In order to be able to dive and photograph in a relaxed and correctly buoyant manner (i.e. ‘floating freely in the water’), the right breathing technique, the right equipment and mastery of it are essential. Only then will the fragile underwater world be affected as little as possible by us divers. That’s why I configured the most important components of my equipment according to DIR ( “Doing It Right”) in 2005. This was after almost 20 years of testing various pieces of equipment, with varying degrees of success and over 1900 dives. The reason for the DIR configuration is as simple as it is obvious: it works without restrictions. Whether fresh or salt water, dry or wet suit, cold or warm water.
Equipment
Rebreather: Dräger Dolphin with Oxy2 and Uwatec Aladin Air ZO2
Main Regulator for traveling: Apeks XL4+ with 210 cm hose
Octopus for traveling: Apeks XL4 with 90 cm hose
Main Regulator cold water: Apeks MTX-R with 210 cm hose
Octopus cold water: Apeks MTX-R with 90 cm hose
Spare Main Regulator : Apeks TX 200 mit with 210 cm hose
Spare Octopus: Apeks TX 200 with 90 cm hose
Tanks: 10, 12, 15 Liter Steel, 7 Liter Aluminium Stage/Bailout
Backplate with Harness: Halcyon
Wings: Halcyon Eclipse 40 with single-und double Tank Adapter
Drysuit: Ursuit Red Q, drysuit undergarment Santi BZ 400
Wetsuits: various, 7 mm with ice vest, 5 mm, warm water: 3 mm, lakes and rivers: semi-drysuit 7 mm
Computer: Galileo 2 and Shearwater Perdix AI, both air-integrated
Backup-Computer: Scubapro Galileo 2, air-integrated, Suunto D9, air-integrated
Fins: Mares Avanti Quattro, steel spring straps
Compass: Suunto SK 7
Lifting bag/Marker buoy: Halcyon CC 80 and Diver Alert Marker closed 180 cm with various Spools and Reels
Main Light: 1 TillyTec MPL-TT2, Head LED TRI 500 TT
Backup-Light: Princeton Tec Impact XL LED
Rebreather Poseidon Discovery (eCCR = electronically controlled, fully closed Rebreather)