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SCUBAPRO Sunday – Where Should your Dive Knife Be Mounted?

Sunday, July 17th, 2022

A knife is a very personal item. Even if you are issued one, many people will still buy one more to their liking. There are attachment options for just about every knife, but where is the best place to mount it? Again, that is personal; some people like it on the inside of their leg, some want it on their waste, and others like it mounted on their chest/ shoulder area. Here are my two cents about it. I like my knife high on my waist or left shoulder (because I am a righty, and it keeps my right shoulder pocked free for a weapon). A knife is a tool; if I need to use it, there is a good reason for me to grab it. If it is on my leg, I might not be able to reach it. If it is on my waste or above, no matter what, I should be able to get to it. Basically, you should keep a tourniquet on your waste for the same reason. I like having my knife there also.

Leg-mounted knives, which connect to your lower leg above your ankle and can be a convenient solution to keep your knife out of the way, are the most common on the market. However, keeping your knife far from your hands can make it challenging to locate or even reach an entanglement. If you miss the housing or do not activate the locking mechanism properly, stretching to place a sharp knife back into its housing can be deadly. Mounting your knife on your leg can be a snag hazard.

Some knives also tend to rattle in their sheaths, which can be fixed with a well-placed rubber band. There is also the thought that if it is on one leg, you will focus on that, and it can throw you off when you are navigating by making you focus on that side and push you left or right depending on where it is mounted. Most people tend to put them on the inside of their legs to help avoid snags. Some companies also make neoprene sheaths so knives can be mounted on your legs. Most tend to advertise that they are universal.

Some buoyancy compensator devices (BCD) have holes, especially for attaching your knife. Knife grommets and specialized locations to stick your knife, often under your arm above your pocket, are becoming more common. There are a lot of knife sheaths that are designed around being able to use this hole. They are great because it permanently attaches to your BCD, ensuring that you have it with you on every dive, and you don’t have to put it on and take it off for every dive. These mounts are unobtrusive and unlikely to snag. One bad thing is that because it is always there, some people forget to clean their knives properly after every use. What I like to do is soak my BCD with the knife on it and then take the knife off and dry it by itself with my mask and computer. I like keeping them all together. Another possible downside is you pack your BCD to travel, and when you get to where you are going, they pull you aside and take your knife away from you because you forgot you couldn’t take a knife with you, and yes, you can’t take a knife with you everywhere you go. So, keep that in mind also to never forget it is there.

I have seen divers with dive knives mounted on their right shoulder straps or BCD inflator hoses. These are handy in an emergency. When you keep your knife on your upper body, you’re more likely to be able to reach it in an emergency and safely replace it. I also like to have a hook-type knife on my waistband.

I know a lot of people that always must have that pointy knife. I have never really been that guy that thinks he will get a knife kill, whether it is of something or someone underwater or not. Point knives do more harm than good on a boat, especially a Zodiac/ Wing or an RHIB. I have seen my share of people cut their hands, head, or boat when they are just trying to cut the zip-tie off the front of a boat. So, be careful when using your knife. I will leave talking about knives to another time as I am sure there are some great opinions about what brand is best and why all other knives suck.

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, Maritime | 6 Comments »

Schiebel Camcopter S-100 Delivers Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness For The Icelandic Coast Guard

Friday, July 8th, 2022

Vienna, 7 July 2022 – Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 is supporting the Icelandic Coast Guard both day and night delivering enhanced maritime situational awareness for an array of operational tasks, through a contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

Currently deployed from the patrol vessel ICGV Thor and from ICGV Freyja, the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) is operated by Schiebel. The CAMCOPTER® S-100 gives the Icelandic Coast Guard the possibility of gaining better coverage of its large Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The main task is being able to identify vessels and activities of interest at a much greater range than normal, thereby substantially extending the ship’s situational awareness. The activities include fisheries inspection and control, maritime safety, ship and port security, environmental protection and response, as well as supporting Search and Rescue (SAR) when needed.

The S-100 executes these various tasks equipped with a Trakka TC-300 (and in future with an MX-10 Gen-4) Electro-Optical / Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera gimbal, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch wide area camera, a Becker Avionics BD406 Emergency Beacon Locator and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver.

Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, said: “This operation is delivered as part of our ongoing service contracts with EMSA. It is great to witness that ever more European maritime authorities are making use of the exceptional capabilities of the S-100. Especially in the maritime domain, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 is demonstrating its solid level of performance and experience.”

