. Sign up today with a $500
deposit and we'll work out a payment schedule that will work for both of us
mutually.
Empress of Ireland August 2011, Northwind Lake Huron Trip June and September 2011, Tobermory October 2011
and many more trips in the works.
Upcoming Courses: a period . denotes the ending of 1 course and beginning of a new course.
Enriched Air Nitrox: March 14/15, 2011. April 12/14. May 10/12
Equipment Specialist:April 2nd Special Offer only $75/person + book and card.
Intro to Tech April 16, 27, May 7, 8, 2011
Technical Diver Level 1April 30th, May 4, 11, 21, 22, June 5, 12, 2011
Rescue Diver May 14th, 18, 25, 28th, 2011
Advanced Open Water June 4/5 Local. June 25/26 Local. July 8-10 Tobermory.
Other upcoming courses include: Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Wreck External Survey/Penetration, Deep Diving,
Technical Wreck Penetration, Trimix Level 1, U/W Photography and more.

Keep a look online at dansdiveshop.ca or add us one Facebook to get the scoop on upcoming dives, trips and charters
and get involved today either through a scuba review or just joining us on some fun dives out to get your skills up for
the season.
Special Deals & Clearouts:
We just took delivery of about a dozen Bare drysuits all priced to move at over 30% off our already guaranteed lowest
prices!
Get any in stock D6 Pro Dry for $825cdn (regular $1125 Large and XL only), purchase an XCD2 pro Dry for only
$1050cdn (Large and XL-Short Only regular $1699), Trilam HD Pro Dry $1150cdn (Lg and XL only regular $1799),
Trilam HD Tech Dry $1285cdn (Lg only regular $1899).
Suits come with full manufacturers warranty and are new products, not demo's.
Offer valid until March 31st or while supplies last. Not to be combined with any other drysuit specials.
Dive all season long in a nice warm and comfortable drysuit.
BCD/Regulator Specials:
Regulator/BCD Systems are priced starting as low as $659 & up for a brand name system.
Backplate and Harness systems starting as low as $449!
Purchase any BCD/Regulator system with a dive computer and get an additional $50.00 off any clearout 7mm
wetsuit.
Wetsuit Shelter: Good home wanted
We have a select few wetsuits that we are clearing out at or below dealer wholesale purchase price in order to free up
some capital and make room for new inventory.
Save 40-50% off all Akona, Cressi-sub, Bare, Oceaner and O'Neill wetsuits in stock.
This would put you into a 7mm wetsuit from $129-$250! Get a quality suit for a price we can't even purchase them
for.
In closing:
We are gearing up for one of the busiest and best dive seasons of the last decade, as last year was a banner year, we
expect this year to be no different.
Through your support in diver education, equipment purchases and dive trips we will strengthen our relationships
with you, getting to know you more, getting the opportunity to create a customized training progression with you.
We are planning some heavy duty expeditions this summer which will require support divers to assist in the safe
execution of some incredible dives.

Keep an eye out for some quality videos from our past 3 cave diving trips, as well as some great new videos of local
shipwrecks and some skill demonstration videos for students at the Intro to Tech level or higher.
See you in the water,
Matt Mandziuk
Manager
NAUI Technical Diving Instructor 45416
TDI Trimix Instructor 4767
PADI MSDT/DSAT Instructor 207233
Cave Diving Instructor
Dan's Dive Shop, Inc.
Email: matt@dandiveshop.ca
Web: www.dansdiveshop.ca