Midlife Adventure Crisis!

[The Chairman]

I ignore my knees... or I stop diving. I ignore my right shoulder and ankles too. They've lost the right to vote on whether I dive or not. However, I won't dive in 4+ ft seas unless you're paying me. I certainly call more dives now, usually due to ear congestion or fatigue. I also make sure I do 5+ minute safety stops. @Wookie thinks I'm in Deco, but I'm just being cautious. More is better. More gas. More caution. More time at the safety stop. Maybe we should do a minute for every decade we've been alive?

No matter what fin you use, the pressure put on knees during the dive is minuscule compared to the pressure put on them as you walk all your weight and the weight of your Scuba gear up that ladder at the end. Add a rocking boat and the forces applied to your hips, ankles and knees are simply huge. That would include both transient and persistent forces. Getting in the water is as easy as letting gravity take over. Getting out of the water is a time to be ultra-careful as gravity and momentum collude to be your enemies.

 

[aquacat8]

A dive boat with a dingy davit reconfigured as a gear lifter would be great. “Just handing up” heavy gear isn’t as easy as it sounds. And am I the only one who finds carrying a heavy tank by it’s valve harder than backpacking it on a bc?

 

[Diver0001]

less time left, gonna die anyway, you know. So old guys, how do you approach this?

I think I was more at risk in the past because I wasn't as strict safety as I am now. In terms of DCS risk I haven't really changed my procedures now that I'm over 50. I know that at some point technical diving is going to become more trouble than it's worth because of the weight of the gear versus the physical effort involved. For the time being I'm not there yet so I've just decided to keep going and experience any cosmic hints to slow down one dive at a time.

In terms of diving in general I think I'll continue to dive in some capacity or other until I'm on my death bed.

R..

 

[aquacat8]

I certainly call more dives now, usually due to ear congestion or fatigue.

I am really happy with two dives now, or if shore diving, probably one longish one. You are so right, it's the getting out that is hard! Being honest about fatigue is part of being a smart older diver.

 

[Wookie]

I also make sure I do 5+ minute safety stops. @Wookie thinks I'm in Deco, but I'm just being cautious. More is better. More gas. More caution. More time at the safety stop. Maybe we should do a minute for every decade we've been alive?

One of the reasons I didn't ever limit anyone's dive (to an hour, as so many operations do) is because if you want to do a 45 minute dive and a hour and 15 minute safety stop, who am I to limit your personal version of safety? Did some folks abuse it by hammering into deco and ignoring their computer? Undoubtedly. Did I bench them if I caught them? Absolutely, Least Common Denominator rules. Did I do a lot of remedial computer training? Certainly, which is one of the many reasons I won't run another charter boat. Do I realize you're teasing me? Yup. But I can take it.

 

[aquacat8]

Recently I realized I need to tell Insta buddies that I am going to do a full 5 minute safety stop, But even when it was three I felt like I had to tell them I’m going to do a full three minute safety stop and if you go up before that I am not following you!

 

[RVBldr]

Still schlepping twin 100s here in the PNW at 54 and back and knees are still hanging in there, but moving to sidemount really soon, but more due to shoulder mobility than gear lugging.

 

[aquacat8]

Still schlepping twin 100s here in the PNW at 54 and back and knees are still hanging in there, but moving to sidemount really soon, but more due to shoulder mobility than gear lugging.

Have you tried it in a demo? I want to...

 

[DavidFL]

I will turn 70 this summer and will also retire from working full time. In my 50s and 60s I followed the general advice to "dive conservative profiles". Now I'm sort of in the "I gotta do some of this stuff while I still can" mood. So I'm taking some refresher tech training; planning for a multiple day multiple deeper dive photo/video trip to the ex-USS Oriskany wreck and some NC Atlantic wreck diving. My LDS helped me try out several different configurations as part of a drysuit class: back mounted doubles; independent doubles; sidemount. The biggest challenge for me physically at the moment has been identified in previous responses: climbing up that boat ladder in the open ocean. My personal weakness is a hip replacement done in 2015. So my current conservatism is watching the Jupiter/West Palm marine forecast for those 2-3' days, and having the luxury to pass when I start to see 'occasional 5 to 6'.

 

[aquacat8]

That’s awesome DavidFL.... which doubles system was most comfortable?