Posted in Contracts, International, Maritime, Press Release, UAS | Comments Off on Schiebel Camcopter S-100 Delivers Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness For The Icelandic Coast Guard

SCUBAPRO Sunday – The USS Hannah

Sunday, July 3rd, 2022

As we come up on the 4th of July, I think it is always good to remember where you came from. An army general purchased the first ship of what would become the Continental Navy. George Washington used his own money for the initial Continental Navy vessel. On April 24, 1775, he purchased a schooner and gave her the name Hannah. She was assigned the mission of capturing Royal Navy supply ships attempting to reach Boston while the city was under siege. On September 7, Hannah was successful in capturing the hostile barge, HMS Hoy.

It is believed that the schooner Hannah was the first American naval vessel to be armed during the American Revolution. Hannah is also considered the vessel that laid the foundation for the United States Navy. Hannah Glover was her owner, and she was given that name in honor of John Glover’s wife. They lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Most of her crew was comprised of people from the nearby town of Marblehead. General George Washington was the one who decided to put the schooner into the service of the American Army. On September 2, 1775, Washington gave Nicolson Broughton the commission to command the Hannah and ordered the ship to engage in combat operations against the British. On September 5, 1775, Hannah departed from the harbor of Beverly, Massachusetts. Still, two days later, when she was being pursued by the HMS Lively and another British vessel, she sought refuge in the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hannah was successful in capturing the British sloop Unity after leaving Gloucester Harbor. Hannah’s brief naval career ended on October 10, 1775, when the British sloop Nautilus ran her aground under the guns of a small American fort near Beverly. This brought an end to Hannah’s service in the navy. Hannah was saved from destruction and capture following an engagement between the British ship and the townspeople supported by the fort. However, she was soon decommissioned because General Washington had found more suitable vessels for his battles. This historic schooner was said to have called both the city of Beverly and the town of Marblehead its home port at one point. Each claimed the honor of being “the Birthplace of the American Navy” from the time Hannah was in service until an old plaque was discovered in the Philadelphia Navy Yard proclaiming Marblehead to be where the United States Navy was founded. The plaque states that Marblehead was where the US Navy was established.

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, History, Maritime | Comments Off on SCUBAPRO Sunday – The USS Hannah

SCUBAPRO SUNDAY – APNEA Snorkel

Sunday, June 26th, 2022

There are two schools of thought when it comes to carrying a snorkel when you dive in the civilian world, and I guess in the military world also. It is to carry or not carry a snorkel. You are taught to have one to save air when you are close to the surface for whatever reason so you can use it and not the air in your tank. When I first started diving in the teams, you had to have a snorkel on us. We would get issues a cheap old school “J” type one with the big orange stickers on it you had to peel off and then you would have to cut a couple of inches off of it and keep with you in case you had to work around piers or whatever so you could save O2. Well, I never used it and stopped carrying it as soon as I could. But that doesn’t mean I would have never used it or could have; I choose not to have it.

Like everything else in the world, technology is growing faster and faster. Once a problem is fixed, companies move onto the next one. So, the issues associated with the old “J” snorkel have been fixed; that is not to say that companies still do not make them have them; they are still around. But now there are all kinds of snorkels out there. There are several different types of snorkels Classic (J type), Simi-dry, Dry, and Flexible, to name a few.

So why carry a snorkel? A snorkel helps on the surface when you are in rough water. You can keep your head in the water and not drink as much seawater when you are just floating waiting to be extracted. It is also useful when you are in the water waiting for a helo pick up, and you are under its rotor wash, or when you are doing a K-duck or a swamp duck. It is also helpful to have when you jumped into the water, and you have to undo some of your parachute lines that might be tanged in your fins or whatever. It makes it easier to breath on the surface without lifting your head out of the water if you have to swim to a boat or shore for some reason.

Diving in the military is different than as a civilian as you would never leave your snorkel hanging on your mask during a dive. This is why we would cut it down a little so that we could tuck it away or you would hang it off the bottom of your LAR V with heavy rubber bands. But with today’s technology, most companies have one that you can roll-up. For SCUBAPRO, it is the Apnea Snorkel, it was launched in 2015 for Apnea divers and won the SCUBALAB’s 2015 best buy.

