So! It's been a good while since my last visit to this forums and felt like today justified a post. Basically I was able to go out on a dive again after a longish time not being able too due to work.
First off, I should say I had a LOT of new gear that I haven't tested yet. New wetsuit, new dive light, new computer, and in a sense, new BC/Reg (New as in, rentals I haven't used).
So, as such, here begins my story:
I made it it my goal to dive on fathers day as I had an excuse to go out with my new gear and I had the entire weekend free from work. I got together all my gear, including the new gear that I've received over the course of the last few weeks due to my birthday passing and obviously, father day gifts (mistake #1). Now just to point out, I've never used a brand new wetsuit, much less a 5mm, I just assumed that my weight would be roughly the same, obviously I was wrong. I head over to my LDS and ask to rent a BC/Reg like I normally do, sadly they were all out due to the holiday (duh) and recommended some shops I could check. I went to my second choice that I've used for my cert dives, lucky me, they had a set in my size available! Perfect I thought. Well in my excitement on getting my gear together to go out, I didn't really inspect the gear they gave me (Mistake #2). The BC wasn't really in bad shape, just one I've never used before, however the weight pockets they gave me weren't really made for this BC but it was easy enough just to stuff them into the pockets and leave it be. However, what I should have noticed is the reg's mouthpiece was destroyed. The both gripping portions (the part that helps keeps them in your mouth) were completely torn off and as such, were difficult to keep in your mouth. This could of been avoided had I looked at my gear before hand. Secondly, I normally use about 14 pounds to keep neutrally buoyant (or close to it), so I figured I would ask for 16 pounds, figuring that would keep me down with the new suit and all. Oh how wrong I was. I could not keep down without some decent physical effort.
Lastly (and not really a big deal in the big picture), I bought a brand new Perdix and was extremely excited to use it outside of my bathtub and sadly, while trying to do my initial entry, I scratched it up pretty badly (note to self: Volcanic rock is SHARP). It now has a pretty long scratch in the middle of the screen that broke past the screen protector that it came with. I've emailed shearwater about how much a screen replacement may cost, hopefully it isn't to bad.
So all in all, about 3 mistakes that I can really see off the bat.
1) Not inspecting your gear before the dive. I should have been able to just ask for a new reg at the shop, rather than have to find out at the dive site.
2) Test new gear in a better controlled environment (a pool maybe), remaining super positively buoyant when you want to dive sucks!
3) Be aware of your entries, otherwise you're new expensive toys may get hurt.
Hopefully this is the right spot for a newbie dive report, if not, feel free to yell and harass me.
TL;DR New diver acts like new diver
First off, I should say I had a LOT of new gear that I haven't tested yet. New wetsuit, new dive light, new computer, and in a sense, new BC/Reg (New as in, rentals I haven't used).
So, as such, here begins my story:
I made it it my goal to dive on fathers day as I had an excuse to go out with my new gear and I had the entire weekend free from work. I got together all my gear, including the new gear that I've received over the course of the last few weeks due to my birthday passing and obviously, father day gifts (mistake #1). Now just to point out, I've never used a brand new wetsuit, much less a 5mm, I just assumed that my weight would be roughly the same, obviously I was wrong. I head over to my LDS and ask to rent a BC/Reg like I normally do, sadly they were all out due to the holiday (duh) and recommended some shops I could check. I went to my second choice that I've used for my cert dives, lucky me, they had a set in my size available! Perfect I thought. Well in my excitement on getting my gear together to go out, I didn't really inspect the gear they gave me (Mistake #2). The BC wasn't really in bad shape, just one I've never used before, however the weight pockets they gave me weren't really made for this BC but it was easy enough just to stuff them into the pockets and leave it be. However, what I should have noticed is the reg's mouthpiece was destroyed. The both gripping portions (the part that helps keeps them in your mouth) were completely torn off and as such, were difficult to keep in your mouth. This could of been avoided had I looked at my gear before hand. Secondly, I normally use about 14 pounds to keep neutrally buoyant (or close to it), so I figured I would ask for 16 pounds, figuring that would keep me down with the new suit and all. Oh how wrong I was. I could not keep down without some decent physical effort.
Lastly (and not really a big deal in the big picture), I bought a brand new Perdix and was extremely excited to use it outside of my bathtub and sadly, while trying to do my initial entry, I scratched it up pretty badly (note to self: Volcanic rock is SHARP). It now has a pretty long scratch in the middle of the screen that broke past the screen protector that it came with. I've emailed shearwater about how much a screen replacement may cost, hopefully it isn't to bad.
So all in all, about 3 mistakes that I can really see off the bat.
1) Not inspecting your gear before the dive. I should have been able to just ask for a new reg at the shop, rather than have to find out at the dive site.
2) Test new gear in a better controlled environment (a pool maybe), remaining super positively buoyant when you want to dive sucks!
3) Be aware of your entries, otherwise you're new expensive toys may get hurt.
Hopefully this is the right spot for a newbie dive report, if not, feel free to yell and harass me.
TL;DR New diver acts like new diver
