Test Extra

Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

SCUBAPRO HYDROS PRO | SRP: £769

Mark Evans: Scubapro have had back-inflate BCDs in their line-up for many years, ranging from larger units like the Knighthawk to more travel-orientated BCDs like the Glide Tec Pro, but the Hydros Pro treads a different path to its predecessors and, in fact, won the 2016 Red Dot award for product design.

At first glance, it is more reminiscent of the Glide Tec Pro, which was a stripped-back, lightweight BCD that was ideal for travel. However, once you get over that initial overview, it is clear that the Hydros Pro is a completely different animal.

The back pad and the straps are all made of injectionmolded Monprene, the same material that the innovative Seawing Nova fins are constructed from. This stuff is extremely resistant to UV, chemicals and abrasion, but perhaps more importantly, it is also virtually instantly dry when you exit the water – the water literally just sheds off it. Having had padded backpads balanced on top of doors to be in front of air-conditioning units, desperately trying to get them dry before a flight home, I really appreciate this development!

With swivelling shoulder clips and a chest strap, the harness has a great fit, and snugly and comfortably hugs your body, reducing any cylinder movement both topside and underwater. The Hydros Pro has neat integrated weight pockets that slot into almost skeletal mounts, which not only cuts down on weight and looks cool, but as they are also made of Monprene, they don’t retain any water either. These can be removed quickly and easily, so if you were travelling

somewhere where weight allowance was extremely tight, you can strip down the Hydros Pro to basically a harness and wing. You can also get these weight holders in different colours, so you can switch up your jacket to match your other kit, or just add a bit of vibrancy into your equipment. The weight ‘pockets’ are held in place with the tried-and-tested pinch-clip system – there is no way they will fall out accidentally once they are clipped securely in place, but on the flipside they are very easy to remove when you need to get them out, such as to hand up into a RIB. All this use of Monprene also has another benefit – the BCD is virtually neutrally buoyant, which means you will need less lead to get below the surface. However, for when you are diving in a thicker neoprene suit or a drysuit, and you need additional weight, there are also two nondumpable trim pockets on either side of the wing.

Ah, the wing, let’s talk about that. It is streamlined and quite compact, and this is further enhanced by the use of a tri-bungee system which controls air distribution to maintain this compact shape underwater, and allow high lift at the surface. It has a pull dump at the bottom left side, and there is a pull dump on the right shoulder, so anyone coming from a Scubapro jacket-style BCD will instantly feel comfortable with where everything falls. These pull dumps are very efficient, and I like the large toggle, which is easy to locate even wearing thick neoprene or drygloves. The Hydros Pro is equipped with the latest version of Scubapro’s balanced power inflator, and I still maintain this is one of the best on the market. It is comfortable in the hand thanks to the ergonomic design, and it can deliver huge amounts of gas when required. I was very impressed with the Hydros Pro when I took it diving. It is very comfortable indeed, and the Monprene straps conform to your body shape extremely well. Once I had adjusted all of the shoulder and chest/waist straps, there was virtually no movement and the jacket felt almost adhered to my back.

All of the controls – power inflator and pull dumps – fell easily to hand. It gave me plenty of lift on the surface and held my head well above the water, but underwater it offered plenty of stable support in a comfy horizontal trim position. Now it comes in at £769, which is a fairly hefty price tag, but you do get what you pay for. The Monprene construction means it will take a lot of abuse before showing any wear at all. There is no fabric, Velcro or zippers on the harness, and virtually every component – including the buckles – can be replaced without stitching, so you really have got a BCD for life, as if you ever do manage to wear out or damage an element, it can be quickly and easily fixed or replaced. The Hydros Pro comes with a carry-on backpack for storage and travel, and it is amazing how small this BCD will actually go once you strap it all up together. www.scubapro.com

Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

TECLINE FRAMELESS SUPER VIEW MASK | SRP: £54.75

Mark Evans: Tecline is a brand which has been around for many years, but it never really gained a foothold in the UK, for many reasons. However, now it has a dynamic new distributor in this country, and they are going to great lengths to ensure that this Polish brand, which pretty much offers every conceivable element of diving equipment, gets the exposure it deserves. We got a box full of equipment to get wet with, and first up was the Frameless Super View mask. Now Tecline offers several designs of mask, but the Frameless Super View is the newest to the line-up, and it is hitting the market as single-lens frameless masks are all en vogue.

The Frameless Super View is very low-profile, which means it is easy and quick to clear in the event of a flood or after mask removal, and this – combined with the distinctive shape of the single lens – gives excellent peripheral and downward vision. It is also blessed with a super-soft silicone skirt, which is very comfortable on your face, and seemingly fits a wide selection of face shapes and sizes. Dive buddy Richard Binks, who took it for a spin on a couple of dives, also commented that it had a generous nose pocket too.

The strap is a straightforward tried-and-tested design, and it does the job it is intended for. Tecline has paired this up with simple but effective stainless-steel buckles, rather than some button-operated system. Some might see this as a downside, but they are easy to adjust, there is nothing to really go wrong with them, and they will be tough and durable thanks to their construction.

Tecline is not afraid to add a bit of colour into their equipment, and the Frameless Super View is no different, being available in this vibrant orange as tested, along with white, black and pink. There is even an all-black ‘military’ version available. The Frameless Super View can also be purchased in black with a yellow-tinted lens for £59.25 if you want to add a bit more colour back into your dive.

