Is it just me or do you feel the same way when diving?

[Ron Brandt]

Just imagine teaching...haul LOTS of gear,setup LOTS of gear,tear down LOTS of gear,haul LOTS of wet heavy gear....

Ron

 

[divezero]

Hey thanks for the replies, I guess I AM NOT ALONE, YES. One of those posts reminded me of diving here in Canada in the winter in a wetsuit (The gearing down reply), its not as bad as people make it out to be....actually it is haha, im not going to lie.

But the feeling after coming back from the dive, walking to the car, gearing down, taking your wetsuit off in -20 weather, stripped down to your boxers, cant feel anything and i mean anything haha, laughin and jokin with your buddies. Then you put warm clothes on, jump in your vehicle and crank up the heat, driving home while your toes come back to life.

Now in this situation, the tables have turned. I am rather looking forward to get out than the dive itself.

For some reason, that feeling is something I look forward to after coming out from a dive, if you have experienced it, i think you would know why too, haha.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

My dive starts that same morning, and sometimes even days before if something special! -I love going through the dive in advance, thinking of possible actions to anything that could happen. Going through my gear a couple of times, even closing my eyes starting from my feet and up. -Is everything there? Allright? Are the batteries well charged? Is my drysuit all dry inside from yesterdays diving? The feeling of being well prepared makes my pulse drop, and confidence rise.

To set up my gear doesn't take much time. To carry it though, is a job for a horse. Large double steel tanks... It's just part of the "job" to make sure my gear is as ready as I am. And nowadays I'm usually ready faster than most others in the boat. I have a buddy with the same calm attitude, and that's great too!

After the dive we have a great time going through what we've seen, what we've done and of course HOW we did it. If we've had some kind of problem or situatuation, how did we solve it? Did we do it right, or could we've had a different approach? Would we do the same again?

The only thing that bothers me is that I'm getting older, and I have to make peeing an important part of my diving all the time... Before and after. So pretty soon I'm sure I have to do something about it DURING as well! rofile:

 

[Dive-aholic]

It's all part of the experience - analyzing the mix, putting together the kit, checking lights, doing inventory, schlepping deco bottles to the water, suiting up, discussing the dive plan. Complacency isn't a good thing. It's nice getting in the water without wondering if I've forgotten anything. And one of the better parts of the experience is hanging out in the water for 10-15 minutes after the dive reliving it. Even after we finally get out of the water, tear down usually takes twice as long as it needs to because we constantly stop to talk about something else we remembered from the dive. Yes, the dive is the best part, but I wouldn't get rid of the setup or tear down.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Just imagine teaching...haul LOTS of gear,setup LOTS of gear,tear down LOTS of gear,haul LOTS of wet heavy gear....

Ron

Isn't that what the students are for?

 

[DiveMaven]

I love getting all my gear ready to go, setting up, and gearing up. I hate dragging it all down the beach or to the boat (unless I can drop it off right at the boat), and I hate breaking it all down since that means I'm done diving for the day.

 

[k4man]

I like gearing up, but then I also enjoy washing my car.

So YOU ARE one of those clean car freaks, huh?????

 

[k4man]

Gearing up is a great thing, in my opinion. There is nothing like the feeling of assembling your outfit, strapping everything together, stringing things around yourself, clipping things on your D-rings, checking purge buttons, verifying tank contents, etc. That all adds up to the excitement of the dive (and your ego as the non-divers on the beach watch!). The haul and un-equip on the beach and then schlep back to the car, however, is not appealing.

I'm with Rocketry. While the tow of all the gear is not my favorite thing, I really do enjoy WITH ANTICIPATION the upcoming dive. Not only are all the poor land-bound smucks ( )watching with envy but if I'm setting up my gear for a dive, I know that I'm not ONE OF THEM!!

I like less, too, the final haul back to the vehicle for the day, weekend, etc., because I know the dive watch is running and starting my surface interval time--which may be longer than I really would like it to be until the next dive! :shakehead

 

[alicatfish]

Actually, the set-up and tear-down are the only times I felt like I was getting any exercise. Since you are supposed to be all relaxed under water. So as I kept sucking down air twice as fast as my instructor I just told myself that it was due to my "inexperience" and that I'm not really that out of shape...

 

[REII]

I don't mind setting up the gear so much. But taking it home, washing it and then hanging it to dry or putting it away can be a pain. However, if you want your gear to work properly and last, you gotta take good care of it all.

TOM