Getting started with minimalist diving

[Nemrod]

I am finding this discussion of how to get started in minimalist diving mildly humorous. No offense, guys, but what you call "minimalist" diving is just plain, ordinary diving to old farts like me. It's all I've ever known. Heck, I never even owned, much less used, a BC (or a wet suit) until this past summer and I still have never used an octopus rig. Give me a DA Aqua-Master and a tank with a J valve, an old-style oval mask, capillary depth gauge, dive watch and all rubber full foot fins and I'm in hog heaven. Even when diving my old Aquarius, the only addition is an SPG if I'm using my AL80 with a k valve (and that's gonna change as soon as I empty the AL80 and swap the K for one of my Js).

I'm tickled pink that some of you younger guys are getting interested in learning the skills that guys like me have always taken for granted and never really considered all that special or unusual. I believe it will make you into better divers and your level on self-confidence and self-satisfaction will increase dramatically. I'm glad that at least some of you Johnny-Come-Latelys will be carrying on the old ways after us old geezers are all gone.

Scubaboard minimalist diver:

N

 

[Paladin]

I love it!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I am finding this discussion of how to get started in minimalist diving mildly humorous. No offense, guys, but what you call "minimalist" diving is just plain, ordinary diving to old farts like me. It's all I've ever known. Heck, I never even owned, much less used, a BC (or a wet suit) until this past summer and I still have never used an octopus rig. Give me a DA Aqua-Master and a tank with a J valve, an old-style oval mask, capillary depth gauge, dive watch and all rubber full foot fins and I'm in hog heaven. Even when diving my old Aquarius, the only addition is an SPG if I'm using my AL80 with a k valve (and that's gonna change as soon as I empty the AL80 and swap the K for one of my Js).

I'm tickled pink that some of you younger guys are getting interested in learning the skills that guys like me have always taken for granted and never really considered all that special or unusual. I believe it will make you into better divers and your level on self-confidence and self-satisfaction will increase dramatically. I'm glad that at least some of you Johnny-Come-Latelys will be carrying on the old ways after us old geezers are all gone.

You're very lucky to have been involved in the sport during it's golden age. Scuba diving has become so convoluted and fractured with this group against that group. All the in fighting and corners being taken and lines being drawn. Back in the old days there was just diving. The gear was basic and everyone used the same stuff. There were no fights about DIR vs the rest of the world or minimal vs maximal, PADI sucks or whatever. The training was militaristic but everybody went through it. If you wanted to dive bad enough you just worked to get through it. They didn't water it down just so somebody that probably shouldn't be diving could get through.

I am a relative noob to the sport (about 12 years certified but skin dove before that).
When I went through it was on the North Coast and my instructor was an ex Navy diver and had been diving since he was 12. He started back when training was real and it was more exclusive than inclusive. It was PADI, but the way he taught it was more than what you would get somewhere else. He had us doing skills that were over and beyond what the regular course called for, so I consider my self lucky compared to some of the stories I hear now. Unfortunately he got his teaching license pulled and banned from PADI for some reason, I don't know exactly why. He was a damn good instructor.

In this day and age to work towards minimalist diving is really tough. I study and study. I read lot's of info on vintage diving and gear. I talk to as many old timers I can to gleen information about what it was like and the training they did.
What I'm trying to do is update this style and mindset and convert the same philosophy with modern gear. Not everybody has access to vintage gear like a DA Aquamaster or Voit stuff, and not everybody is going to use an old style oval mask. I'll bet back then if they had a choice between a silicone skirted framless low vol mask and a rubber skirted oval they would pick the former all day long.

So I see it like this: If this style has any chance of taking hold and capturing the imaginations of current divers, it needs to be achieved using all modern gear, which can be minimized way down from what is the current norm. To expect the masses to go vintage simply is not going to happen. Vintage is a very small niche like old cars or black powder shooting.

My quest towards minimalism has been met with some fierce opposition and protest.
It's almost reminds me of a heated political war at times.
It's a constant upstream battle. There is no support at dive shops, there is very little support or permission to dive this way at dive club events, most charter boats will not let you dive minimalist, (except the Peace in Ventura-they rule!) Minimalism goes against everything the big agencies preach, which I find funny. What about back then? why weren't they against it? Why is it taboo now?
People are so snowed now on what is safe and they see minimalism as cowboy diving, completely irresponsible, and reckless.
I see them as uneducated in the history of diving, unproperly trained, lacking in true skills, overdependant on gear, unable to analyze and scutinize what they are told, and lazy.

So what you took for granted back then, we have to work very hard for today against all odds. You should be proud of us.

 

[Paladin]

ZKY,
I use the oval mask because I like the style and it is comfortable for me. I have two: One I bought from Deep Blue Gear and the other I got from Dan at Vintage Scuba Supply. I dive vintage because I like the equipment I used way back when. Besides, it has style! It's a personal problem. But you are correct. You don't have to go vintage to dive minimalist.

