Least Favorite Piece of Equipment

[MaxBottomtime]

Sure, I like what it enables me to do. But, someday when they have thin wetsuits with heating coils built in and a C cell-sized battery pack that will run it all day, I'll definitely be switching to that! The DS, like the hood, is a necessary evil, in my book.

Thermalution.com

 

[TMHeimer]

Trace, I believe you that the finger spool flags are better. I bought that stupid "handle" thing for snorkeling a few years before doing OW. PTA always wrapping line and unwrapping. I'm too cheap to replace it.

 

[Haleyeah]

Ditto... this past Saturday, @sphyon, his SO and myself dove Blue Heron Bridge. They were practicing with their sidemount rigs and me my SF2. He was supposed to pull the flag, and then we found ourselves all kitted up and someone (I promised @sphyon I wouldn't rat him out, do you didn't hear this from me) forgot one of the three flags we had with us in our vehicles. A quick look and I would guess that there were some 20+ flags going in the water. We blew it off and I can say there was never a moment when I wasn't in visual contact with someone towing a flag. kind of funny and I even saw two divers trying to untangle their flags. So sometimes, it's best to bend the rules a bit, especially when there's a flag traffic jam.

I've done a lot of dives off Venice Florida for fossil teeth, and the flags are required when diving off some of the charter boats. I guess its understandable since the visibility is bad and everyone does the dive alone (captain is keeping track of everyone from the surface). They do get easier and easier to deal with, but since everyone un-spools them pretty much at once, it is an absolute guarantee some flags are going to tangle. It would always get on my nerves having to ascend the 35 feet, untangle it, and lose that valuable hunting time. Sometimes I would play an invisible game of tug-of-war, hoping the other diver would be the one to concede and do the untangling. I always imagined from the surface it must have looked like the scene when Jaws was pulling those yellow barrels under.....Flags are definitely high on my list too.

 

[The Chairman]

I've done a lot of dives off Venice Florida for fossil teeth

I had a rather pissed off diver approach me after a dive off Venice, claiming I was following him to find his honey holes. I asked him how many teeth he collected, he got even more belligerent and demanded to know how many I had got. It wasn't my best dive there, only 450 or so, but that pissed him off even more. "No way, man! No way!" me muttered as he stomped off. I almost called out "Who is following who?" but I was worried that that he might get physical.

In this case... it's not the flag that's the problem: it's the other divers!

 

[TMHeimer]

Jeez. And I get POd just diving alone with one.

 

[2airishuman]

Question for people who think the snorkel is unnecessary:
Maybe it's a regional thing but how do you get a decent airway if you're liveboating for instance and you're out in the middle of the sea, after the dive, with chop and a 6 ft swell and it's going to be 10 or fifteen minutes before the boat arrives at your location for the pick? The other is - on beach dives, don't you want to save your "back gas" for the actual dive and snorkel out, face down to your descent area?
It's kind of humiliating to be one of those folks with a BCD on and their mask turned backward, backkicking out to the drop area. JMHO

I find that I can't really snorkel and swim with my kit because I ride too low in the water, especially at the beginning of the dive. I bring more air, or swim on my back. On some dives I bring the snorkel in case I end up treading water for an extended period of time. It's a judgement call based on distance to shore and quality of surface support.

Much like using a BC, towing a flag is a learned skill. It's not unusual for those without the skill to avoid using one!

I have a small float, a small flag, and a finger spool. I use them often. The float still gets my award for "least favorite piece of gear." They are required by law here (Minnesota) even in waters closed to power boats.

Recently I've taken to bringing a large flag and milk crate, and anchoring the same not far from where I'm diving.

 

[ronscuba]

I really don't care what gear other people choose to carry. Retractors, GoPro sticks, noise makers, muck sticks. The problem is not the gear, it's the user. Used properly, it does not affect me, so go ahead and carry it.

My least favorite piece of gear ? Booties. They stink and never dry.

 

[TMHeimer]

Maybe you need new booties. Mine are used often, dry within days, well within my week between dives, and have no smell at all.

 

[stuartv]

Thermalution.com

Seen those, but not sold on them. I really want it built into the wetsuit. Plus, one of my buddies is replacing his Yellow grade because it just doesn't work that well (for him, anyway).

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

Mine is a 5 mm+ wetsuit, they suck to get in and out of.