The SCUBAPRO Apnea Snorkel is a foldable/ rollable freediving snorkel design. Made from a soft and flexible non-toxic silicone, SCUBAPRO Apnea Snorkel easily attaches to your mask strap when being used. When not needed, it can be rolled up and stowed away in a pocket. When it’s time to do some more stuff on the surface, it pops right back into shape. The Apnea’s upper barrel can be removed if you prefer to use a shorter pipe. Without question, this is an easy-to-use and very versatile surface breather. Functional yet straightforward traditional “J” Snorkel design. No valves that can leak. It was designed specifically for spearfishing and free diving. The contoured shape of the silicone mouthpiece and the air tube has been ergonomically designed to follow the profile of the spear fisherman’s face to reduce its visibility significantly during the dive. This flexibility is also advantageous when around piers or rocks and rolling it up to store it a pocketed.

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, Maritime | 2 Comments »

SCUBAPRO SUNDAY – OPERATION Gunnerside

Sunday, June 19th, 2022

Only a few months after the discovery of nuclear fission on December 17, 1938, the military potential of nuclear power became apparent, and the race to develop an atomic bomb began.

Germany began its nuclear-weapons development program in April 1939. During their research for a nuclear reactor, the scientists discovered that deuterium oxide, also known as “heavy water” because it has a higher molecular weight than regular water, performed well as a moderator, allowing them to have greater control over the fission process than they had previously thought.

There was only one area on the planet capable of creating heavy water on an industrial scale: Norsk Hydro’s Vemork hydroelectric power plant in southern Norway, which was built in the 1960s. Heavy water was produced as a byproduct of the plant’s primary function, which was to manufacture ammonia for use in nitrogen fertilizer.

As early as January 1940, German officials inquired about the possibility of purchasing the whole Norsk Hydro heavy water storage and increasing the plant’s monthly output by a factor of ten to fulfill German demand.

This defeat only temporarily hampered the Nazis. Germany attacked Norway precisely one month later and seized the country by the beginning of June. Vemork, now under German control, raised its heavy-water output BY 50%.

In collaboration with the Norwegian Resistance, the Special Operations Executive (SOE) devised a plan for two squads to be dropped into Norway simultaneously.

The first, codenamed Operation Grouse, was composed of four Norwegian commandos. They were to parachute into Norway, conduct reconnaissance, and secure a landing zone for a 34-man team of British commandos, codenamed Operation Freshman, who would land in two gliders and then assault the plant, destroying the 18 electrolysis cells that produced heavy water.

The launch of Grouse took place on October 18, 1942. During the next three weeks, the group trekked to Freshman’s intended landing place, which they finally reached on November 9. Operation Freshman was officially initiated on November 19. An aircraft carrying a glider crashed after experiencing mechanical issues and poor weather, killing the flying crew and several commandos on board. When the bomber towing the second glider decided to cancel the operation, the cable attached to it snapped, leading it to crash as well.

In response to Hitler’s Commando Order, survivors from both gliders were apprehended and executed by the Germans. The loss of 41 soldiers resulted in enhanced security at Vemork, including land mines on the surrounding mountains, and the Grouse crew was trapped and forced to fend for itself.

Norway’s Operation Gunnerside was planned to drop a team of six Norwegian commandos into Norway to hook up with members of the Grouse squad. They would be dressed as British soldiers, so the Germans would not retaliate against the locals if captured.

The unit parachuted into Norway on February 16, 1943; it would take them five days trekking thru waist-deep snow to join up with the Grouse team on February 22. On February 27, nine members of both teams embarked on their journey to Vemork, with one member remaining behind to connect with their counterparts in Great Britain.

On reaching the plant’s perimeter, they discovered that the bridge, which served as the only direct entry point into the complex, was now heavenly guarded because of the failed British raid. Currently, the only way in was to follow the railway (the only place not mined) and to reach the railway gate, and the team had to drop 350 feet into a riverine and then climb an almost 500-foot rock face to gain access to the complex’s rear entrance through a fenced railway gate. As soon as they arrived, the guards changed shifts, and they could cut their way through the barrier just after midnight.

Once inside, the group was divided into two sections. During the attack, five commandos took up positions outside the barracks, the bridge, and the main gate, while the remaining four entered the factory. In the building, they came across only one Norwegian employee, who didn’t put up any resistance or raise the alarm.

The target chamber, which was in the basement, was rigged with explosives. The members of the team were evacuated and were waiting for the blast. It was possible to escape because the room was so far underground, and the walls were so thick because there was little noise when the bombs went off, allowing the entire team to flee before the Germans discovered what had happened. As they rushed through the barracks, they could hear the muffled crump of the explosion ahead of them. At the factory, sirens began to blare shortly after. When German soldiers raced out of the barracks and workers scattered in confusion, the saboteurs had vanished out of the picture. A hunt involving 2,800 soldiers was conducted throughout the area. However, by the time the sun rose, the saboteurs had already embarked on a 280-mile journey across forests and mountains to neutral Sweden.

