Paul Toomer
Country: England, sometimes South Africa
Diving qualification: RAID (PADI, IANTD, TDI) CCR and OC Trimix IT
Diving since: 1996
Paul started diving in 1996 . Having a passion for the underwater world it was not long till he decided that this was the career he had been looking for. After ten years of running a dive centre he decided to concentrate purely on Technical Diver Training, Expeditions and Instructor Development Programs (technical and recreational). He has dived caves and wrecks all over the world and also safely planned and executed many sub 150 metre ocean dives. Paul regularly contributes to various dive magazines including London Diver and has worked with Film and TV Companies as a diver, supplier and advisor. He is co-owner and Director of Diver Training for RAID international, which is a fully digital online learning system.Paul's current focus lies with global development of Dive RAID, and his teaching is mainly focused at high level instructor and CCR courses.
My best diving experience: I have dived caves and wrecks all over the world and also safely planned and executed many sub 100 metre ocean dives to a maximum depth of 150 metres. In 2011, I was part of an elite team of divers engaged in Project Pedestal. The project set out to locate the wrecks of armed and merchant vessels lost in the deep waters off the coast of Malta during a pivitol event in the history of World War II.
FINNSUB products: FL 1400 Long, FL 2000 Long, FLY 17D Comfort set (with nice RAID logo on it), FLY 25D Comfort set, FLY SIDE Red
Feedback:
I asked to use the Finn Light after seeing a unit on display with the UK distributor for Finn Light. I thought the unit looked really great but I never realised how great until I unpacked it from its box a few months back.
My first thought, as I turned the light over in my hands, was how light (in terms of weight) the light was. As I travel so much this was certainly a major bonus. Secondly, the unit is super compact and considering how powerful this light is, that is incredible. Then I inserted the head and turned the light on. Mother of God, the Arch Angel Gabriel had landed in my kitchen. Most lights that I have used that are able to give off this amount of light and at these burn times are twice the size of this little thing.
I love everything about it. I like the strap mechanism on the canister. I think the Goodman’s handle is ergonomic and while you are wearing the light you can still properly use your hands as tools. I can even do a shutdown while wearing the light on the hand shutting down the valve.
The charging socket is very clever indeed as is the design of the head. The three different settings are my favourite design on the light and while cave diving this gives me the confidence that should I have any issues, lowering the output of the head will allow me a much greater burn time. Genius.
