I was recently given an opportunity to test a new dive light. Mike Pederson of Dive Right in Scuba put an offer out there to several divers and I was fortunate enough to get a light shipped to me. I have several different backup lights, some which are extremely powerful, at least that’s what I thought prior to testing this new light!

DRIS’s new light blows all of my other backup lights out of the water. I’d even consider this as a primary light for certain dives. It’s that good! I put this light up against my best backup light and that light looked more like a penlight next to the DRIS light. I also compared it to my 21 watt HID canister light. My HID light was brighter, but the DRIS light stands its own next to it. On one of my dives with this light I pulled it out and used it as a primary while Jen was using her 21 watt HID in front of me. She had no problems seeing my DRIS light or any of my light signals. I am so impressed with this light I bought a second one for Jen while we were at BTS.

Take a look at a comparison of my 21 watt, my Intova Ultranova, and my DRIS light, in that order:

Here is a comparison of the Intova Ultranova and the DRIS light, in that order:

Finally, a comparison of my 21 watt HID and my DRIS light, in that order:

You can see the results of yourself.

Check out DRIS’s website for specs on the light – DRIS Dive Gear 500 Lumen Dive Light

If you’re interested in getting one or more of these lights, contact me at chipoladivers@gmail.com or text/call 850-272-7484.

This was our first time attending Beneath the Sea so please keep this in mind as you read my review. We’ve considered going to the show before but it never fit into our schedule. If I recall correctly, past shows had one entry fee for the show regardless of how many days and what events attendees went to. This year entry fees were broken down. There were daily entry fees or package deals, depending on how much time you wanted to spend at the show. This was a nice option for those that can’t make it all three days for whatever reason.

There was a great turnout for the show. Aisles were standing room only. In fact, it was very difficult to get to some booths or to even make it down some aisles. While it’s great there were so many attendees, the organizers should consider renting more space in the future. Wider aisles would have been much nicer and safer. I would hope they didn’t reach their maximum capacity, but had there been a need for a quick exit it would have been very difficult to do.

There were a few manufacturer, distributor, and dive shop booths. Some of the deals available were pretty good, others not so great. Keep in mind this is coming from an instructor who is used to seeing better deals at shows like DEMA. For the general diving attendee, these deals seemed to be pretty good. The dive shop exhibits appeared to be pretty busy making sales. Manufacturers and distributors were not selling anything in order to keep from competing with the shops.

There were lots of destination/travel exhibits throughout. It looked like at least 2/3 of the exhibits were based on travel. A little higher percentage than seen at DEMA, but given the attendee base that makes sense. The displays were not as extravagant as those at DEMA, but that could be due to the smaller exhibit size and smaller venue.

The odd exhibit we saw was an investment broker that looked like he had been trying to sell retirement packages. I’m not sure what he was thinking when he booked the show but he was never at his booth when we walked by it so he may have decided to cut his losses early and cut out of there. I don’t know what would make someone think recreational divers at a recreational dive show would be thinking about retirement investments. LOL!

Overall, it was a good show. We got to see many friends and do some catching up and even met some new friends. We headed out to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch with a friend, which was a nice option over eating food provided at the show, and only a 5 minute walk from the Exposition Center. We look forward to returning next year and checking out some of the seminars.

We just spent the past week in Orlando, FL at the 2011 DEMA Show. We have attended every DEMA show for the last several years and this was the smallest show we’ve ever seen. Usually you can’t see from one end of the show floor to the other, but that wasn’t the case this year. All four walls of the convention hall were easily seen from almost any location in the hall. We estimate that just based on what we saw the show was at least 1/3 smaller than last year. Many of the exhibitors had smaller displays and almost nothing to display. Some of the displays that come to mind are DUI, OMS, and Intova. DUI didn’t even have any dry suits displayed in their booth, OMS had the same old sidemount display they’ve had for the past couple of years – a pair of fins, and a couple of wings – and Intova had a couple of tables with lights but nothing to sell. Is it the economy? Or is it lack of preparation? We don’t know, but booths like that certainly didn’t do anything to attract attendees.

We don’t mean to pick on those three because they certainly weren’t the only exhibitors that seemed to miss the mark this year. They just happen to be the ones that stood out the most to us as lacking quite a bit in their displays.

The highlight of the show seemed to be GoPro. They had a large display with several flat screen monitors showing what their cameras can do, as well as a GoPro van and race car. They gave away cameras, t-shirts, and hats every day at 3pm. Oh, and let’s not forget the free beer on tap! They were also selling their products for a great DEMA price – $200 for the Hero2 packages! They sold out on the second day and had to have an additional 200 units shipped in for the third day, which sold out pretty quickly that day, too!

We saw lots of rebreathers that were unveiled this year, including many sidemount models. KISS had the new sidemount bailout breather on display as well as last year’s GEM on display. We spent some time talking to Mike Young, the designer of the GEM units about what we can expect in the future for the GEM units.

We also saw a few new sidemount systems. HOG had a prototype of their sidemount system on display. We spoke with Chris Richardson, the designer, who is also the man behind HOG. HOG’s sidemount rig is still in the testing stages and will likely have several changes made to it before its final release. It has some interesting features that might be attractive to some sidemount divers. Chris is targeting the exploration crowd with this rig and including a 50lb lift wing that will be capable of offsetting the buoyancy changes of several cylinders.

Hollis also introduced its new SMS50. It’s a small rig with a 23lb wing similar to the BAT wing. The butt plate is about half the size of the butt plate on the SMS100. There are also weight pockets – one in the top center of the back and two inside along the top sides – that can be used for trim weights. The top center pocket sits a little high and looks like it could be an entanglement hazard. This rig appears to be made for smaller, lighter cylinders like AL80s.

Analox had a simple booth, but due to a recent incident, they had CO analyzers on sale for a great price. It’s nice to see that companies are monitoring current events and being responsive to the dive community. Analox also held a couple of seminars in which they focused on carbon monoxide.

We attended some other seminars throughout the show that were very informative. The dive industry seems to have finally picked up on the fact that sidemount is here to stay and in addition to the introduction of new rigs, there were also seminars on the subject. Some of the agencies have also released new sidemount programs.

All in all, in spite of it being so much smaller, it was a good show. We got to visit with many old friends and make some new friends. It’s always nice to spend a few days at a show with hundreds of other divers!