Just interested to find out which diving magazine(s) everyone gets and why? :cool:
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Just interested to find out which diving magazine(s) everyone gets and why? :cool:
I get:
Scuba Diving - Because it is the large main stream mag, and it is cheap.
Dive Training Mag - Because they focus on important issues, mostly safety. They also have a lot of how to articles. Sometimes it is a little basic, but still good stuff.
NorthEast Dive News - Get it free at my LDS, it is a very small magazine (about 25 pages) that is dedicated mostly to the NorthEast obviously. Each month there are a few articles on different dive sites and nice photos of them all.
Wreck Diving Magaine - Very expensive magazine, but it also has very little advertising. This magainze is for the hardcore wreck divers. Has a lot of history in the articles. This only comes out 4 times/year.
Dive Zero - Video Magazine - Nice DVD that comes out (supposedly 4 times a year, but not so often in reality). This is produced by a younger group, and contains very nice high quality footage. There is music set to the entire DVD, which may be a little much for some. It is fairly inexpensive for a DVD.
Dive Portal - I just signed up for this one, so I will let you know how it is. It is produced by Richie Kohler and John Chatterton, so I am sure it is going to blow me away.
Diver - b/c it usually has some good articles.
Asian Diver - for the photos
Scuba Diving - when the odd article interests me
I usually don't get any now except if traveling or am in severe Nitrogen Withdrawal. Used to get them quite a bit when I first started diving. Found the internet better for getting info and seeing pics.
My all time favorite has been Advanced Diver Magazine (ADM). Curt and Linda have worked hard to make their publication a success, and their customer service has been second to none. They even offer an online version to help those in foriegn countries avoid the high postage costs of overseas shipping. Focuses a lot on exploration of wrecks and caves around the world. The only down side is that it is a quarterly (published four time per year.)
Fathoms was good when it first started up, but I have been loosing interest the last year or so. It is a great pub for those who are into photography, but the stories have declined in quality (my opinion, and keep in mind that I would rather read about exploration projects.) Another quarterly publication.
Dive Training I usually pick up from my LDS. Great pub with some really good articles, especially for new divers. I just have a hard time justifying the cost of a subscription when most dive shops offer copies for free (and many offer a one year complimentary subscription to their new ow diver students upon completion of their training.
Scuba Diving magazine is okay, been reading it for longer than I can recall.
Another favorite is X-Ray, a free online international publication. This magazine has a strong conservation theme to it (big on protecting turtles, shark, and other threatned aqautic life.) I encourage everyone to visit their site, http://www.xray-mag.com/ . Very good articles covering a wide range of topics (yes, they feature cave diving and exploration from time to time, as well as wrecks, reefs, and everything else diving related.)
Its' amazing how many magazines are out there - Down here, I've managed to get Scuba Diving mag a total of two times in the past six months - which also involves a 90 minute drive to the main book shop in the north of the island.
I borrowed a couple of copies of Diver Training mag from one of the DM-Cs at my LDS.
Bama - thanks for the link to the xray mag, i had a quick look around and they had some interesting stuff on there.
Wow Lottie, I did not know it was such a difficult task for you to get magazines. Can't you just get a subscription? I am sure most of them have international subscriptions.
When we finally make our way to St. Lucia, I will be sure to get your shopping list. Then I can fill my empty luggage with things from the island.
Ace - the DM-C that lent me the Diver Training mags said that she got a subscription to scuba diving (i think - don't quote me on that) and it took ages for the mag to come over and she saw it in the bookshop before she even received it...it seeems as though its very hit and miss....(story of my life!!!;))
I'll be sure to keep you to your promise of the shopping list when you guys come over! ;)
I am glad you enjoyed X-ray Lottie, it is fast becoming one of my favorites. Given your mail situation down there, you might also want to have a look at http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/ . Curt setup the online version to avoid just the problems that you mention (out of country subscribers paying outrageous postage fees for really bad service.) It also saves Curt the expense he has endured from postal losses (he is pretty good when it comes to customer service, always sends a replacement when subscibers report that they have received an issue.) The content is primarily focused around exploration, but he does have a little something to interest a wide range of divers.
Has anyone seen the mag Shark Diver? Is it still around? I bought one a few years back, just to stick in the guest bathroom when mom comes to visit :p
OMG, THAT IS THE BEST DIVING MAGAZINE OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by BamaCaveDiver
I just picked up a few back issues to check out the magazine and was floored at how perfectly that magazine fits my personality. It is definately geared toward Advanced or higher divers that are agressive self learners. There are articles there that will be way too complex for some divers, but other articles that are good for others. It is also something you would want to keep for future refrence.
I have not figured out how the internet subscription works vs. the regular subscription, but I am definately going to subscribe to at least one of them.
Thanks for leting us know about the great magazine.
By the way, do you know what issue they are up to? I have 1-11 and I think I would like to get all of the back issues if there are not too many.
I have known Curt for a long time, so it was a no brainer for me to plunk down my subscription fee back when he first published issue #1 of ADM. He and Linda are now up to issue #27, and the publication has only become better over the years. It does mostly focus on exploration and advanced dives, but I tend to think that there is a little something in each issue to satisfy divers of all skill levels.Quote:
Originally Posted by acelockco
The ezine is something that they just started up recently as an adendum to the primary publication. It is basically a repository for great articles that did not make the hard copy due to publication costs, and is offered as a free service. They also offer an online version of the magazine proper, something Curt did to appease his many foriegn fans since it was costing more to ship the magazine overseas than it was costing to print the thing (and the postal service being as unreliable as it is, with Curt and Linda's commitment to customer service, this saved them a lot from not having to resend issues each month.)
I am sure Curt will help you out in completing your library ace, but in the meantime you can download select articles from each issue (go to the back issues page.)
I am going to try to call Curt after the holidays. I know that he does have back issues, so I am sure he will be able to help me. I will mention that you introduced the magazine to me, I am sure it will make him happy.