Franken-belt - Updated

Left: New buckle on the old belt - not for actual use.

Due to my recent troubles with the weight pockets of the BC-114 I decided to try diving with a weight belt.


I got an old, blue Sea Quest weight belt with the equipment I bought last summer and thought I might as well give it a shot. Unfortunately the belts buckle had a tendency to slip which caused the belt to hang too loose for comfort. I bought a new weight belt which had a standard belt buckle-type release mechanism which means that the entire length of the strap protruding from the buckle must pass through it to allow the belt to be dumped. Combined with the fact that the buckle had a really small release "flap", it didn't feel appropriate for diving in waters which require thick 3-finger gloves. Although it is possible to open the belt buckle by pulling the strap, but then you would have to release it to allow the strap to pass through the buckle - in other words you let the belt fall directly from your waist down and get entangled in the fins or your knife. A weight belt should always be dumped at arms length away from the body to minimize the risk of complications. I decided to take apart the old Sea Quest belt and try to mount the buckle on the new, brightly yellow belt.

Here's the stop/handle for the release mechanism - just grip it and pull it from the right side to the left and the buckle releases. Inside the outer shell is a small, loose piece of plastic with the end of the strap wrapped around it.

It required considerable strength to force in place.

Right: I also had to file open the slots in the lead to accommodate the slightly more rigid yellow belt.





And here's the finished product. The belt did not show signs of loosening under stress, turns out that the old and worn blue belt was the culprit.



All you have to do to properly dump this belt is to grip the handle and pull it to the left, hold it away from your body and drop it - it doesn't get any easier then that. I was pleasantly surprised at the result, can't wait to try it out.

--- Update ---
Test dived and R.O.R.B. approved. Thankfully the weight belt did not loosen or accidentally release - which possibly could have ended badly since I could hear the eerie scream of jetskis passing over my head.

Found but perhaps not lost

[Stands up, straightens tie and clears throat ceremoniously]

- One flattened "Bullens pilsnerkorv" can.
- One Sony-brand cell phone, no battery...
- One "Ideal" brand mountain bike frame.
- One unidentifiable metal frame, roughly the size of a mailbox.
- Three fishing lures.
- A concrete steel reinforcement bar.
- Two iron hoops (for a barrel presumably).
- A plastic bag.
- Assorted knick-knacks of lesser value.

These object can all be found within a specific area of the Ske-å river. If the proper owners of said object does not come forth within the year, we will exhume said object in 2008 - at a cost to the city.
That is all.

Aqua Lung dive knife with scissor

In Aqua Lung's catalogue the knife is just named "Cisors" for some reason. In the closed position the knife has a spear point edge, a serrated edge, a straight edge and a line cutter.


The butt of the knife has been equipped with a small metal knob which makes the knife usable as a small hammer. Thus far I haven't had to draw the knife while diving, but I have used the hammer feature to break off the frail edges of an ice shelf.

Here you can see the metal knob (with hole for optional lanyard) and the split handle release bar. To release the bar you squeeze the handle and push the bar away. This can be done with one hand, just squeeze the handle and drag the bar against you leg - it's very easy and not very risky (if done properly).

As the release bar is removed the spring as the base of the handles will force the handles apart if you loosen your grip slightly. It may look rather flimsy but all parts are precisely machined and fitted together.

As you can see, a part of the serrated edge is now opened to reveal a scissor with a line cutter groove.

Here's another smart feature. At the base of the handles there are metal grooves which allows the handles to be used as a small wrench.





The sheath attaches to the knife though holes in the finger guard which releases as the handles are gripped. The sheath is equipped with leg straps which closes with plastic buckles.



I prefer to attach the knife to the inside of my right leg, that way it won't get entangled in vegetation or other obstacles, yet is readily available at any time. As for the knife, there is no doubt in my mind that it is up to any dive related task. The blades are really sharp, and with the combined effort of the line cutter, scissor and the serrated edge you can cut basically any rope or line.

And don't miss Monty Python video wall.

Florida does it again

Florida continues it's legacy as America's wang and international joke.
"Florida must now spend $3.4 million to remove an 'artificial reef' comprised of some two million scrap tires that litter the ocean floor off Broward County."

More on CDNN and netsciencenews.no-ip.org.

Blaming the Jews

Excerpt from the documentary "Blaming the Jews" describing Muslim Antisemitism.

The husband of this woman is incarcerated for inciting Muslims to kill Jews.

Segment starts at 07:37, available here from Google Video.

Reporter: In what way are Jews behind the media, one of the thing you husband does is claim that Rupert Murdoch is a Jew*, but he's not?

Woman: Well he's...He IS because, isn't that [Mandelobert?] Maxwell his father?

