[Ratbag]

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Thanks for the answers regarding the rucksack..but this then got me thinking...there are a number of diving related magazines. I suppose Diver and Dive are the two most popular / prominent.

Never having read Dive, I was wondering how it compares to Diver and what other mags are worth getting...

any thoughts?

 

[Fathoms Down]

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I read Diver and Sport Diver (hey, its quite good after its recent revamp). I can't stand Dive - far too boring, starchy, opinionated and BSAC coverage for my liking (but thm I'm not a BSAC diver so its not much interest to me)  

 

[Dr Stevil]

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Well it's supposed to be BSAC oriented, but TBH I can't see that's there's much, if any, overt BSAC-ness to it (and this has been raised on the BSAC forum in the past). Time and again most people who post on forums maintain that Diver is better than Dive but I re-did my comparisons of the two the other weekend and  I still can't see what others seem to see;  there's the same amount of pages, both mags contain similar words, pretty pictures and a swathe of adverts

 

[Snash]

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Steve - you are right. I can't tell the difference and indeed they ape each other. If one brings out a regular feature the other will follow suit.

Although I have always found Beachcomber highly irritating.  

Simon

 

[Lou]

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I'd disagree about the BSAC-ness Steve.  Maybe it is just the difference of seeing it with non-BSAC eyes, so to speak, but there are some specific items in a mag that appears (at least at the moment) to be smaller than Diver anyway.  So an article or page or two might not seem much, but it is a reasonable percentage of the total content.

Somehow Dive seems to have fewer "big stories".  I do buy it sometimes but alot of the time I flick through it in the shop and decide there is not alot there, whereas Diver I read cover to cover over a couple of days.  Maybe it is the format even?  Dive kit reviews are short and to the point in comparisont to JBs hugely wordy ones, and without a really long piece, like the recent Brittanic article in Diver it seems more skimmable.

Still, it is definitely less fluffy and pink than Sport Diver!  That is so light it could float!

Lou

 

[Dominic]

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I subscribe to Diver.

I get DIVE as part of my BSAC membership, and frankly I'd rather get nothing than keep getting it come through the door..

 

[Gimbo]

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<font color='#0000FF'>I like Diver but I'm beginning to think it is showings its age. it could do with a revamp. The columnist are good (Louise and Andy Blackford) and also JB's kit review. I find the long reports quite boring and not always helpful. I remmeber once there was a report on Cabo de Palos in south eastern Spain just before I went. It was so vague that it bared no relation to the place.
I also ger Subamaranismo from Spain and that comes second best. Quite topical and good wildlife details.
US Sports diver must be the worst, can't even use it as bog paper

 

[Jules]

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i subscribe to Diver and flick through other people's Dive magazine and find it really cliquey BSACy but then i am not BSAC, it's just a club magazine isnt it? A BSAC mag for BSAC members so that's fair enough i suppose..
Havent looked at sports diver for a while, used to find it a bit thin in content.
Jules

 

[peter k]

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Jeez, you think DIVE is bad! You should see Scottish Diver! It truly is abysmal and was worth leaving SSAC just to stop the bloody thing dropping through my letterbox. DIVER or BTB for me everytime!

Peter

 

[TerryH]

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Quote[/b] (Steve W @ Mar. 25 2004,17:01)]I still can't see what others seem to see;  there's the same amount of pages, both mags contain similar words, pretty pictures and a swathe of adverts

But not the same content.

Take the so called "Full guide to the Canaries" emblazoned
on the cover of last months Dive.

Without a doubt the two main diving Islands are Tenerife &
Lanzarote, but while the former got two pages. The latter,
dispite having over 25 dive schools and even half a dozen
many techical outfits doing full CCR training, got two
paragraphs.

Seems the author hadnt actually been to Lanzarote!

Mind you this months issue has "full" survey of UK liveaboards.
That should miss out about 2/3rds of the UK fleet then!

At least Diver actually atempts to research there articles.

Mind you I'd happily sign up for 10 years subs for Dive & Diver
if they drowned beachcomber.  

