The show goes on!

Dive 2011, Birmingham UK.
My dream drysuit – I’ve seen my dream drysuit!  At last someone has realised that black is boring.  And not very safe either, if you’re trying to keep track of your buddy in murky vis.  (Don’t get me started on cammo drysuits.  The invisible buddy – how are you going to keep an eye on him  if you can’t see him?!?)  Fish aren’t all black, so why should we be?

Nah.  This drysuit, by Hammond Drysuits of Dartford in Kent, had a different colour for each section.  Probably not a regular production number...  One arm was lemon yellow, another turquoise, the front of a leg was red, the back green –if I haven’t got exactly the right colour in the right place at least you get the drift.  Bright.  Cheerful.  VISIBLE.  Maybe a bit too visible for some – not everyone does the jester look well – but un-losable.  Better still, it might even keep you dry – a sore point with me at the moment...).

What else was on show at Dive 2011?  My prize for gizmo of the year goes to the TriDri, a handy telescopic tube with a fan at one end and an outlet the other, for drying drysuits.  I could really have used one last weekend – better still two, one in each boot!.  It’s triangular, so it rests on one edge and doesn’t roll around.  It folds quite small, so it’ll fit in your bag.  And it blows air forward into the toe of the boot, normally the hardest bit to dry. What’s more, it was so silent that the demonstrators had fitted strips of plastic to the top end so you could see there really was air blowing through it. 

In tests with a rinsed-out suit, indoors the leg with the TriDri dried in 2-3 hours while the other leg took 9 days; in the garage the figures were 3.5 hours and 14 days respectively.  It’s not yet in production, so if you know anyone who could make such a thing for a reasonable price (I’d happily pay up to £40 for one), get in touch with Dr. Howard Fortescue at howard@howard-f-fortescue.co.uk.

All the usual suspects were showing – Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean had “villages” of their own, PADI and BSAC were there in force.  The Photo Zone provided a colourful interlude, chats with Maria Munn’s enthusiastic staff, and a chance to vote on this year’s underwater photos of the year.  The rebreather market was well represented and the technical pool was constantly busy with divers putting kit to the test.

Competitions were rampant as travel companies tried to tempt divers to book now, right now, while the mood was on them; business is clearly still very tough for many, meaning bargains and emptier seas for divers. 

Among the speakers Andrea Marshall and Mack S House stood out for opposite reasons.  Mack House was speaking on Underwater Crime Scene Investigation, which should have been a fascinating topic.  Sadly he didn’t come alive (ironic, really) until he was answering questions at the end, by which time I’d lost interest in him and his subject. 

Andrea Marshall, who should have been talking about Manta rays, threw her brief out the window and gave an impassioned speech about conservation and how divers have a huge but time-limited opportunity to make a difference to the health of the watery 71%.  She apologised for being depressing but gave such a rousing call to action that no-one will have come out of that room untouched.

A busy weekend but a fascinating one, filled with friendly faces, glorious kit (I got the torch I needed at half-price, a spare undersuit for only £25, several books at reduced prices...), and so many opportunities. 

But the real revelation of the show was a new low in catering (cheese-on-toast-flavoured coffee, anyone?).