Use whatever mask and other gear that is comfortable for you. Diving minimalist does not mean you have to be Spartan about it. Minimalist diving merely means that you are using just the equipment you feel is absolutely necessary to safely make the dive you are planning to dive. For me, that is a tank with a J valve, a DA Aqua-Master, capillary depth gauge, watch, knife, fins, mask and snorkel. I even prefer to dive without a wetsuit. I now might add a horse collar BC that I leave deflated and don't use underwater. I wear it mainly to satisfy the guys at the quarry who require that I wear a BC. Besides, it has a big pocket in the front for my dive tables and food for the fish. They don't require that I use it, just wear it and they don't require an inflator. They really don't seem to care if I dive solo or don't have an SPG or an octo, though my Aquarius does have an inflator and an SPG and I use it when using my K valve AL80.

In reality, you can practice minimalist diving even when going on charters and diving ares that frown on the purist's idea of the sport. A backpack for the tank, a horse collar BC, a regulator with SPG, an octo clipped to the tank, out of the way (if they want to get anal) and an inflator (again, if they want to be anal), dive tables, a depth gauge, watch and knife. Just because you have the BC and octo doesn't mean you have to use them. Just dive as if they don't exist. If you're diving with a buddy, ignore the octo and practice old fashioned buddy breathing.

Minimalist diving is more of a mindset than an equipment list. The idea is just to use the least amount of gear that you can get away with in any given situation. Just take a look at your gear and decide what it is that you absolutely have to have for a dive under the conditions and go from there.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

ZKY,
I use the oval mask because I like the style and it is comfortable for me. I dive vintage because I like the equipment I used way back when. Besides, it has style! It's a personal problem. But you are correct. You don't have to go vintage to dive minimalist.

Use whatever mask and other gear that is comfortable for you. Diving minimalist does not mean you have to be Spartan about it. Minimalist diving merely means that you are using just the equipment you feel is absolutely necessary to safely make the dive you are planning to dive. For me, that is a tank with a J valve, a DA Aqua-Master, capillary depth gauge, watch, knife, fins, mask and snorkel. I even prefer to dive without a wetsuit. I now might add a horse collar BC that I leave deflated and don't use underwater. I wear it mainly to satisfy the guys at the quarry who require that I wear a BC. Besides, it has a big pocket in the front for my dive tables and food for the fish. They don't require that I use it, just wear it and they don't require an inflator. They really don't seem to care if I dive solo or don't have an SPG or an octo, though my Aquarius does have an inflator and an SPG and I use it when using my K valve AL80.

In reality, you can practice minimalist diving even when going on charters and diving ares that frown on the purist's idea of the sport. A backpack for the tank, a horse collar BC, a regulator with SPG, an octo clipped to the tank, out of the way (if they want to get anal) and an inflator (again, if they want to be anal), dive tables, a depth gauge, watch and knife. Just because you have the BC and octo doesn't mean you have to use them. Just dive as if they don't exist. If you're diving with a buddy, ignore the octo and practice old fashioned buddy breathing.

Minimalist diving is more of a mindset than an equipment list. The idea is just to use the least amount of gear that you can get away with in any given situation. Just take a look at your gear and decide what it is that you absolutely have to have for a dive under the conditions and go from there.

I just bought an Oceanmaster Pacific 6" oval mask w/ rubber skirt. I can't wait to try it out. Ocean's been torn up though, 18 foot swells today. It was only $39 at my LDS! can you believe? There's another bonus with minimalism; less money spent.
Anyway, the mask fits great but visbility is like looking through a pipe with a round window at the end. Not much side or bottom view. That's OK. I just figured what the hell, for that price I couldn't go wrong and it looked cool. I got it for the nostalgia and coolness factor.

That's another point. J valves are getting harder and harder to find. Many of them got tossed when changed out or got forgotten when the tank they were on got condemned. I think just using a backpack, a simple reg, plain spg, timing device, depth guage (or bottom timer) tables, is a perfectly viable minimalist configuration. If some boat want's you to use a BC, fine, stick a Mach V back there to make them happy. Many times just having my plain bottom timer on they think it's a computer.

I am going to call and ask the Peaceboat if I can use my DA on one of their trips. I'll report back with what they say.

 

[Slonda828]

I am finding this discussion of how to get started in minimalist diving mildly humorous. No offense, guys, but what you call "minimalist" diving is just plain, ordinary diving to old farts like me. It's all I've ever known. Heck, I never even owned, much less used, a BC (or a wet suit) until this past summer and I still have never used an octopus rig. Give me a DA Aqua-Master and a tank with a J valve, an old-style oval mask, capillary depth gauge, dive watch and all rubber full foot fins and I'm in hog heaven. Even when diving my old Aquarius, the only addition is an SPG if I'm using my AL80 with a k valve (and that's gonna change as soon as I empty the AL80 and swap the K for one of my Js).

I'm tickled pink that some of you younger guys are getting interested in learning the skills that guys like me have always taken for granted and never really considered all that special or unusual. I believe it will make you into better divers and your level on self-confidence and self-satisfaction will increase dramatically. I'm glad that at least some of you Johnny-Come-Latelys will be carrying on the old ways after us old geezers are all gone.