TerryH

 

[Lou]

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I  *like* Beachcomber but save the concrete block you want to tie to him because I am learning a whole load of new knots just to tie it to Blackford.....dull dull and unfunny.  Get rid of him in any revamp....please

What I think it could do with is a bit more on the skills, or techniques of diving.  Maybe a skill of the month with instructions, or more tech detail on equipment - a guide to how a rebreather works perhaps?  Just a bit more depth alongside the places to dive and things to see stuff.

Peter - saw a copy of the SSAC mag at Lochaline - it filled 10 mins, what are you complaining about!  

Lou

 

[Angus]

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For a decent magazine hunt down the two good looking blokes touting the new edition of 'Beyond the Blue' at LIDS.    

 

[Rob Evans]

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Very much ditto on Beyond the Blue, it's the dog's doodahs.

Also have a look at Diversmag, something I picked up in the States in October last year.  Soooo unlike the magazines you'd expect out a Yank publication.   Lots of fun to read, bit 'laddy' (ie a healthy emphasis on ladies' bumps and partying good & proper, which is all to the good - he says, grabbing coat and scuttling off as fast as he can), some tekkie stuff, some regular stuff and NO ADVERTS cos it's subscriber funded. I've got 4 editions at home & they're a good giggle.

Thanks for the thread guys, you just reminded me to subscribe

 

[darthmoll]

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<font color='#0000FF'>i like dive girl, and its free

 

[Dominic]

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Does BtB have its own stall, or will they just be wandering around waving magazines in the air?

 

[Ian B]

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<font color='#0000FF'>The first Beyond the Blue magazine was excellent. If the next edition can keep up with the first then its got to be the best mag at the moment.

I subscribe to Diver and find most of the articles are good. As a BSAC member I usually just scan Dive and read the news and letters sections.

But Beyond the Blue is the one for me.

 

[Fathoms Down]

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Quote[/b] (Julia C @ Mar. 25 2004,19:04)]Havent looked at sports diver for a while, used to find it a bit thin in content.

Its improved a lot in the past few months. I used to buy it from the news stand for something to read whilst on the train but one month I had to check the cover to make sure it was actually Sport Diver I was reading... It was actually pretty good  

As for Beyond the Blue... I requested a copy but didn't get one so sorry Ron, but you are going to have to go the extra mile to convince me that you are organised enough for me to trust you with any money for a subscription.

 

[Martyn Ward]

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Quote[/b] (Nick Bown @ Mar. 26 2004,20:38)]

Quote[/b] (Julia C @ Mar. 25 2004,19:04)]Havent looked at sports diver for a while, used to find it a bit thin in content.

Its improved a lot in the past few months. I used to buy it from the news stand for something to read whilst on the train but one month I had to check the cover to make sure it was actually Sport Diver I was reading... It was actually pretty good  

As for Beyond the Blue... I requested a copy but didn't get one so sorry Ron, but you are going to have to go the extra mile to convince me that you are organised enough for me to trust you with any money for a subscription.

Sport Diver's not bad but has too much warm water diving for me. Most of my diving is in the Oban area and it's not, errr, warm.

 It also seems to have become a "lads" mag lately, the deputy editor being the worst offender. Not bad for a woman!!

Same for me with Beyond the Blue, still waiting....

 

[Rob Evans]

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Ow... that's a bit harsh, Nick. Ron's sent out shedloads of free mags on what's essentially a new venture, funded entirely out of his (& his backers) pockets.  The fact that you didn't get yours shouldn't colour your judgement in my view, lots of us did and I guess it's the luck of the draw in situations like this.
I was a subscriber to 9-90 when it went tits & I was more annoyed by the fact I wouldn't be seeing it again than the £12 or so I'd lost.  BtB's going to get my hard-earned as a subscription just on principle; if the first edition was anything to go by, we can't afford to let another publication like this go under. Not when the alternative's Dive etc.

 

[PaulC]

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Here's a cheer for Blackford - anyone who's dived the Skelton Coast gets my vote (eh Davy Willo?)