When Kaz mentioned that he wanted to check out the SCUBA Show to help plan the next club resort trip, I figured it would be a great opportunity check out some new wetsuits. Being an avid beach diver, I’ve gotte
n plenty of use out of my old Body Glove suit and it just isn’t as warm as it used to be. Kaz had JMJ cut him a custom suit and he is really happy with it.
In reality, what I wanted was a semi dry suit. My zipperless Body Glove has a fair number of folds that allow water to creep in. A drysuit keeps all the water out but at the cost of carrying much more lead and about fifty percent more swimming resistance. Drysuits also have multiple valves that don’t much like beach sand or rocky entries for that matter.
So back at the Show, we alternated between resort booths and wetsuit manufacturers. At one point we stopped in at the Hollywood Divers booth which was packed with people. We stood in line to say hi to Nikki as I hadn’t seen her for quite a while. As we chatted, I noticed that people were furiously filling out slips of paper to enter a drawing. Turns out they were giving away a Semi-dry wetsuit! I can’t pass that drawing up!
I didn’t think much more of it. Experience at our club raffle has shown that it’s always the most fun when someone, really in need, gets something they need. More often than not, I notice that when the newest people in our club win, they have the biggest smile because they often have very little gear to begin with. That suit will go to someone who really needs it. I still have have a suit I can use for a while and just I’ll start looking for a new one.
The SCUBA Show came and went and I tried on a few suits here and there but didn’t find a suit that fit my frame without some expensive cutting. While sitting at the July club meeting my phone beeped with a new email from Hollywood Divers announcing the winner of the contest. Wouldn’t you know it, I guess I needed that suit because there was my name. I was ecstatic!
The next day I shot on over there to check out the prize. Hollywoodivers is near the 134 and 101 Freeways and pretty easy to find with validated parking in their structure. Turns out the wetsuit is a Scubapro Nova Scotia 6.5mm semi-dry. With double skin in seals, a nicely designed drysuit zipper, a fleece type lining and an included hood it looked to be cozy warm. Nikki pulled one off the rack and said, “Give it a try.” The off the rack suit fit pretty well and she said, “Your good to go.” Good thing because it got hot quickly. I crawled back out and asked for a tour of the shop.
Many of you already know Nikki as she has presented to the club on creating photo books and dive trips she has organized. What you may not know is that Hollywoodivers caters to advanced divers. The shop is stocked with the experienced diver in mind. Steel tanks for sale; I didn’t see any aluminums. Reels, backplates and rebreathers litter the shop. Recreational gear abounds too. Less seen brands like Atomic , HydroOptix and Uwatec are carried there for discerning tastes. Need another cert? A full range of PADI, NAUI, SDI and TDI courses are offered regularly as well as having one of only fifty GUE instructors in the country. Besides mixing air, they mix Nitrox and Trimix too.
Ok, maybe I’m sounding like an ad but I was impressed and since my CPR/AED has expired, I think I’ll paste that on their Resue course when I get the chance. Maybe I’ll just take that new suit along. It’ll have a few dives on it by then. If nothing else I’ll give it the plunge at the Aug 2nd Picnic dive at Leo Carrillo. See you there! Lars