The best part is that some of us younger guys went out and learned how to assemble rebuild kits and repair your double and single hose regulators from the vintage period. Now that is some love for showing us how to dive the right way Do you know why I really like the vintage divers? Not once has any one of them ever looked down their nose at me. I'm the youngest guy in the club besides my girlfriend, and everyone is nothing but nice to us. They show us stuff, answer our questions, and provide us with 186 great dive buddies any time we need one, and at every vintage event. I've had guys mail me dive gear for free because they thought I would like it, or let me borrow a 40 year old mask that is collectible and super hard to replace just because I needed one to make a dive in the Bahamas. So I guess I'll dive vintage until I am vintage.

ZKY:

You aren't kidding about meeting opposition in minimalism. It's like peeing in a fan sometimes I swear. Still, I try to dive minimal. I just love when I get up to jump in the ocean on my toes and everyone else is dragging hind end to the stern because their crap weighs a ton. It's like when I figured out how to backpack the ultralight way and I just smile when I see someone humping a 60 pound pack on their backs. They do it their way, and we'll do it ours brother man. My new place is only a few blocks from the dive charter, so my new rule is that everything has to fit in a regular backpack so I can ride my BMX bike there. How's that for minimal? Ride up, chain your bike, and go dive. Once the ocean gets drysuit cold I may have to resort to using the car though.

Also, if you need J valves I have a few in my dive locker that I am currently not using. One of them even has the elusive and ever popular HP port built right into it.

 

[herman]

................................Do you know why I really like the vintage divers? Not once has any one of them ever looked down their nose at me. I'm the youngest guy in the club besides my girlfriend, and everyone is nothing but nice to us.

The only reason we were not looking down our noses at you was we were looking at your girl friend, she is so much better looking than you are.
( and I sure hope you are taking this as the good natured ribbing it was intended as...well partly a joke..she is better looking)

I tend to think of myself as more eclectic rather than vintage. So far I have not found a old mask that I was willing to put several hundred dollars into for prescription so I rarely dive with an old mask and to be honest I don't really care for them but when the dive calls for it, I use one and watch the fuzzy fish...actually I just can't read the gauges.....that I don't have anyway.. I do dive minimalist most of the time. It started when I got interested in the double hose regs and vintage - wanted to dive like Mike-but the freedom and comfort of the simple BP and no wing has become my diving style of choice. As part of the eclectic equipment, I usually have a SPG and a computer, vintage or not I still like knowing how much air I have remaining. The computer is more for lazy logging than anything else. Unless I am with a class, diving dry or somewhere the dive op requires it, I am diving minimal eclectic...how's that for a new term. Even then I wear a cap depth guage in class just to show the students and my PRAM is the last piece of gear I give up....and so far no one has prevented me from using it. The more of us that show up on dive boats, be polite and show them our skills the easier it will be to move forward. The last 2 years I have dove eclectic on Boniare- old BP, PRAM and cap gauge with a modern mask (can't see that small camera screen without it), computer and modern fins. I draw a good bit of attention but so far no negative responces.
I have been lucky as far as my LDS is concerned, they like to rag me about the old stuff but do support it. I have given talks on vintage gear at club meeting (had over 60 folks attending) and done try vintage scuba at club events for 2 different dive shops. The 2 local quarries I dive have never said a word about me and my buddy being full vintage, having known the owners/managers for years does not hurt I am sure. The more we dive vintage, minimalist or eclectic and show the above average skills that I have come to expect out of our style of diving the more accepted we will become. Keep it up, introduce as many new divers as you can and show your skills and some day we may be RDIR. Really Doing It Right

And Ron I just scored 2 good condition Dacor J valves with the HP ports, I can have my vintage and SPG too. Going to look great with my Seavue SPG with the cap gauge accessory. :bounce4:

 

[WD8CDH]

I think I dive Minimalist Vintage Tech. A whole lot less D-rings than others. One double hose, one single hose backup, one SPG, one set of tables, triple tanks but almost everything is about 35 years old or older (including me, much older).

 

[Slonda828]

It is so cool to me that we all dive such different setups. It seems like there is so much more to share and learn than when you all show up dressed exactly the same. Herman, I do concede that my girlfriend is better looking (that's one of the many reasons I like her). You take some pretty sweet pictures man, I remember how freaked some of the boat DMs looked when you were sitting there mid-water with your fancy camera and no BC on taking pictures like a champ in the Bahamas. There's just such a great collection of skilled divers in these small communities, and there is so much knowledge.

 

[Paladin]

Hmm. I guess I just joined the eclectic double hose crowd. I got a package from Bryan at VDH with my new long yoke and a chrome hookah/LP port adapter. I pulled the nozzle and swapped out the yokes and installed the adapter. Now, with a banjo adapter and a swivel LP tee, my DAAM has entered the 21st Century. If I need to, I can now have an SPG, BC inflator and octo (shudder) to satisfy even the most hardcore dive charter op.

Many thanks to Herman and Luis for some valuable advice.