Reactions to Tech Gear

[Aqua-Andy]

Not tech gear but funny nonetheless. I was diving with some divers from my local shop, many were new customers I have never seen before. Well I was donning my drysuit and another diver comments in a voice that everyone else could hear "Look at this guy he thinks he is diving in the Arctic". When I finished my dive that was over an hour in duration, MR. Big Mouth already had his gear packed up and stated he got cold after 25 min. I guess I must have been over dressed .

 

[CamG]

I think the most questions Ive answered to date pertain to my pee valve.
Tech gear is really pretty much everywhere even the inland quarries as divers are training.
The funniest comments come from the beginning OW students who are finishing their second dive or third and we are finishing our 1st.
We do a lot of reel practice and navigation in 30' or less in the quarry and dives can run well over 2 hrs on occasion we run into or rather they run or fall into our lines.
It can be comical at times Ive had to human shield for my buddies who were doing no vis line drills.

Bar none the questions always come but Ive taken the time to really answer them politely and ask a few questions of my own.
This open dialogue has earned me several great friends and dive buddies.
One fellow in particular went from being a AOW student to in a season and half to SM Basic Cave / Apprentice level cave diver.
He is very serious diver and have had great conversations and dives with him.

I think Tech gear inspires questions but if you are requiring Tech gear to complete dives you aspire to do you seek training.
Ive had the pleasure of helping several seek the training to complete their goals.
Its not always about the gear but the training to use the gear!
Mastery is a process that takes more than several hours underwater!

CamG

 

[TN-Steve]

I don't dive a true "tech" rig (however you want to define it), but I do have long hose / backup bungee arrangement. I have the primary reg set with the yellow cover (yes, I know that real tech divers don't color code like that), and let whoever I'm diving with know that "Yes, I'm breathing off the yellow reg... trust me, it's OK" and show how I'd be donating in an OOA situation.

Funny thing, when I went to Curacao last month, I'd say that 20-25% of the divers ran about the same setup. Most of them were from Europe or Scandinavia.

The other thing I do is normally carry a pony bottle, and usually on the last dive of the day, I'll go ahead and finish off the last few minutes breathing from it... just to get the practice.

I may look at another divers setup and ask a question if there is something I don't understand, but it's mainly because I'm always looking to see what's being done, if there is anything that would make sense for the type of diving I do.

 

[bygolly]

.......

---------- Post added April 9th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ----------

Seriously?! Why the heck are they not over here too?!

We have one in BC.

[video]https://youtu.be/Zfd7TPrW9fI[/video]

 

[tr3a]

I more often than not dive a double hose. I have lost track of how many times other divers want to know what type of "rebreather" I am using

 

[jzipfel]

My son and I both have BP/W since it seemed like a good choice for PNW and Hawaii diving. We were on a boat in December and a diver from Canada asked how we liked our HOGs and he indicated he dives them too. Then saw he was diving sidemount. He indicated that the reason he dove sidemount on a charter in Hawaii was simply because he gear (minus tanks obviously) was so light for travel. Our two wings/regs/etc is 50lbs.

Two observations. His buddy on the first dive (significant other) ran out of air on the SS and had to share off his. Second, his buddy on dive 2 was the DM. Since his SPG was in Bar and DM was in PSI made for some interesting air checks underwater. "How much air do you have remaining?":shocked2:

 

[Mustard Dave]

.......

---------- Post added April 9th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ----------



We have one in BC.

[video]https://youtu.be/Zfd7TPrW9fI[/video]

You call that a diver lift?

This...is a diver lift! :cool2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZqR8qXL5Tk

This fine vessel is the T.W.A.T raft, named after its inventor (The Wooley Aqua Transport). As you can see, it is a raft that was created by a lad from my club. He towed this thing all the way from Stockport to Talysarn, which is about a 3 hour drive. Then you get to Dorothea, which is an old slate quarry. There are old quarry workings in there, a massive heap of stolen cars and a few tunnels. It is about 110m deep at its deepest point, but there are shallower bits.

Technically we aren't permitted to dive there, so there are no facilities, and the road in is a bit rough. It would have been a pig towing that thing in.

This was filmed before I started diving, and I never got to see it. As you can see, they are all freediving in this clip, but hit has been used successfully by scuba divers. Unfortunately it has now been dismantled and the timber has been planed and laid on the inventor's kitchen floor. You may have noticed the lift is the guts of a forklift truck!

 

[macado]

Not tech gear but funny nonetheless. I was diving with some divers from my local shop, many were new customers I have never seen before. Well I was donning my drysuit and another diver comments in a voice that everyone else could hear "Look at this guy he thinks he is diving in the Arctic". When I finished my dive that was over an hour in duration, MR. Big Mouth already had his gear packed up and stated he got cold after 25 min. I guess I must have been over dressed .

2X
I am really beginning to hate *that* attitude and I see it often. Ok well maybe not hate, that's a strong word but annoy is more like it. I've gotten it plenty on charter boats but I really don't like it when semi-experienced (divers who have never used a drysuit ever) are telling newer divers that they don't ever need to buy a drysuit. Let them make that choice..

The wetsuit divers in question are always trying to bluntly explain to me or others on the boat that drysuits are expensive, hard to get into and waste of money and that they never usually get *that* cold. 35 minutes later they're up on the boat or out of the water, looking slightly blue while myself and others in drysuits have just done 70 minute dives in 37f water.

I realize that what I wrote may have came off as slightly arrogant but the point I was trying to make or at least convey was everyone has different cold tolerances. I hate when people tell others they don't need a drysuit for New England diving. Maybe they don't..but others do and thoroughly enjoy being warm. Diving is my winter hobby. It's very hard to dive year round in Boston in a wetsuit.

Usually the people that are spouting drysuits are too complicated and hard to get into have never used one. They're turning blue trying to squeeze into their farmer johns while everyone else has quietly slipped into their drysuits without much fuss or contorting, not complaining, not bragging about their cold tolerances or latest gizmo.

Sorry end rant

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't really consider drysuits to be "tech" gear ... they're just another form of exposure equipment, suitable for diving in certain climates and conditions. Where I live, most people who want to dive here regularly get one soon after OW class. Some people take their OW training in a drysuit ... there are several area shops that offer that alternative. A drysuit diver can dive here year-round. A wetsuit diver has from about Memorial Day till around Thanksgiving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ermaclob]

I don't really consider drysuits to be "tech" gear ... they're just another form of exposure equipment, suitable for diving in certain climates and conditions. Where I live, most people who want to dive here regularly get one soon after OW class. Some people take their OW training in a drysuit ... there are several area shops that offer that alternative. A drysuit diver can dive here year-round. A wetsuit diver has from about Memorial Day till around Thanksgiving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I dont think that diving twins is a 'tech' thing or strickly for deep dives etc. I started diving them because I like the benifits they provide. It just so happens they're just not the norm where I live. now whats funny is me in a drysuit in the middle of summer in miami. Ill give it anyone that whats to make fun of me in that situation.