Diver image. Do you even think about it?

[DaleC]

Hah hah. Recently I have been getting this weird vibe that I am being viewed as a dottering older diver. Noooo!!!!!!!!!

Really though, I will cop to often going for effect by trying to up the the hobo factor to 11. I could say I don't care how I look but in truth, I do get a kick out of the wtf??'s. Diving's fun and I like a good laugh along with the rest, even if I'm the one who has to generate it. I aspire to one day look like this guy:



Workin on it:

[video=youtube;E8eCmTsQM8g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8eCmTsQM8g[/video]

 

[DennisS]

Nothing like washing up on the beach after the ocean spits you out, lifting your mask and blowing out a load of snot to look cool

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Nothing like washing up on the beach after the ocean spits you out, lifting your mask and blowing out a load of snot to look cool

... that's euphemistically referred to as "smuggling nudibranchs" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I would like to know what the marketing folk think about me when I am diving. I really don't think I am fooling myself when I say I really don't care what other people think. I am of the mind that if you don't like me for who or what I am you can go *?#$ off for all I care. My gear is all mismatched, I purchase and use what works for me and not what someone else want's me to use. Yes I try to look good while diving but it is not for other people but for me. I try to not have any dangling gear and dive in trim so I don't ruin the environment I'm there to see. One marketing strategy I still don't get is the dive instructors that always wear the latest and greatest gear. Of course it is great gear it has not had enough use to fail yet. You wan't to impress me? Use twenty year old gear that still looks good and works like new, now that will get my attention.

 

[Hickdive]

The cool kids get to splash about in the waves, looking cool and worrying about whether or not they look cool.

The uncool, geeky, divers get to go to places, see, and do things that non-divers don't and the non-divers don't even see us do it, except on TV, because they are and forever will be non-divers.

I'm fine with that.

 

[Storker]

After losing my yellow snorkel for the 2nd time, getting a roll-up one to carry in my thigh pocket and switching my yellow accented split fins for a pair of Jets, I have to admit I was somewhat peeved that my yellow reg hoses didn't color-coordinate with the orange accents of my newly acquired DS. But when I found a pair of drygloves that cost a tenth of a pair of smurf gloves, I have to admit that the fact that their color *almost* matched my DS's accents made me a little satisfied.

Otherwise, I'm more concerned about looking sharp, i.e. everything in its place and stowed correctly, than about using the right brands.

I guess I'm shallow and vain...

--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[KeithG]

While I believe the OP is really asking asking about vanity (looking cool) several posters have pointed out that we can also project competence (looking sharp).

Anyone can fake cool, all it takes is a wallet, some mirrors and a quick session with an interior decorator. And it gets you nowhere. You can not fake looking sharp. I claim looking sharp comes naturally to competent divers. Both above and below water. And it will get you places.

The ability to detect sharp divers is a common skill for dive ops (especially the vacation diver ops I use). It is entertaining to watch the DM behaviour the first day of a new batch o divers. The DM's need to be quick to identify the high maintenance / short leash clients that need constant care and handling. I find they are relieved to find a few sharp divers so that their workload is reduced.

 

[AfterDark]

I like to get OUT as well.

:d

I don't. I'd stay if I could

 

[divad]

I found a pair of drygloves that cost a tenth of a pair of smurf gloves,

Where did you find a 65-cent replacement for smurf gloves?

 

[Texasguy]

Well, as a new diver without any gear I had a huge choice of what to buy, and if it was color coordinated, so what. Why? Why not? The only cool color that I was consistently able to find men's gear was neon yellow. So, my look was yellow/black. As I later progressed diving, I gave up on coordinating color, better techie gear comes only in one color and you don't have a choice, in the end you look all black with chrome accents. But for a beginner who is about to buy everything new, why not match and color coordinate when the choice is out there?!? A just acquired scuba hobby sure seems new and exciting. You start to love your gear because how it looks, only later you start to appreciate what it does for you and its nuances.

Thus, I think people in this thread will not agree because they are experiencing a different stage of scuba hobby. Don't worry, ZGear will catchup to you all, perhaps, will change his preferred brand to something else by then. It is a journey of discovery, not just of scuba but of yourself as well.

PS: I, myself, never liked Zeagle, to me it seemed like a subpar brand that tried too hard to look cool. I preferred Oceanic and Hollis.

Point is, I've been there.