AIRHEADS
SCUBA 
Your headquarters for both recreational and technical diving !
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AIRHEADS
SCUBA |
Your headquarters for both recreational and technical diving ! |
NEWS ARCHIVES
2002
5 December 2002
Don't forget the annual Christmas Awards Diner this Saturday, 7 December 2002 at 1800 held at Airheads Scuba. Bring a side or dessert and we'll supply the rest. Come and join in the fun. There are several candidates for the Booney award this year. I may make an exception to the nominations this year on eligibility requirements to include some special folks. Don't forget your log books. We will also go into the Team Airheads Dive Club rules and advantages.
Dale Bletso
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Congratulations Congratulations are in order for Dan Johnson and Holly Crisler who just tied the not in Las Vegas, Nevada. I didn't ask which one thinks they hit the biggest jackpot. Best wishes for a long life and marriage. |
Congratulations Congratulations are in order for the recent Equipment Specialty graduates: Dan Johnson, Fred Sims, David Haupt, Dan Anderson |
17 November 2002
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We are proud to announce our affiliation with MDEA Dale Bletso and Dennis Price have just completed their instructor crossovers with Multinational Diving Educators Association of Nashville, Tn. Dennis is now a level two instructor which allows him to teach specialties and Dale a level four instructor which allows him to teach, evaluate and certify instructor candidates. MDEA was founded in 1984. Our affiliation with them will allow us more flexibility in our education programs. We are instituting their educational ladder into our programs. Open Water divers will start out as Level One divers, and upon completion of various steps, divers can progress up to Level Five divers. Following level one certification, divers can take our traditional advanced course which is Level Two Diver. Then with 25 dives and any two specialties, the diver is awarded Level Three Diver. Level Two Divers or above who have 75 dives can also attain a special Extreme Diver award by completing four extreme specialties such as nitrox, ice diver, deep diver, cavern diver, current diver, solo diver, rebreather, etc. A Level Three diver with 50 dives and only two more specialties, is recognized as a Level Four Diver. Level Five can be attained with 100 dives and a total of six specialties. We will still be offering SDI and TDI programs as before. MDEA, however, follows a more traditional approach to open water instruction. Over the next few weeks you will see some substantial changes to our web site which will reflect the changes to our system. Please be patient as we finalize all the small details.
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New Dive Policy Due to the number of no-shows for the weekend dives, we are now requiring an advance pay policy from now until April 2003. You must realize that most of the sites we visit during the off season are by special arrangement. When Airheads sets up a dive, the quarry owners expect a certain number of participants to show up. When they do not, it creates a great deal of reluctance on our hosts to accommodate us for future outings. Collecting a nonrefundable commitment from the diver assures the propietor his expected income for the required number of participants. Guideline at Falling Rock Airheads has been busy at Falling Rock quarry. We have started laying guideline between the various sites around the quarry. We are doing this in an effort to foster a higher degree of dive safety for the divers in the area. We are stunned by the number of lost divers who do no reference ascents in the middle of the quarry to see where they are. This is never a prudent practice even with a lot of specific training and practice. It is normally reserved for an emergency procedure for very serious dives. Over the winter, we expect to tie in all the major deep sites. As always, we look for volunteers to join us in this endeavor.
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28 October 2002
CONGRATULATIONS
To Charles Sims and David Cleary for completion of their Nitrox course.
We would also like to apologize and give special note to our Open Water students Mike Robinson and David Cleary who we overlooked when they completed their class back in August.
28 September 2002
CONGRATULATIONS
are in order for the following Open Water students:
Charles and Daisey Sims 
Dennis Price finally took his exam and is now an entry level trimix diver.
14 September 2002
CONGRATULATIONS
are in order for the following Open Water students:
Randy Hollis, Renee Hollis, Beau Hollis, Jaron Hollis, Casi Jesse, Elizabeth LeFaive.
Steve Jesse has completed a scuba refresher course.
Kevin Schindler is now a Visual Procedures Inspector
Dennis Price has attained his Visual Inspection Procedures Instructor rating.
Kevin Schindler completed his Nitrox Blender course.
Dale Bletso and Dennis Price completed their cave diver propulsion vehicle course with Lamar Hires of Dive Rite during a recent trip to Florida.
*** New Products ***
All the pics below were taken with the digital Reefmaster U/W camera. Unfortunately, the dives were in visibility less than 20 feet except the cave pics.
Click on the pics to enlarge and use your browser return to come back.