Reporter: ...No.

Woman: Oh well. We thought he was...

Reporter: No. He's got nothing to do with him, they are not related at all, and Rupert Murdoch is not in anyways Jewish.

Woman: I see.

Reporter: Murdoch is a Scottish name and at some point rather they went to Australia.

Woman: I see.

Reporter: I think...

Woman [interrupting]: I thought he was an Australian Jew.

Reporter: No.

Woman: OK.

Reporter: But, doesn't that kind of illustrate a problem, which is you say that media is controlled by the Jews and you make people who aren't Jews Jewish in order to prove the case.

Woman: But sometime the Jews they hide their identity. That's what the Zionists do, sometime they hide their identity, and only when they are dead and then they have the field where you will see is a Jew. When they go in any country and try to take it over, and try to morally, just, subvert the culture of that country.

Reporter: Which ever country the Jews go to they try and...

Woman [interrupting]: No.

Reporter: subvert it.

Woman: The Zionist.

Reporter: The Zionist.

Woman: That's right.

Speaker: It was hard not to be amazed by the words of (Subeida?). But the scary thing was her invocation of the Koran in support of her husbands views. If the (Allahu?) of the Koran was a Jew-hater, then no good Muslim could be anything else.

*"Who owns 'the Sun'? Rupert Murdoch. Who is he? A Jew from where? Australia."

Funny or tragic? - updated x2

Also known as a runner up for the "World's Worst Mother" competition. Notice the photo after the clip which actually didn't really come out all that well. She looks like she just crashed her Mercedes, and I can't say that I blame her.

In even more trivial news; guess who after violating her probation, repeatedly, drove without a license, drove under the influence of alcohol and got a *** ****** ******* ************* kiss on the wrist? Yes, Paris (snickering is permitted) Hilton. Right now she is in "jail". Kept separate from the main prison population, Paris lives within a block of twelve cells (reserved for celebrities, public officials, police officers and other high-profile inmates) - with two inmates in each cell. And how long, you ask? "For 23 days - after being given credit for good behaviour". How God damned hypocritical isn't that! If I would've acted like Paris I would be in for a long prison sentence at general population, despite being a previously responsible citizen and without an arrest record. Just because she is rich and "famous" she gets the special treatment - which she has not deserved in any way! Her only ticket to fame was inheriting her fathers money and becoming a media darling as it became obvious that she is a fucktard. Paris was quoted saying; "I'm going to do the time and I am going to do it the right way." - what the hell is she talking about? How is Special Treatment Deluxe for 23 days "the right way"? Is she really that blind?

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Update
Paris Hilton got out of the Deluxe Jail after 3 days and sent home. I can't say that I am surprised, but I am pissed off - and what about doing it "the right way"?
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Update
Thanks to judge Michael Sauer (at least someone is doing his job) Paris Hilton finally got her wish, ("I'm going to do the time and I am going to do it the right way.") despite her obvious change of mind. Basically dragged kicking and screaming, Paris is now faced with the entire 43 days in Deluxe Jail for repeated D.U.I. and parole violations - obviously she still got off way to easy.
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Here's a image from Blog Humor - Ett roligt tidsfördriv.

Ice - where it is bad to have it

It's soon time to service the old regulator and first stage, the one that didn't like cold water. Right now I have no plans to service the system, service is costly and since I can't use the unit in cold water there's hardly any idea to service it in late summer. It'll just collect dust during the winter months. Anyways, I thought I might as well explain more in detail what the actual problem was. To the right is a picture of the first stage and the spring that controls airflow. As the first stage is not pressurised the spring is not (very) compressed. When the first stage is connected to a bottle and the valve opened the spring compresses and limits the airflow to the connected hoses and pressurises the system. The first stage reduces the pressure to roughly 10 bar to each connection except for the manometer which must be fully pressurised to gage the available volume of air. To the left you can see the images of what happened when submerged in cold and streaming water. As the expanding air cooled the metal of the first stage, ice begin forming around the spring. As you can see in the upper left image, ice has formed around the spring - only leaving a small hole in the middle. The area within the red lines should always be free of obstructions. During a normal dive the spring is compressed, as long as the tank contains more then 10 bar of pressure and the system is fully pressurised. As you consume air from the system (breathing, filling vest or suit) the pressure between the regulator and the first stage is lowered to below 10 bar and the spring is allowed to pushes down to release more air from the tank. As the spring got frozen in the "fill air" position the system was flooded with excess air which was pushed out through the regulators exhale valve. This is not optimal, I was bleeding precious air at an alarming rate and even at the surface while breathing through my snorkel there weren't enough air pressure left to fill the vest, it all went out the regulator. Anyways, the general idea is to buy a reasonably priced cold water approved first stage and put the old hoses onto that one. Of course that unit has to be services as well, time and money and all that...

