Welcome
Spring has sprung, and at the time of writing it looks pretty good. Lots of people have started diving of course, but the UK season really gets busy when summer hits. To this end, I asked our equipment writer Neil Hope to write an early season checklist so that we can stay on top of our kit preparation( see Kitted-up, page 43).
Now’ s the time to get salty again, and we all need to take a good look at our kit – and ourselves – before we take the first stride. Regs most likely need servicing; drysuits should be checked for leaks; O2 sensors need to be assessed and replaced where necessary. Oh, and is your dive computer’ s battery about to conk out? Get it on a charge and find out.
Staying on top of equipment maintenance goes hand-in-hand with our number one priority in diving – staying safe. Ultimately, the theme of safety underlies a lot of SCUBA’ s content, if not all of it. However we believe there should be scope for specific coverage of safety issues, so we’ re going to be running more articles on this theme.
It begins this issue with a short piece by BSAC’ s Safety and Rescue Skills Chief Instructor, Craig Daniel, who kindly agreed to write it while in the process of moving house. Craig, that was really good of you and we all appreciate it. We look forward to more safety updates when things settle.
There will also be longer essays on the subject from industry experts and people with special experience from which we can all benefit. Is there anything you’ d really like to see explored by an expert in this field? If so, please write to me at the usual email address and let me know.
On the subject of magazine content, BSAC is running a survey to ask about this magazine. These surveys are really useful for me. Are we covering the right areas? How much do you enjoy the current content? The more answers BSAC receives, the better we can understand our readers’ needs. You can find the details in this issue’ s HUB section( page 8).
Simon Rogerson – Editor simon @ scubamagazine. co. uk
Cover photo: Shore divers in Plymouth, by Neil Hope
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