More color in SCUBA?

[robway034]

I was just looking at some of my old gear. My SCUBAPRO 200 series regs w' hippie purge cover. A US Divers BCD with yellow, red and blue timmed with some orange. Anyway, does anyone feel like our sport is missing some flair from days gone by? Or is it more like bell-bottoms and liesure suits....GOOD RIDDANCE?

 

[Nemrod]

The black thing is from the influence of tech diving I think and our current military fascination may have some influence as well. Things run in cycles, I expect color will return. I notice that DiveRite is beginning ot offer blue and red in addition to black.

For one thing, todays over size logos would have to be downsized to fit within a multi color patern.

Bell bottoms/flares are back and oddly, in my highschool and early college we wore flares and bell bottoms and both guys and girls had low rise jeans--well--not like the LOW rise of today but you may recall HIP(pie) Huggers.


I wish there were more color choices in basic gear, I tire of black.

N

 

[Blacthorn]

The longer I go the more I am think we need more color again. What, exactly is the advantage of black? So we can pretend we are seals? so that it makes it harder to be seen? So that we can walk out of the water, throw on a bow tie and go directly to the embassy ball wearing our wetsuit? "I expect you to die, Mr. Bond"

 

[robway034]

So that we can walk out of the water, throw on a bow tie and go directly to the embassy ball wearing our wetsuit? "I expect you to die, Mr. Bond"

LMAO...That was some kind of funny

My GF was looking for some dive luggage and the best we could come up with was basic black with >insert color< trim. These days, there are all sorts of colors, logos and theme's for bags/luggage and what have you..but not for dive gear! At a recent manufracturers expo (annual at our local quarry) we asked a handful of "reps" about getting some more colorful luggage and why there wasnt some readily available. Most of them just shrugged and one said they where planning to come out with some new bags/luggage. I suspect he was practicing a run at public office someday...."read my lips; no new taxes!"

 

[CompuDude]

I have to admit to liking the black, for local cold water dives. It takes a certain machismo to get into the water... *shrug* It just looks cool. It does make you harder to see underwater, however, so some sort of colored marker can be handy to tell divers apart!

On the other hand, I definitely like a little color in warm water diving. Gives photos of divers a little more pop.

 

[diversteve]

Zeagle does....

http://www.zeagle.com/index.php?src=gendocs&link=Custom Colored Ranger&category=Specialized BCs

Although what's sort of ludicrous is that I go out of my way to buy black gear - or at least dark blue - then put on a bright, gaudy, Hawaiian patterned swimsuit when I dive so people can recognize me - go figure...

 

[John C. Ratliff]

We just had a diver shot in the head up here in Oregon, by a man who claimed he thought the diver was a nutria! Here's the thread on it:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=177160

Point is, color is vitally important in being able to see a diver in the water. in the very early days, Jacques Cousteau identified yellow as the most easily seen color in the water, and he used this very effectively in his films to depict divers, even in dirty water or at night. Today's divers don't want to be seen, probably as Nemrod said above, due to the military influence, but that has its down side too. I wear a yellow bicycling helmet (which I put a light on and have reflective tape on too) when I dive Oregon's rivers. I also favor bright colors in my equipment.

John

 

[spectrum]

I was just looking at some of my old gear. My SCUBAPRO 200 series regs w' hippie purge cover. A US Divers BCD with yellow, red and blue timmed with some orange. Anyway, does anyone feel like our sport is missing some flair from days gone by? Or is it more like bell-bottoms and liesure suits....GOOD RIDDANCE?

I have my eye out for a colorful vintage item or 2 just for the fun of it.

Meanwhile I have gained respect for the color yellow and it has become the color of choice when selecting gear. It makes a huge difference in our limited local visibility.

It seems that I had seen yellow tank boots somewhere, anyone remember where?

Pete

 

[daniel f aleman]

Black is cheaper - that's it.

As a DM I use yellow fins (Mares Quattro Excels) so I can stand out and be easily seen. Many choose yellow stripes on their wetsuits...

 

[DawgDiver]

I have a bright yellow Zeagle BC for anybody who wants more color.