Dale at first restriction in Cow Upstream (Notice the new Poseidon Xtreme regulator) |
Dennis at deco (Ginnie Springs) Yes, he is on a rebreather! |
Dale on CCR and DPV (Ginnie Springs) |
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Cubbya |
Clinging crab |
Townsend Angel |
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Sea cucumber |
Be the first to identify me and win a $20.00 gift certificate from Aitheads Scuba |
Sheepshead |
Dale had a chance to give Poseidon's Xtreme regulator a workout and feels that it is indeed a nice piece of equipment. The second stage is more compact than the Odin and has the Odin's breathing characteristics without the +/- switch. The first stage is a novel new design that boasts some impressive features. We are still trying to get price and availability for just the second stage.
Dive Rite will be introducing their replacement for the Nitek computer at Dema next month. The Nitek Plus is a two gas Nitrox computer. Gas one is programmable from 21% to 50 % Oxygen, and gas two is programmable from 21% to 99%. We have seen it, and it is a jewel. It is slated to sell for the same price as the Nitek currently costs.
The Nitek He (We have also seen this one) is slated to replace the Nitek III. Same price but with lots more features. It tracks 12 compartments on and off gassing using the Buhlmann ZHL16 algorithm. It is programmable with 7 gases, both helium and nitrogen based. It also allows PO2 warning settings for the various mixes. The Nitek He will be available about 1 December 2002. (A great Christmas gift!)
The Dive Rite reels have been redesigned (and patented) to allow various configurations as well as right and left handed operation!
We now have the specialty manuals for Scuba Diving International courses including the solo diving course.
28 June 2002
Excus-u-se Me! Recently we were informed by yet another customer that someone was once again passing judgment on the way some of our divers dive... Airheads Scuba repsonds to attacks on us.
This is in PDF file format. A free copy of Adobe Acrobat reader is available at www.adobe.com
7 June 2002
During a recent pool session with some openwater students, Dennis Price had the unwelcome privilege of assisting in a near-drowning incident of a young boy. The lifeguard had jumped in to retrieve the child and then called for help as she drug him to the pool's edge for extraction. Dennis quickly responded and assisted in pulling the boy from the water. The boy slipped in and out of consciousness for a while and was treated by EMS personnel before being released to his family. Dennis admitted to being shaken by the event, having never had to actually participate in such a rescue before. Fortunately, during instructor training (or even during rescue class training), we as divers can learn the procedures required in order to assist in such an emergency. This incident just brings to the forefront the need to ensure that we, as divers, enroll our children in swim classes to be sure that they are safe near the water. Since we spend so much of our time in this environment, it is our responsibility to assure our children's safety. IF YOUR CHILDREN ACCOMPANY YOU ON TRIPS TO QUARRIES, LAKES, OR THE OCEAN, PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM. ACCIDENTS CAN OCCUR IN A SPLIT SECOND. THERE IS NO REASON FOR US AS TRAINED SPORTS PARTICIPANTS TO SUBJECT OUR CHILDREN TO HAZARDS WHICH CAN BE AVOIDED WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FORESIGHT ON OUR PART.
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Sherwood and IDI Blowout Sale
All Sherwood and IDI regulators and BC's in stock are yours at 30% to 40% savings. Get them while they last!
We Don't Just Talk The Talk, We Walk The Walk
7 June 2002
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During a recent pool session with some openwater students, Dennis Price had the unwelcome privilege of assisting in a near-drowning incident of a young boy. The lifeguard had jumped in to retrieve the child and then called for help as she drug him to the pool's edge for extraction. Dennis quickly responded and assisted in pulling the boy from the water. The boy slipped in and out of consciousness for a while and was treated by EMS personnel before being released to his family. Dennis admitted to being shaken by the event, having never had to actually participate in such a rescue before. Fortunately, during instructor training (or even during rescue class training), we as divers can learn the procedures required in order to assist in such an emergency. This incident just brings to the forefront the need to ensure that we, as divers, enroll our children in swim classes to be sure that they are safe near the water. Since we spend so much of our time in this environment, it is our responsibility to assure our children's safety. IF YOUR CHILDREN ACCOMPANY YOU ON TRIPS TO QUARRIES, LAKES, OR THE OCEAN, PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM. ACCIDENTS CAN OCCUR IN A SPLIT SECOND. THERE IS NO REASON FOR US AS TRAINED SPORTS PARTICIPANTS TO SUBJECT OUR CHILDREN TO HAZARDS WHICH CAN BE AVOIDED WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FORESIGHT ON OUR PART.
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31 March 2002
WITH OUR CUSTOMERS IN MIND
Airheads Scuba has placed the first tank stand at Falling Rock Quarry. We plan on having at least four of these work stations in place by opening day. They allow divers to easily set up and don their gear from something other than a rock.
