Advice

[kwinter]

I've never met anyone with a balanced that didn't leak.

Nice to meet you.

[Superlyte27]

Give it time... it will.

[Superlyte27]

I'd go Steve Gamble unbalanced. I have had his in many suits over the years. All good.

Steve gets his from Light Monkey...

[rddvet]

I've never met anyone with a balanced that didn't leak. I had two. Within weeks of getting them, I spent dives pee'ing all over myself. I went unbalanced and haven't had an issue since.

We've met briefly. My Halcyon balanced is fine 2 years out. It seems (or seems to seem) the Halcyon balanced have less issues than other brands, although I am sure at some point it will start to leak. If it does I'll plug the balancing port.

I wonder if the substance people clean with has anything to do with it. I use a medical cleaning solution from work that doesn't really react with anything.

[diverbjf]

Thanks for all the good advice, now any suggestions were to order condoms?

[Dsix36]

CATHETERS

Go to the second page for the wide bands.

[nakatomi]

Thanks for all the good advice, now any suggestions were to order condoms?

You might want to order some samples from Rochester. When they sent my free test-pack, I received enough catheters for a 3-week diving vacation. Ask for all types (Ultraflex, Pop-on, Wideband, Spirit I-III) and choose your estimated size, plus one up and one below that size.
That's what I did and I received a generous package of catheters to test and try out.
In my opinion all the Rochester catheters are great and hold up nicely for an entire day of diving. In retrospect I liked the Wideband and the Ultraflex most.
As for the P-valve, my instructor recommended the LM unbalanced which has worked great so far. The only time I had a little trouble with it was when (unfortunately) I listened to someones advice and went down the ear in Ginnie without putting any air whatsoever into the drysuit. The hickey I had on my will*** was gone two days later, so it wasn't all that much of an issue.

Oliver

[diverbjf]

Did you get your samples directly from Rochester? Did you call them directly or order online?

[nakatomi]

Did you get your samples directly from Rochester?

Yes, I ordered them through http://www.rocm.com

Oliver

[skip]

I've used the balanced p-valve for nearly a decade with no leaks. DUI. In the TLS350.

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