Have you ever used scuba equipment you absolutely hated!

[CamC]

I truly hated the suspiciously-stained and somewhat holey rental shorty I was given on my first trip to Egypt after qualifying, before I'd bought all of my own gear, although that was more on aesthetic grounds than anything functional.

 

[Jake 10]

a 7mm wetsuit.,,,

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

jacket style bcd...

 

[BoltSnap]

Thanks for the diving resume, but I am not hiring. Remind me tomorrow, and I promise I will act impressed.

You are the one that is carrying your "Course Director" with you on SB. I am not. I have few spots available for hiring staff however. I just need highly qualified staff.

 

[mattia_v]

That would be my original Beuchat mask that tried to drown me every dive. I think it would be good for a small-faced individual.

something like this one?
MAXLUX S - Beuchat

I love mine, but I have a fairly narrow face. And not a tiny nose, but it fits my face well. So I bought two spares when they went on sale locally a while back.

The one day of diving I did in rental gear after doing the previous 60 or so dives in my BP/W and with my own regs, with a jacket style BC without integrated weights proved I do kind of hate jacket BCs, and I really really hate weight belts (I have integrated weight pockets mounted to the BP/W). Also, I missed the easy breathing and comfobite from my Apeks...

 

[sea_ledford]

Not really. It's all about limits. Fins sold in Walmart are designed for kids playing in the pool or by the shore. They are perfectly adequate for that purpose, but would be horribly inadequate for a dive into high currents.

There was an old commercial when I was a kid about trucks. It seems that Wilbur was trying to haul two ton of fertilizer in a one ton truck and was running into problems. The slogan you were left to ponder was "Why, that's as dumb as trying to haul two ton of fertilizer in a one ton truck!" Every piece of gear has limits. Every diver has limits too. Every environment dictates those limits. Your job is to make sure you abide within those limits or you'll experience the consequences. I get sent lots of gear and once I was sent a plastic "never jamb" reel to take as a primary cave reel. It worked out real well for pulling a flag in the ocean, but I never trusted it enough to bet my life against it in a cave.
.

I'll just leave this here...

I guess the purpose is to separate you from your money?

 

[Still Kicking]

Nm

 

[SouthernPine]

Dacor three panel mask with a built in purge. It never worked right and always leaked at the purge.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

That's all true, sure, but Air2 is garbage. I used one once while assisting with an open water class and managed to put my snorkel in my mouth when demonstrating an out of air exchange instead of the Air2 because they were right on top of each other and I wasn't used to that. I made sure that will never happen again by never using an Air2 again, even if it does mean putting my own reg in the chlorinated pool water.

I've also never been a fan of jacket BCs. They don't ever fit me well and tend to ride up at the surface. I thought the issue was not having a crotch strap, but my back-inflate Stiletto doesn't have one and I like it just as much as I like my BP/W. (maybe more...sacrilege!)

I have friends who dive with Air2 on a jacket BC and seem to like it.

Just FYI....you DO know of course that Zeagle makes a split crotch strap that should attach to the stiletto right? I have one on my Brigade and it works wonders!

 

[kmarks]

Just FYI....you DO know of course that Zeagle makes a split crotch strap that should attach to the stiletto right? I have one on my Brigade and it works wonders!

I do. I noticed that there is an attachment point at the bottom of the "plate" for a strap and when I first got it, I thought for sure I'd be getting a 1" strap to put there, but the Stiletto works so well for me without one that I just use it as is.