Seatux DrySuit Heavy with Heavy duty Zipper

Seatux has a great local reputation for good quality suits that last for quite a while.

Seatux is a local Vancouver Island company that is based in Lantzville and they do not make any suits for the rack but rather make their suites to order insuring that the suits fit extremely well.
The compressed neoprene that is used by them allows the diver to wear a wide range of undergarments since the suit itself provides good thermal protection while keeping the diver dry.
Seatux uses gator skin which has proven to be quite resilient to general stress and the occasional barnicel. The suit is not just slightly more comfortable then a shell suit but rather leaves the shells in a dust cloud on the hangers. The seatux feels natural even if you jump into it right after diving in wetsuits. The comfort level and confidence inspired by this suit is hard to surpass and leaves nothing to wish for compared to some of the bigger competitors.
The suit comes with free made to seize hood which is and added bonus as many wet hoods tend to not quite fit but this one is made to seize just like the suit.
Everything can be customized on the suit from pockets to where the vent is and how you enter the suit of course some of those changes carry a ticket price but the models are not just affordable but they again beat most of the competition that can claim equality as well.
The Zipper on this suit is protected by a flap the flaw of that flap is a when you put on your BCD it tends to get trapped under the shoulder straps but it protects the zipper quite effectively once your dive buddy sorts your flap out.
The boots used for this suit are extremely rugged and you will not have to worry that your boots fail while hiking down to the beach for a shore dive.
The seals are not silicone as you maybe accustomed from many other suits but instead neoprene this makes the quite comfortable and warm while not sacrificing water tight integrity. 
The base model with the light duty zipper goes for about 1500$ CDN and the heavy duty model goes for 1700$ CDN.
Here is also the companies website albeit only partially working but the important contact info can be easily found and there are a couple local dealers around the island that support SeaTux such as Ogden Point and Nanaimo Dive Outfitters. (Those are the ones I am aware of supporting Seatux...I will happily add any other shops that do the same.)

SeaTux Website
Ogden Point Dive Shop
Nanaimo Dive Outfitters

The Overview, you can the words Sea-Tux on the neck.

The Zipper is protected by a flap.

The boots are pretty rugged and a boot failure is not an immediate fear.

The Cuff seal, got a little dust on it from transport but is other wise fine.

The hood.

Akona Gloves 5mm Review

Akona makes gloves that in my experience work the best and are very durable. The 5mm gloves provide great dexterity and warmth in low temperature water.
They reliably reduce the flow of water through the glove they keep the hands comfortably warm while not limiting the range of motion of the fingers and hand. They are quite rugged and the grip surface has great grip underwater as well as on the surface.
The Wrist has a band that instead of the stretch material which permits easy access into the gloves and as well as getting them off again. As in my experience the stretch gloves tend to be more difficult to get off once they are all soaked from the dive.

Overall these gloves are extremely comfortable during the dive and very durable.

Wenoka Deep Sea Dive Knife

The Wenoka deep Sea is a great knife that it has a nice set of straps that come with the knife.
It has a good seize and weight make it very comfortable to handle while diving and wearing heavy wet-gloves. The blade has a straight edge and a serrated edge as well as a small hook on the serrated edge with which  you can hook a line or something.
The knife is well made and is quite durable the yellow sides on the handle are the part of the holder which prevent the knife from falling out and leaving you with peace of mind.

Suunto Zoop

The Suunto Zoop is one of the most basic and reliable dive computers out there it is on the bottom of the dive computer Spectrum making it a common new diver dive computer. The zoop works with Nitrox and has a the regular range of basic functions as well as memory in the system. With a USB cable that you have to buy separately you can download the past dive information with Suunto's DM4 software. Overall the Zoop is pretty reliable probably because it is so basic that all the hardware isn't the high-end but rather to proven and durable. The numbers are comfortably read in most light conditions since they displayed in simple bold number on the screen. It also of course reacts well to flashlights if you choose to dive in the dark. 

It handles quite well on shore but while diving the buttons tend to be a little small and you need to push on them quite hard to have the computer do want you want which is a bit difficult while wearing a 5mm glove. The menu and all portions of the Zoop are handled via the three little metal buttons.

There are two versions of the Zoop one is mounted as console instead of a gauge and the other version is the arm carried ones. The console mounted ones show the pressure of course, while the wristband mounted one will not show the pressure of your cylinder. No wireless system included but this is the way I like it since I like having multiple systems. 

We used the Zoop for many dives and only had one problem with them on the way to Hawaii the seal must have broken on the plane or something since the first dive flooded it out and killed the battery. We got it fixed but we decided not to take Zoops on planes again. Otherwise we have found them to be extremely reliable and are very happy with them.

Aqualung Impulse 3

The Impulse 3 is Aqualungs longer lasting lines of snorkels. Overall its pretty good for surface swims but when swimming in a bit of a chop the one way vent does not seem to work entirely ideally. It occasionally has trouble purging water that enters the snorkel. The fit is quite comfortable and the mounting is quite reliable while at times a bit of a hassle to adjust.
Overall a decent snorkel but again a good piece of equipment but not great.

