Thursday found us out for a road tip around the island. We took the main highways and side roads around most of the island. It was nice to get out of Waikiki and get into the more open areas.

Here is a pic of the cliffs off the highway.

Ok, I know it is tacky here is a pic of me leaning on Chinamen’s Hat.

We also got “LOST” on the trip. Those who watch the show will grasp the meaning. Here is a picture my son Greg, My daughter Abby and I in front of Sawyers tent with some Dharma Carrots. We followed a little road over to a private beach with a public access site. A 1/4 mile walk later and here you go.

The beach next to the lost sight was covered with turtles. Here is Abby with a turtle on the beach.

Today found us snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. This is a cool safe place to snorkel. I went outside the reef with my son and the two Carols. We saw a pile of larger fish plus a turtle. Inside the reef my daughters and I looked at all the fish and reef. What a cool place.

Here are a couple of pics of the bay.
See ya John

Tuesday found us heading to Pearl Harbor in the Morning. This is one of those must sees on the island. You see in person and can feel the history. The movie that you watch is incredible and very fair to both parties involved.

This is a pic of the USS Arizona underwater. The pic is not very good but it is tough to get the contrast.

Here is a somber item. This is one of the torpedoes that hit the battleship.

We then went on a tour of the rainforest. This tour was great going into the history of the area.
This is a picture of the falls that are used in Lost and the movie The Rundown.

This is the overlook of the island from the Highway. It is really something to see and the wind just rips up here.

Aloha from Hawaii, We made it through the 12 hour flight and the 6 hour time change, granted we were all up at 5 am thanks to the time change. Well it is our first full day in Oahu. We went to Diamond Head and saw the crater. The climb up is 750 feet of winding paths what a cool view of the island from here.

Here is a view of the last bit of stairs you have to climb. That person you see in the pics is my youngest daughter who got a shoulder ride most of the way up from me.

Well, after making it to the top there is only left the downward trip. Here is my wife, my daughter Brianna and our friends the Two Carols coming down.

Ah, to finish up Waikiki, Carol took a good pic of me sleeping on the beach in which I look horribly bad I will get that pic for you guys tomorrow.

LATER JOHN

High Pressure Fitting Comparison

We get calls all the time from people trying to identify what they have on their high pressure lines. Here are a few examples of high pressure fittings and their most common uses.

1/8” NPT
This fitting is commonly used in paintball and some scuba applications. The fitting is smaller in size and about the same size as a first stage regulator hose o-ring fitting. NPT stands for National Pipe Thread. NPT will have a taper that starts at the end of the fitting and gets wider as it gets closer to the center. They will usually be seen with Teflon tape on them. Common applications are Aqualung Tank Checkers, Paintball, Quick Connects and actuator valves on compressors

1/4” NPT
This is one of the most common sizes seen on blending whips. The fitting is larger about the thickness of your small finger. NPT stands for National Pipe Thread. NPT will have a taper that starts at the end of the fitting and gets wider as it gets closer to the center. They will usually be seen with Teflon tape on them. NPT is common on most blending whips, compressor adapters, blowguns, air tools, lift bag valves and many others.

Swagelock
This fitting is usually seen in stainless steel. It is used to join piping together. The fitting consist of four pieces. If we go left to right from the picture the first thing you will see is the fitting. It can be a tee, a coupler, an adapter, an elbow or many others. The fitting will have a concave internal in the shape of a “V”. The next piece is the thrust part, this is the other end of the “V”. The next inline is the compression part of the fitting this part gets pushed into the “V” part of the fitting. The last item is the nut. The whole fitting is compressed onto the hose by turning the nut. These are very secure fittings that are able to withstand continuous use at high pressures. The swagelock fitting is commonly seen on compressor systems and some rebreathers.

JIC
This fitting is found in everything from brass to stainless steel. JIC uses the two “V’s” we described above. The big difference is it is face contact not compression that does the sealing. These are very common on whip systems of compressors as the inverted V can swivel so the long whip does not have to be spun around as it is put on.

O-ring (SAE BOSS)
This fitting can be found in brass to stainless steel. The fitting uses an o-ring to seal the high pressure gases. These are not nearly as common and used mainly for specialty applications. The most common application is compressor filter towers and booster pumps. The SAE Boss fitting is used as a conversion to other adapters. Another reason it is used is to keep from damaging components that would be normally NPT this way the SAE Boss adapter gets damaged not the expensive filter tower or booster pump head.