There are many frameless masks on the market these days, but the Tecline Frameless Super View is extremely well-priced, coming in at under £55. Yes, it has very simplistic buckles, but I put far more importance on the fit and comfort than whether a buckle has one or two buttons, etc. In that respect, the Frameless Super View scores highly, being exceptionally comfortable thanks to its super-soft skirt – which as can be seen from my photographs of dive buddy Richard, will even seal over a beard – and offering a decent all-round view thanks to the low-profile design and broad lens shape. And that orange colourway really does ‘pop’ in photographs! The Tecline Frameless Super View mask comes with a sturdy plastic storage box. www.teclinediving.eu

Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

TECLINE LIGHTJET FINS | SRP: £107.36

Mark Evans: Tecline offers a variety of fins, all harking back to the dependable old JetFin style of technical fin, but for this first review, I thought I’d take the company’s Lightjet fins for a trial. As with the masks, Tecline offer their fins in a selection of colourways, and for their Jetstreams that means black, yellow, red and orange, whereas the PowerJets follow the Henry Ford mantra of ‘any colour as long as it is black’. The LightJets fall somewhere between the two, being available in white and black.

At first glance, the LightJets looks like the bastard child of a pair of Apeks RK3s and Hollis F1s, with a bit of old-school Scubapro JetFin thrown in for good measure. As far as a JetFin variant go, they are very easy on the eye, and I like the way that the foot pocket seamlessly merges with the three main vents and then forms the blade. The Apeks-style hold in the tip of the fins allows for you to hang them up for storage or when they are drying after a dive, although during testing I did actually see people with fins with this hole arrangement walking down to the water’s edge with their fins dangling from a clip on a D-ring of their BCD. The line of additional holes along the blade below the three main vents also help the LightJets stand out from the crowd. I like the chunky stainless-steel spring strap, which is paired up with a rubber heel cover than incorporates a large thumb loop, which is easy to locate and grip even when you are wearing thick neoprene or drygloves, and at the end of a dive when you are dealing with cold hands. This made putting the fins on and taking them off very simple. I found the foot pocket to be comfortable and supportive, regardless of what fin stroke I was doing.

As you’d expect from a broad, relatively stumpy fin such as these, they offer plenty of power. You could really motor giving a ‘normal’ flutter kick as the tip of the blade is very flexible and provides a great ‘snap back’, but they were also very efficient when frogkicking. When it came to manoeuvrability, they easily allowed me to back kick, helicopter turn, and make small adjustments as I moved about for photographs.

However, it is when you pick up the LightJets that you realise why they have their name. They have to be one of the lightest JetFin-style fins I have ever used. A large LightJet barely tips the scales over 1kg. This means they are perfect for the travelling diver, as they won’t eat away at your precious luggage allowance as much as some of their weightier rivals. The LightJets are made from TPV (Thermoplastic Vulcanisate), which is 100% recyclable, which is great news for when your fins eventually reach their end-of-life, though they appear to be very durable, so I’d imagine you would get many years of service out of them before that happened. www.teclinediving.eu

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t: 01305 824555 e: info@underwaterexplorers.co.uk a: Unit 1, Maritime Business Centre, Mereside, Portland, Dorset, DT5 1FD Leading Dorset dive centre stocking all major brands, air, nitrox, trimix fills, rentals and servicing beside Portland Marina and across from Chesil Beach. www.underwaterexplorers.co.uk

t: 01708 837032 e: contact@bespokescubadiving.co.uk a: Becontree Heath Leisure Centre, Althorne Way, Dagenham, Essex, RM10 7FH Our mission is to provide quality & professional scuba training in a relaxed friendly environment. www.bespokescubadiving.co.uk

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t: 01268 520111 e: info@orcascubadivingacademy.co.uk a: 17 Repton Close, Burnt Mills Estate, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1LN Established in 2007 the Academy a vision of Gary to deliver the very best Scuba Diving School in Essex. www.orcascubadivingacademy.co.uk

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t: 07779 605863 | e: tim@diveshack.uk.com a: 17 Station Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1UF Harrogates number 1 dive store. www.diveshack.uk.com

e: info@dive-site.co.uk a: Jackdaw Quarry, Capernwray Road, Over Kellet, Lancashire, LA6 1AD The UK’s finest inland dive site... Welcome to Capernwray, the beautiful diving venue on the edge of the Lake District. www.dive-site.co.uk

e: info@eastlancsdiving.co.uk a: Daisyfield Pool, Daisy Ln, Blackburn, BB1 5HB East Lancashire’s only PADI approved Dive Centre - Undertaking all PADI courses and Specialities from Try Dive to Professional. www.eastlancsdiving.co.uk

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Recreational, Instructor, and Technical Dive Logs Custom Dive Logs Log Book Stamps Gear ScubaTags Compact Lightweight Binders Custom Dive Slates Dive Maps Fish Identification Certification C Card Holders

We take a tour around some of the very best dive sites along the South Coast.

We chat to the up-and-coming young naturalist, conservationist and marine photographer about her ambitious plans for the future.

Richard Aspinall offers hints on how best to capture wrecks, clownfish, pyjama nudibranchs and coral reefs on your next photo trip.

Phil Short takes us behind the scenes of the emotive project to recover human remains from downed bombers from World War Two.

Editorial Director Mark Evans dives the Tecline Teclight and SDC Great White watch.