Aqualung Look2

The Aqualung Look series does have a long standing history and has always been a efficient mask with minimal air space. The mask fits close to the face allowing for a comfortable field of vision. It fits snug and is very comfortable while diving the seal is quite reliable but due to a fairly large mask circumference the mask rim does have a tendency to get stuck over the hood or the if you are using a reg rim over that rim as well.
The mask is not entirely ideal for cold water diving but extremely well suited for warm water diving where the diver wears less heat protection and there by reduces the likelihood of the rim getting stuck over any gear the diver maybe wearing.
The mask is well made and shows that aqualung is intending to carry on with the Look masks for some time to come. Overall a good mask not great but good.

Aqualung Dimension with i3

The dimension is a nice cold water BCD it is quite intuitive to handle more so then the hose setup. The i3 sits in a convenient location, to exact the location where most divers rest there hands anyway, further the system is very straight forward. Up is inflate and down is deflate up and down, making it very simple even for beginner divers to use, we also found that in a rescue scenario when you need to get the inflator from the rear. The rescuer can easily get to the system from behind with one hand can in as well as deflate easily without having to manage a victim tubes and gear its simply a question of holding the victim and slowly deflating the system with the lever without doing much work.

The dimension of course uses a back bladder allowing for great stability while diving the only flaw is that the bladder is rather large at 48L causing it to have massive buoyancy when fully inflated. Thus when on the surface I would recommend to inflate the bladder only as much as necessary for both purpose the surface swim but also any rescue scenario. 
Over all the system is convenient and very effective easy to reach without having to worry to much.

The LP hose is routed through the back and then under the arm making that very sleek and taking all the LP hoses out of the way. Beyond sleek it also removes any drag the hose may cause.

The only thing that seems somewhat mediocre and a little cheap is the manual inflator hose that is not great the can be used by pushing the mouthpiece down and then you breath. The biggest problem is that the hose has to be unpacked when used and the pushed in with the teeth which means that you have to be fairly present in the event of needing that hose since it is less intuitive then the traditional setup. 

The BCD is made quite and and has the sure-lock 3 system for the weights in place which makes the weights easy to dump and put into the BCD.

The valves are all flat valve designs reducing drag even further overall it is a slim BCD that creates minimal drag for a cold water BCD. But not just that the BCD has also a nice set of four D-rings that you can use for attaching whatever you need to take with you onto your dive.

The BCD is one of the better Cold water BCDs that I have seen so far allowing the least amount of drag with the most utility and flexibility. As I said before the only real wrinkle in the overall design of the BCD is the manual inflation system vs that of most other BCDs.

The dimension i3 lying on the back.

The i3 inflator and hook-up for the LP hose.

Manual Inflator hose

The shoulder buckle and emergency dump valve.

Backside of the BCD you can see the LP routing on back in the centre just above the strap.

Aqualung Titan LX Octo and Reg Review

The Titan LX is a great Reg and Octo set, I had to get some adjustments done on the balancing since the reg by default was slightly under balanced and started pushing air my way a little to heavily.
But as soon as the adjustments had been made the Reg worked flawless. The Octo has performed up to all expectations the materials used are great there is no corrosion and the work was clearly well done.
The setup works extremely well and is quite resilient, I also love the adjustment knob on both regs allowing for slight adjustments in ease of breathing on the fly.
The Reg performs great in all depth ranges as well as reducing pressure it never feels as if you have to work to get your air.
The regs and octo feel solid and a very confidence inspiring system that will make cold water diving a fun and relaxing experience for anyone.
The setup is of course a cold water setup in which it performs very effectively. 

The set is a Titan LX Supreme Octo, Titan LX Reg, Apex dive console.

 

Aqualung SlingShot Review

I have been testing the Aqualung SlingShot fins, they are quite efficient while underwater and moving along however due to their rather large seize the fins do become restricting when moving towards terrain. As well as when entering/leaving the water or just generally moving in more confined water.

They generate a good deal of thrust with little effort the different tension settings on the back an interesting little feature that most people would probably never use however it does seem to improve the power the fins provide however it does make them a little more cumbersome. I would recommend to keep them in the default setting that allows you the greatest flexibility and performance.

Over all the fins are very comfortable while diving and very reasonably priced making them quite good mid-range fins. They will never be power fins but they are very when cruising on the surface and while diving. As long as you watch out what you hit with them due to their rather great seize. But also this does have some benefits if you want to generate drag to keep someone down since they do act like a couple planks on your feet. I had keep a buddy under after he panicked and it turns out that with these fins and no air in my BCD he did not stand a chance against the resistance that I managed to generate.

These fins are well made and very effective as most aqualung products. I do enjoy diving with these fins although I would advise against them in tight quarters.

If you have any questions in regards to these fins I will be very happy to answer them in the comment section.