Midlife Adventure Crisis!

[DavidFL]

DLG Sideview In Drysuit And Sidemount Doubles Watermark (1 Of 1)

• DavidFL
• May 16, 2018

DLG Rearview In Drysuit And Sidemount Doubles Watermark (1 Of 1)

• DavidFL
• May 16, 2018

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

In and underwater, the banded, manifolded doubles felt best on me. I was doing a lot of acrobatics (some deliberate; some new dry suit induced; some from the rising boil in Alexander Springs). I only spent about 30 minutes in each configuration, and all that moving around of tanks in sidemount felt....strange, but not uncomfortable. I ended up setting up my HP100s as banded, manifolded doubles and I'm actually doing stair climbs in my townhouse with them on my back (my wife is convinced I've totally lost it). But I came away with a very clear understanding that the sidemount option is waiting for me just as soon as I decide to stop punishing my aging chassis.

My vanity only recently gave up and started accepting senior discounts without being terminally PO'd, now your suggestion is I start warning insta-buddies about 7-minute safety stop and translate that into decades for them?

 

[jadairiii]

Perfect toy for the aging diver. My deeper diving, it is all I use.

SUEX - Dive in the fast lane

 

[Schwob]

Considering I only started diving north of fifty you guys are starting to scare me a little ... I sure hope I can coax my diving a little more uphill first, ... before it really goes downhill...

 

[USdiver1]

Mid-50s here. USD Super Rocket fins and twin 72s are still my standard equipment. Extra care given on entry/exit as I don't want to slip with doubles, but short of that I dive the same profiles I've been doing for 40 years. Well, maybe now a maximum of three dives per day where I would have done four or five in my twenties. Hope to be doing same for next 40 years.

Do not go gently into that good night,
old age should burn and rave at close of day;
rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

[Divegoose]

Just turned the big six zero in February. Lots of aches and pains, but nothing that can't be dealt with.

Usually limit my shore diving to one long dive per day. Getting in and out can be a real pain, especially at a couple of our regular sites.

Boat dives when I am in the Caribbean are two per day - sometimes three. Just have to gear up and fall over the side.

At home I use a 63 cu ft tank, while in the Caribbean I use an 80 cu ft tank. Don't think I could manage an 80 cu ft tank on some of our shore dives, and the 63 still gives me a long bottom time.

Divegoose

 

[aquacat8]

DLG Sideview In Drysuit And Sidemount Doubles Watermark (1 Of 1)

• DavidFL
• May 16, 2018

DLG Rearview In Drysuit And Sidemount Doubles Watermark (1 Of 1)

• DavidFL
• May 16, 2018

In and underwater, the banded, manifolded doubles felt best on me. I was doing a lot of acrobatics (some deliberate; some new dry suit induced; some from the rising boil in Alexander Springs). I only spent about 30 minutes in each configuration, and all that moving around of tanks in sidemount felt....strange, but not uncomfortable. I ended up setting up my HP100s as banded, manifolded doubles and I'm actually doing stair climbs in my townhouse with them on my back (my wife is convinced I've totally lost it). But I came away with a very clear understanding that the sidemount option is waiting for me just as soon as I decide to stop punishing my aging chassis.

My vanity only recently gave up and started accepting senior discounts without being terminally PO'd, now your suggestion is I start warning insta-buddies about 7-minute safety stop and translate that into decades for them?

You definitely don't look 70 underwater ;-)

 

[aquacat8]

Considering I only started diving north of fifty you guys are starting to scare me a little ... I sure hope I can coax my diving a little more uphill first, ... before it really goes downhill...

Ah you misunderstand, it is quite the opposite: I have always wondered why young people, who have so many years before them, and perhaps dependent children and so forth, are expected to be adventurous and take risks, whereas old people, who have less time left anyway, are expected to be risk averse, perhaps to subside into a recliner with a TV remote, to step aside and let the busy young get on with their adventures. When I was young I wondered: shouldn't it be the other way around? And now that I'm getting older, while I find myself perhaps more cautious, which I consider wise, and the body has certain limitations, in terms of choosing to be adventurous I do think I feel MORE adventurous! However, I might choose different adventures now, and I'm curious what others choose.

 

[Ojai Diver]

What others have said, but I also recommend frequent and regular visits to a gym.

A lot of what we call aging is just being out of shape.

 

[dmaziuk]

A lot of what we call aging is just being out of shape.

... at cellular level.

 

[Schwob]

@aquacat8
No, not misunderstanding. I am with you on the original and clarified premise. Once the kids can stand on their own etc... (not quite there yet, but soon enough) what is to ... e.g. ... hold you back from pursuing activities you may need to reconsider as a sensible parent to young kids... Not much except your own limits...

I commented more on the posts commenting on those limits as scaring me a bit, not so much your OP...