Number 1397 - a short story

Well, there you have - I am now apparently the 1397:th Ju-Jutsu black belt within Ju-Jutsu Kai in Sweden. Ju-Jutsu Kai is the largest Ju-Jutsu federation in Sweden with 90 local clubs and 8000 members (conservative estimate). As you know the Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) strike ended just in time. Driving non-stop to Stockholm would've taken roughly 8 hours if you drive somewhat efficiently, not a pleasant thought. We were 4 participants from our club; two black belt prospects and two "rag dolls". I believe there were 12 of us in all (6 on the mats at the time) for the 14:00 black belt grading (yes, it is called grading in English - very close to our Swedish "gradering"); 9 prospects and three rag dolls. 7 made the black belt cut, which included Therese and yours truly. And if I dare say so myself - we blew the competition out of the water. We really put a lot of effort into it and from what I heard after and even during the grading, it showed - both in spirit and in technique. As I can only speak for myself - I weren't perfect of course, but very few misses (no mistakes in the Japanese to technique translations) and good recovery - I seem to recall an arm-lock after a throw which I missed with my hands but managed to pick the arm up with my foot and then grab it to restrict my uke (that was what I tried to do at least and I think I pulled it off). (Ghetto)Ulf, one of the founders of our local club now living "out of bounds", was at the grading and gave some short but valuable insight as to how it looked from the "bleachers". Ulf was actually my instructor for my first belt in Ju-Jutsu. At the end of the grading me ("tori", the defender) and my rag doll ("uke", the aggressor) were pretty tired. Ulf wanted us to kick it up a notch for the last leg. I pushed it as far as I thought I could, although I knew that I could speed it up even more but at a rather high risk of missing the intended technique. Looking back at it now the point is kind of moot - I passed, but still...

A black belt (1:st dan) within The Swedish Ju-jutsu Association (SJJA) is nothing like most black belt in the USA. Forget the arbitrary ninja style with a young "grandmaster" with 25:th dan - you can't buy or simple award yourself a SJJA dan grade - the minimum requirement for a 1:st dan black belt is 5 years of uninterrupted training, grading from white belt to brown (yellow, orange, green, blue and brown belt), attendance at a required number of training camps and the black belt grading in front of the National Grading Committee (That's my somewhat literal translation of "Riksgraderingskommittén", RGK). The NGC consists of the highest graded member and chairman of NGC and SJJA - Hans Greger (9:th dan) with Bertil Bergdahl (7:th dan), Ulf Bäckström (7:th dan) and Anders Bergström (6:th dan).
More information the SJJA web page.

As for the trip, airport security was less lax then usual - I was actually searched for the first time, much to my surprise. Just a simple pat-down, but still, the week before I traveled to Stockholm and tripped the metal detector but wasn't searched. Maybe they are training trainees. One of the cab drivers told us that the police trains cadets for D.U.I checks by actually doing tests, lots of 'em - which pretty much brings the traffic to a halt. Anyways, our luggage was checked in as usual. The fact that my training bag contained two metal training knives, two sticks, a bottle of scotch and a straight razor didn't seem to bother anyone. Jocke had a metal training knife, a very realistic soft air gun (Glock) and a "soft stick" - as far as we know nobody even opened our bags. Maybe the x-rays are so detailed that one can actually without risk of mistakes tell a real Glock from a plastic one [reserved for joke] - our soft air gun did have a plastic slide, but still. Can they really be THAT sure? If the pistol were real, it should not be transported in an ordinary gym bag.

Here's a panorama view from our hotel room. We had a fairly spacious room with separate beds, a TV and a rather limited mini-bar. The hotel was roughly 5 km (3,1 miles) away from Bosön, very convenient.


Here's a panorama of the airport. We spent the better part of 10 hours there, waiting for the flight home. I drank a lot of water. Airport water, at least the carbonated type, seemed to be almost magically expensive. After the grading I must've broken some sort of personal record in liters of mineral water consumed within 24 hours. Then again, I had a lot of water to regain - most of it seemed to be soaked into my gi.


The night after the grading both me and Jocke slept for about two hours, after that we had to dip into the painkillers, pills and Voltaren creme did the trick. Almost. Jocke had a splitting headache and a bruised toe, I had somewhat of a headache and pain in and between the shoulder blades. Felt like I was sprouting another shoulder, and a bad one to boot.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank everyone that has supported me through my training and especially Linda's Joakim, my instructor and rag doll without whom I would not have a black belt today.