United States Coast Guard 2 (1/7)

USCG - Historical Overview

USCG
A boarding party from the Revenue Cutter Morris prepares to board the passenger vessel Benjamin Adams on 16 July 1861 about 200 miles east of New York. The Benjamin Adams was bound for New York from Liverpool and carried 650 Scottish and Irish immigrants. The Revenue Cutter Service was originally established to enforce U.S. laws at sea and inspected incoming merchant vessels for compliance with those laws, as is illustrated here.

The United States Coast Guard is this nation's oldest and its premier maritime agency. The history of the Service is very complicated because it is the amalgamation of five Federal agencies. These agencies, the Revenue Cutter Service, the Lighthouse Service, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Bureau of Navigation, and the Lifesaving Service, were originally independent, but had overlapping authorities and were Shuffled around the government. They sometimes received new names, and they were all finally united under the umbrella of the Coast Guard. The multiple missions and responsibilities of the modern service are directly tied to this diverse heritage and the magnificent achievements of all of these agencies.

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weight belt

Without a doubt, the one item of dive gear that more people complain about is their weight belt. These things are just plain uncomfortable, and more so for northern divers, who usually need extra weight to compensate for a thick wetsuit or drysuit. Weight belts are also tricky for beginners to set up, put on, and adjust properly, and are one of the greatest sources of difficulty that I have observed with students.

But there's a simple solution: get rid of it. With the plethora of weight-integrated BCs on the market today, there is simply no reason not to get a weight-integrated BC. Some of the excellent reasons to do this include: