gerryw
Registered
I am in "sunny" (hah!) California for a vacation right now. Before I left, I had pretty much decided to buy a BP/W if I saw one all
set up.
Well, I did. And I did. I bought a Pioneer 36# with SS backplate and BP pak and also changed to the short and long hoses. Balked at the fins though, the XL Jetfins seem a little uncomfortably tight on my foot. I can get them on, but they don't seem quite right. I'm still considering this as I have 3 more days to go. I have not found any Turtles to try out, so I may be using the evil split fins a little longer.
I also have not been in a "real" dive shop in about a year, so there was a lot of pent up demand for odds and ends.
Like a kid in a candy store. I bought this Cressi big eye mask, the vision is much better than my old mask, but I need to try it in a real situation.
From where I live, there is no practical way to do much pre-purchase testing. We have some very active divers, and I get to dive a lot compared to most people, but there is no LDS. The nearest dive shops are in Santiago, about 1000 miles away, and the selection there is not great. So for me, it's do the research as best I can, take a deep breath, lay the money down and hope I have not screwed up.
There is no doubt that the many discussions I read on ScubaBoard got me started on this path. I looked at the GUE
site, the Fifth-D site with videos, everything else I could find. I did a lot of thinking, comparing my personal experiences with what I read here.
I downloaded the videos and tried to copy some of them. Shot to the surface doing a mask drill, then did it again and it worked out much better. Not great, but no surface either. I even read here why it happened. I was of course taking a deep breath before taking off the mask. I can do a reasonable approximation of a helicopter turn. Don't want any videos taken though! Too
embarrassing. I figured out for myself a while ago why it is a really good idea to be able to reach the valves. When I saw the video, I slapped myself on the side of the head and thought "Sh*t, you can DO that?" Why did no one show me
this stuff? I had already got rid of the snorkel some time ago because I never used it, and I did not like my jacket style
BC so it seemed like it was time for a change. I decided on a rather drastic change.
I am not DIR, probably never will be fully DIR, but I do intend to keep learning and improving. DIR methods seem to me to be excellent and while I have some trouble with the concept of there being only one possible way to do something, (whether diving or in any other area of human endeavour) the DIR way is clearly very, very good, and clearly better than what I learned before. So, I guess I am partially assimilated. I don't know if resistance is futile, but I am weakening.
I would love to take the DIR-F course, but due to time (and location) constraints that won't happen anytime soon. But I
got the DIR fundamentals book while I was here. That will have to do for now. Until the northern Chile DIR-F course,
scheduled in 2019 I think.
I bought most of the gear on Sunday Feb 23rd at an LDS in San Diego. Naturally, I was hoping to try it out. Well, dying to try it out is more like it.
Like the old song says:
"Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya
It pours man it pours."
I'm still in San Diego, and have not managed to dive. The weather has been cr*p (no snow, at least!) Rain and wind, not
much diving action going on. Boats not going out, no shore diving due to too much rain runoff. The best I have
managed is some time in a pool. I may be back in Chile before I can try this stuff out for real.
It all works really well in the pool.....
set up.
Well, I did. And I did. I bought a Pioneer 36# with SS backplate and BP pak and also changed to the short and long hoses. Balked at the fins though, the XL Jetfins seem a little uncomfortably tight on my foot. I can get them on, but they don't seem quite right. I'm still considering this as I have 3 more days to go. I have not found any Turtles to try out, so I may be using the evil split fins a little longer.
I also have not been in a "real" dive shop in about a year, so there was a lot of pent up demand for odds and ends.
Like a kid in a candy store. I bought this Cressi big eye mask, the vision is much better than my old mask, but I need to try it in a real situation.
From where I live, there is no practical way to do much pre-purchase testing. We have some very active divers, and I get to dive a lot compared to most people, but there is no LDS. The nearest dive shops are in Santiago, about 1000 miles away, and the selection there is not great. So for me, it's do the research as best I can, take a deep breath, lay the money down and hope I have not screwed up.
There is no doubt that the many discussions I read on ScubaBoard got me started on this path. I looked at the GUE
site, the Fifth-D site with videos, everything else I could find. I did a lot of thinking, comparing my personal experiences with what I read here.
I downloaded the videos and tried to copy some of them. Shot to the surface doing a mask drill, then did it again and it worked out much better. Not great, but no surface either. I even read here why it happened. I was of course taking a deep breath before taking off the mask. I can do a reasonable approximation of a helicopter turn. Don't want any videos taken though! Too
embarrassing. I figured out for myself a while ago why it is a really good idea to be able to reach the valves. When I saw the video, I slapped myself on the side of the head and thought "Sh*t, you can DO that?" Why did no one show me
this stuff? I had already got rid of the snorkel some time ago because I never used it, and I did not like my jacket style
BC so it seemed like it was time for a change. I decided on a rather drastic change.
I am not DIR, probably never will be fully DIR, but I do intend to keep learning and improving. DIR methods seem to me to be excellent and while I have some trouble with the concept of there being only one possible way to do something, (whether diving or in any other area of human endeavour) the DIR way is clearly very, very good, and clearly better than what I learned before. So, I guess I am partially assimilated. I don't know if resistance is futile, but I am weakening.
I would love to take the DIR-F course, but due to time (and location) constraints that won't happen anytime soon. But I
got the DIR fundamentals book while I was here. That will have to do for now. Until the northern Chile DIR-F course,
scheduled in 2019 I think.
I bought most of the gear on Sunday Feb 23rd at an LDS in San Diego. Naturally, I was hoping to try it out. Well, dying to try it out is more like it.
Like the old song says:
"Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya
It pours man it pours."
I'm still in San Diego, and have not managed to dive. The weather has been cr*p (no snow, at least!) Rain and wind, not
much diving action going on. Boats not going out, no shore diving due to too much rain runoff. The best I have
managed is some time in a pool. I may be back in Chile before I can try this stuff out for real.
It all works really well in the pool.....