These stands will accommodate four sets of double tanks or 8 single tank setups per side! These are being placed at all the entry areas for the convenience of all divers. We are placing them there for your use on a first come first serve basis. All we ask is that you keep your fellow divers in mind when you use a post. They are not gear or picnic tables.
PLEASE USE THE TANK TIE DOWNS FOR YOUR SAFETY
Ian Hart and Dennis Price doing some finishing touches |
These will hold a lot of gear |
12 March 2002
AIRHEADS IN THE LEAD AGAIN
For our open water advanced and technical divers we have added a gas booster to the equipment list at Airheads. This allows us to not just transfill a cylinder, but allows us to now fill your argon cylinders for dry suit inflation as well as oxygen flasks for our CCR divers to rated pressure.
Our first Spanish language course at Airheads is underway. We are doing this to better serve the dive community and to give us an edge on our Central and South American dive trips. Look for the next class start date!
We Don't Just Talk The Talk, We Walk The Walk
Panama City Trip May 9 - 12, 2002 Our trips include: 3 nights lodging, 6 Airfills,
If you are interested, please come out to the shop and sign up and put your deposit down to guarantee your spot. * Prices are per person based on double occupancy |
Tech Weekend Dive Rite Weekend A Tech Dive day and Dive Rite Demo day will be held at Alabama Blue Water in Birmingham, Al. on Saturday 16 March 2002. The entrance fee to the quarry will be free for all tech certified divers from advanced nitrox and up including rebreathers. Mark your calendars. This is the way Wayne thanks us techies. As usual Airheads Scuba will be represented heavily this weekend. Even if you are not a tech diver, you are welcome to come dive and meet some very accomplished divers and leaders in the field. Dell Mots and JT will be there from Dive Rite with all their wares for you to try. I have heard rumors that there will be some experimental semi closed and closed circuit rebreathers on display. Rebreathers are the wave of the future for both the recreational and technical divers. |
Airheads Scuba is still diving!!!
Airheads is the only shop in this area that dives all year. We have been to Falling Rock six times this year already and are planning to be there again this coming week end. We have been averaging 4 to five divers per week. This is a good time to try a dry suit class. (You can't dive without one this time of year.)
Equipment Specialist Course
The equipment specialist class was held on 19 & 21 February. Congratulations are in order for John Eger, Karen Backherms, and Mark Wampler. They aren't letting winter waste away.
21 January 2002
Equipment Specialist Course We are offering an equipment specialist course in mid- February. The object of the course is to provide some knowledge to recreational divers about the design of various scuba equipment such as regulators, BCD's, drysuits and more. The class covers the components in various regulators and valves as well as simple maintenance procedures that could potentially save your dive trip. Don't be left on the boat due to minor equipment problems. Sign up now. The course fee is $75.00 and the class will be held on two evenings. For those of you who are working on obtaining your Advanced certification, this class counts as a specialty rating towards your goal. |
Open Water Class If you are interested in entering the world of scuba diving, there is a class beginning Thursday, January 24, 2002 at 6:00 PM. Don't procrastinate; sign up now and be ready when the season starts. If you are already a diver but know someone who might want to become one, contact us about our gift to you for sending new students our way. |
Airheads Scuba is proud to announce another first.
Airheads is the only shop in at least a 250 mile radius which has the capability to offer a continuous blend of Trimix. This capability allows for real-time blending of any desired trimix blend. This allows for faster and more accurate fills. Trimix gas blends are only available to students enrolled in the appropriate course level and divers certified in the use of the blend requested. For information on enrolling in a trimix course see Trimix course
10 January 2002
Congratulations to Kaye Bletso Kaye graduated from U of L in December with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with concentrations in Spanish, French, and Marine Biology. I am sure she will agree that it was a tough go. No one has ever accused Kaye of going the easy route. She is now in the graduate program at U of L in order to get her MAT (Masters of Arts & Teaching).. |
Website Changes We have been making changes to the Airheads Scuba website formatting. There has been a rebreather support page added with special tables and links for the rebreathers. It can be reached from the main page. |
Kaye, Dennis and Dale went to Alabama Blue Water during our shutdown after Christmas. The weather was a lot better than what you all had here in Louisville. We Stopped at Madison Aquatic for a dive and then on down to Birmingham. We did two dives at ABWA and the next morning we dropped on down to Morrison Springs and did a dive there. On the return trip, the temperature in Florida was mid 60's and in Louisville it was mid 20's.
