Retired Instructor out of action for 25 years, what's with the new gear?

[HonuDeb]

A lot of us are landlocked thanks to Covid so direct our diving energies here. It's also a fun topic for those who have been diving awhile. I've only got 20 years, but often worked as a lifeguard at the diving classes at my college in the late '80s and followed the sport by reading the magazines from then until I got enough money together to get certified. I actually got my AOW card in Oahu in 2001.

As to the gear... As a swimmer first, I wanted to feel as free underwater as I did on the surface, so my gear journey has been about removing as much as possible. I'm happiest in warm water with a steel backplate (which lets me skip a weight belt) with small wing, shorts and full foot fins.

Like your style, will be checking out the backplates.

 

[Edward3c]

... many of the dive shops/dive Ops either required proof of a "refresher course" (e.g. PADI) and/or refused to recognize the NASDS C-card. I eventually got tired of it all and took a PADI OW course a few years back just to get a card that everybody accepts.

My experience is the most accepted cards are MasterCard/Visa/AMEX.

That said, when checking in in Grenada as a BSAC Advanced Diver the receptionist asked if I wanted to do the PADI rescue. The owner, standing in the background, just laughed and told the receptionist that I could teach it as a BSAC diver.
In Cozumel I showed my BSAC Advanced Instructor card, the receptionist had to ring their head office on the mainland to be told not to insult the customer, and gave me a 10% discount.

 

[scubadada]

Good advice--thanks-- signed up for refresher on Thursday.

We look forward to hearing about your and your husband's dives

 

[MichaelMc]

The other bit is backplates have a weight distribution (head to toe) that tends to put you more horizontal in the water when you are not kicking, by putting more weight over the buoyant lungs and less on the waist. With more focus on the BC/lungs for depth control, not kicking. You can do that weight distribution without the plate, it just does some of it by default.

Three kicks from cave and cavern have also became more prevalent in recreational, though I would not say common in the general diver population. They are frog kick, which is a calmer more air efficient kick-and-glide than flutter; helicopter turn; and reverse. The latter two are like variants of frog, just to turn a bit or completely or go backward if you are too close to something. Though the kick glide and reverse really just work well if your weight distribution causes your body to hang naturally horizontal. If you've got a tech/cave/cavern oriented instructor at your shop they could show them to you in the refresher if you haven't seen them.

ETA:
From @aquacat8, showing an accomplished freediver:
From a tech/cave diving group:
Just more tools in your tool kit if they had not been present in rec. and scientific diving when you had been diving last.

One of many threads here on frog kick: Different frog kicks

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

You can get everything in PINK now

 

[HonuDeb]

My experience is the most accepted cards are MasterCard/Visa/AMEX.

That said, when checking in in Grenada as a BSAC Advanced Diver the receptionist asked if I wanted to do the PADI rescue. The owner, standing in the background, just laughed and told the receptionist that I could teach it as a BSAC diver.
In Cozumel I showed my BSAC Advanced Instructor card, the receptionist had to ring their head office on the mainland to be told not to insult the customer, and gave me a 10% discount.

Wow! Awesome story. I totally concur. My best dive buddies while teaching on Grand Cayman were BSAC cert divers (plus I love saying "beezak")

 

[geoff w]

Lots of info and opinions already. There are a lot more choices now than black color for anything and jet fins. Steel 72s probably won't hold up as well in HI as aluminum tanks, unless they are your own personal ones and you take good care of them. With lots more options, you'll get lots more recommendations on what you should do and what to avoid. See what everyone says, check it out, then decide for yourself what works best for you

If your husband is just doing his OW class now, consider taking it with him. You will get a lot more insights into what he's saying, thinking, and how he got to where he is than just taking a refresher separate from him.

Wetsuit technology, dive computer technology, lighting technology, regulator, mask and fin materials are way better than 10 or 20 years ago. Buoyancy control devices are all over the place, I'm personally a backplate fan. The biggest difference is physically going from your 40s or 50s to your 60s kind of sucks, in terms of strength, flexibility, and dexterity. Knowing dive tables to plan dives is good, but I'd rather focus on my dive and have my Shearwater keep track of my remaining bottom time. You probably want a computer that allows you to control how conservative or aggressive a no-decompression dive you can do

 

[HonuDeb]

Lots of info and opinions already. There are a lot more choices now than black color for anything and jet fins. Steel 72s probably won't hold up as well in HI as aluminum tanks, unless they are your own personal ones and you take good care of them. With lots more options, you'll get lots more recommendations on what you should do and what to avoid. See what everyone says, check it out, then decide for yourself what works best for you

If your husband is just doing his OW class now, consider taking it with him. You will get a lot more insights into what he's saying, thinking, and how he got to where he is than just taking a refresher separate from him.

Wetsuit technology, dive computer technology, lighting technology, regulator, mask and fin materials are way better than 10 or 20 years ago. Buoyancy control devices are all over the place, I'm personally a backplate fan. The biggest difference is physically going from your 40s or 50s to your 60s kind of sucks, in terms of strength, flexibility, and dexterity. Knowing dive tables to plan dives is good, but I'd rather focus on my dive and have my Shearwater keep track of my remaining bottom time. You probably want a computer that allows you to control how conservative or aggressive a no-decompression dive you can do

 

[HonuDeb]

Thanks for the info. I'll be renting to try before I buy. And my conditioning is still really good on all accounts (still strength training at home until my gym opens). And have to wait for my husband to catch up to me on our morning swim/snorkels ( he's 12 years younger). Lastly, I know many of you are in love with your computers but as mentioned in original post, will be doing single dives to mostly 30 feet so not needed. But sounds like working for you.

 

[lowwall]

...but as mentioned in original post, will be doing single dives to mostly 30 feet...

I give you maybe 4 dives before the urge to see what's a little deeper gets to you

Once you start going beyond 50', you'll start to see the advantages of a computer. They are really nice for people with good air consumption doing multilevel dives. It's annoying to have to throw away 20 or 30 minutes of perfectly safe noodling around at 25' because a brief excursion past 50' (or 60' or 70' or...) means you'll hit the table time limit long before your gas gets to your planned reserve. It can even be a safety issue. For example when shore diving you might be able to use the additional time to follow the bottom up to your exit instead of doing a midwater ascent and a surface swim that exposes you to boat traffic and sunburn.