The commandos demolished the electrolysis cells and more than 500 kg of heavy water in the process. They could flee without firing a single shot or inflicting any fatalities on the other side. By May, the Germans had repaired the damage, but successive Allied air raids had prevented the company from ramping up production. Eventually, the Germans halted all heavy water production and attempted to divert the remaining supplies to the country’s borders.

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, History, Maritime, SOF | 6 Comments »

Blade Show 22 – Dynamis Alliance Neptune Dive Blade

Monday, June 6th, 2022

Dynamis Alliance honcho and former SEAL Dom Raso showed me his Neptune Blade, a dedicated dive knife during my brief visit to the Blade Show in Atlanta.

He’s been working in perfecting the design over the past several years and it’s great to see this American made knife finally out and hitting the market.

The blade which features double edge serrations is made from CPMS110V with a NEPT-X proprietary coating to resist salt water.

It also integrates a line cutting notch as well as a grip lanyard making it easy to ensure you won’t lose your knife. That same lanyard also secures your knife within the sheath.

Finally, the Neptune has multiple mounting options:

• MOLLE Vertical Mount
• Horizontal MOLLE Mount
• Horizontal Belt Mount
• Dive/Duty Belt Mount
• Includes Dynamis IWB Sheath

Expect the first run to be out by the end of 2022.

crusheverything.com/product/neptune-dive-blade

Posted in Blade Show, Knives, Maritime, Veterans | 1 Comment »

SCUBAPRO Sunday – Mulberry Harbors

Sunday, June 5th, 2022

When you look at WWII, historians, and military people will say, this is what won the war, or that is the reason. Some people say it was the M2 .50 cal machine gun or the Jeep or the M1 Grand rifle. I think there is an excellent argument for all of those things and more. But there were also some fantastic feats of engineering. There were a couple of reasons that the Germans didn’t think that the Allies would land at Normandy. Some of it had to do with the deception plan the Allies used, like having Patton be in charge of a fake Army in the north of England. The other reasons was the fact that there was not a deep-water harbor close enough to make it worthwhile. But the Allies had a secret plan to build their own harbor. The Mulberry harbors were temporary mobile harbor developed during World War II for unloading troops and supplies during the Allied invasion of Normandy.

The British developed them from lessons learned during the ill-fated Dieppe raid two years prior. The Brits discovered that quickly capturing a well-defended port was impossible. They were formed in secret and sunk all over England so they wouldn’t be seen.

After the successful landing and the establishment of beachheads on D-Day, two Mulberry harbors’, previously constructed in secret at various sites across the UK, were taken in parts across the English Channel and reassembled off Omaha Beach and Gold Beach. Within 12 days of the invasion, the harbors were up and running. The Mulberry Harbor was broken down into three different areas, the Breakwater, the Pierheads, and the Roadways.

The Breakwaters were made from a combination of sinking 70 older merchant ships, steel, and concrete caissons, and concrete type crosses used to help keep it all in place. The breakwater was about 9.5 kilometers long(about 6 miles). In from that was the Pierhead that the ships could tie off to, the last part was the roadways that lead into the shore and was used for the offloading of the personal and supplies to the beach.

Along with the components of the mulberries, the harbors were protected from swell and waves by blockships deliberately sunk adjacent to the harbor. You can still see parts of the huge concrete blocks sitting on the sand, and more can be seen further out at sea. I have significantly simplified how they were made and what went into them. I am not an engineer and a hell of a lot more when into making the then I talked about.

The Mulberry harbors were intended to be used until a French port could be captured. It was not until six months after D-Day that the port of Antwerp in Belgium was captured. The Mulberry harbor at Omaha Beach was abandoned after it was damaged in a storm on the 19th of June 1944, but the harbor at Gold Beach continued at nearly full capacity for ten months after the invasion. The British Mulberry supported the Allied armies for ten months. Two and a half million men, a half-million vehicles, and four million tons of supplies landed in Europe through the artificial harbors at Arromanches.

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, History, Maritime | 6 Comments »

Rampart Range Day 22 – Waterproof Pro

Wednesday, June 1st, 2022

Waterproof Pro is a Swedish dive suit manufacturer offering Dry, Semi-Dry and Wet suits.

This lightweight assaulter suit is Al called the Tactical Breathable Drysuit is made of waterproof breathable laminate and combines a form fitting design with mobility. Customers get to customize a basic silhouette to suit their mission.

Waterproof Pro products can be procured by agencies, departments, and units in Canada from Rampart International.

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