Diver image. Do you even think about it?

[krawlings]

I hope the irony is not lost:

In a post of 121 words wherein you try to convince us (and yourself) that you believe that "it's all about function" for you... the very first thing you mention is "the look" you strive for.



---------- Post added March 18th, 2015 at 07:55 AM ----------

RJP I will work on how I word thing . I will be a little more diligent of how I word thing. I don't want to look like I care Thank for taking the time to point that out

 

[RJP]

RJP I will work on how I word thing . I will be a little more diligent of how I word thing. I don't want to look like I care Thank for taking the time to point that out

Wasn't looking to pick on you. But you should note that as human beings... our subconscious is ALWAYS more diligent about how we word things than our conscious self is. It's simply Freudian id/ego/super-ego psychology. Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle. SE, 18: 1-64. Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. SE, 19: 1-66.

 

[djtimmy77]

It is physically impossible to look anything but dorky in scuba gear. Go have fun and enjoy the fishes, wrecks, wet rocks, etc!!

 

[diver 85]

I try to emulate Mike Nelson------most of the time..

 

[RJP]

Is image even important to you?
Honesty is the best answer!

Honesty is the impossible answer to such a question, as you can see above. You're essentially asking people "are you vain?" What answer did you think you'd get?

We see this dynamic in market research ALL the time. Not just about fashion. In a great many things people are unwilling - or in many case unable - to tell you the truth about why they do what they do. Mom’s won’t admit – or don’t even realize - that they buy a certain brand of laundry detergent because they feel that society passes a value judgment on them and their ability to “be a good mom” based on nothing more than how their family’s clothes look. There are even huge consumer brands that have gone to great lengths to craft a brand image that is designed to appeal to people who want to believe that they are not swayed by brand image.

In fact, surf fashion is often used as a marketing case study (ok, it’s actually almost an inside joke) because it's very illustrative when it comes to marketing's ability to manipulate the fragile psyche of human beings. Think about it... you've got a multi-billion dollar industry built on the idea that a large group of people will carefully cultivate a personal style and look with the very specific intention of communicating to the world "I'm so damn cool that I don't need to care about style or the way I look."

 

[AfterDark]

Scuba gear is made to be worn and used on and under the water. On land it is heavy and awkward. It's hard to look graceful wearing 100lb of gear on a hot summer day walking 100 yards down to the water when you're 60 years old. One tends to slump, sweat, and drag feet. My only concern is getting to the water.

 

[RJP]

My only concern is getting to the water.

I like to get OUT as well.

:d

 

[nolatom]

I wear mismatched fins*. Am waiting for this to become a 'cool' look. It isn't yet...but meantime my buddies do not mistake another diver for me ;-)


*Was working on the bottom drilling holes for mooring U-bolts at Stetson Bank. Put my fins in a 'safe' place while drilling. But then it was only "fin". The boat gave me an 'orphan' fin. Works fine, almost four years later. And the new U-bolts are nice.



PS: Thanks to original poster. No one agrees with you (or will admit it), but it's been a fun thread..actually I sort of agree with you. Last Halloween, lacking a decent costume (punishable offense in New Orleans), I used scuba gear as a costume. Boy was it uncomfortable, and hot--but cool.

 

[dberry]

I was thinking about this one day as I saw some guys trying to get their gear on as beach on lookers giggled as one of them fell trying to walk backwards with the fins on and kept falling. He was probably a fairly new diver but he made himself look silly in front those with him as well as the on lookers.

I think one's response to the new diver struggling to walk with backwards with fins says more about the observer than the guy tripping over his feet. A mature, experienced diver will smile in benign recognition of someone at the start of the learning curve. A less confident diver is worried that other people will laugh at the newbie and then cast aspersions on THEIR skills by association. ("Gawd, I *hope* they don't think I look like THAT loser")

Ever seen a seal or walrus moving on the beach? A Penguin? Fins, flippers, and insulation against cold look pretty darn dorky on land. But check them out in the water, dude! And I'll bet they don't lose much sleep worrying about how clumsy they look waddling around. (of course they do worry about having the right "style" to attract a mate, but I digress...)

Fashion and style, even in sports, is incredibly fickle. Check out a ski movie from the 60's or 70's ("Downhill Racer", or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service") to see skin-tight leggings and sweaters was the "in" look. A few decades later recreational skiers moved to a more practical layered approach, often topped with a baggier shell, and only racers obsess over aerodynamics to shave those milliseconds. I think one of the original complaints skiers had about snowboarders was the "loud and outlandish" baggy clothing. Doesn't seem to bother many people nowadays, nor does it detract from a boarder's skillz.

I know we spend almost the entire time underwater but I think you take pride in your image. Example: How you carry your self, putting on your gear walking out to entry point. How is your gear is displayed is it all sloppy flopping all over the place,tank paint all peeling off, etc.. Or have you found ways to keeps it neater,streamlined and you look and act like you got it together.I am still learning to do this part but it is something I really want to do because I want that image versus the sloppy image.

For me, "sloppy" is to be avoided because it has a practical impact on function. Either decreasing trim, or increasing chances for losing gear or entanglement. I suppose I must admit some desire to "look" like I know what I'm doing, but that's only because I'm still not sure I do know what I'm doing. I'm very hopeful that after a few 100 dives I'll be past caring what anyone on the beach thinks, unless I know them to be a better diver than I am then.

Let me propose this question to you. Would you do anything to improve on your image?
Whether it is something that you do below or above the water to better your image, what would it be.

Forget my image, I just want to better my diving skills. Well, I suppose I could give up wearing those tight little speedos - that IS kind of gross at my age and shape.

 

[TSandM]

I do worry a little about my "image" as a diver . . . but mostly, what I want is for non-divers to see us as friendly, enthusiastic people who will cheerfully answer questions about what we see and what we are doing

I will admit that, when I look at a photograph of a diver rigged with a wrapped hose and bungled backup, with all their gear tidily stowed, I find that picture very appealing, especially in comparison with the spiderweb of hoses and strain protectors that you see on the typical tropical scuba shot. It's also more streamlined, which has at least some functional implications.

Me? I go, as NW Grateful Diver has observed, from "Twiggy to Piggy" as I don my exposure protection. I'm so short, I'm basically a tank with a hood sticking out of one end of it and fins sticking out of the other, so I'll never achieve the long, graceful look of my tall, slender male diver friends. I gave up any desire to look good doing this about the time I looked at myself in my first dry suit. But I still fret a little about the fact that the yellow harness and decals I chose to go with my black Fusion suit just don't look right with the red accents on my Santi . . .