What is scuba diving's orange shovel?

[Mauifish]

Amen to that! scuba is fun......as long as your not a huge GUY in a HOT PINK wet suit i wont make fun! that would just be to funny of an opertunity to not take advantage of

UMMM, yes , some things are a bit much, I would dive with the pink whale though, might screw up my SAC rate from laughing through my reg

 

[Buoyant1]

All of you high school mentality types that LOVE to single out "newbies" or anyone that doesn't fit in your mold of "COOL" can dive with each other and put little stars on your shirts and have weinie/marshmellow roast together. {this kinda reminds of a story written by DR Seuss that I used to read to my kids} GROW UP !! Why should any body care what some one else wants to dive with as far as color, style, brand etc.
If you see someone laughing at someone else that is having fun GUESS WHO THE REAL DORK IS ??

Actually I think a lot of us are laughing at ourselves for being such "n00bs" at the beginning!

I'm gonna go blow my little orange whistle now....

 

[sandmanz32]

UMMM, yes , some things are a bit much, I would dive with the pink whale though, might screw up my SAC rate from laughing through my reg

lol yea but damn thatd be funny. my dive buddy tim, he is well.....slightly portly, lol, and incrediblly short. having the good sence of humor he has though, is on a search for a solid black wetsuit, with a white chest.........all over one comment i made about him looking like a penguin in his suit. if he finds one.....oh the fun ill have at his expence! lmao!!

 

[Eskasi]

I am a real Noob......and probably a complete Orange Shovel myself.

For starters, I bought a Jacket BC. I got a Seaquest Pro Unlimited. When I did my OW, I was in extremely rough surface conditions....the thought of wearing a Back inflation then scared me silly....I really wanted to ride high then and did exactly that....getting up the boat was tough too as I got flopped around like a rag doll with the boat going up and down. As Money was no object really, I decided to get the best Jacket I could find and switch to Back whenever I wanted later.

Ok...I got that whistle too.....once again, being out in difficult surface conditions and being "lost" really scared me too. I just want to be safe and be able to be spotted. Heck this was the first thing I clicked on after a Aqualung Safety Sausage. Safety first right?

I got one of those dive alert signalling device things too attached to my BC.....I would take it off but it seems to integrate nicely and I just pray I never have to use it.

I got that dreaded tank banger too. After my OW dives, I thought it was a neat idea and of course had never read this forum before. During my navigation work, I once had my instructor tug at my fin as he wanted to stop me to show me something else. Of course rapping the tank would work....but I don't own that giant knife on my foot....my BC comes with a nice little one on it Anyway, I am planning to give that to a friend of mine who is a new diver too....

I got 2 dive shirts....I bought them because they looked cool. One has a pic of an Absolut Vodka bottle with a reg on the top. Quite funny. It says Absolut Scuba...instead of Vodka...hahah

Color Coding was important to me....I did not want to look like a clown or a rainbow. I always thought divers were cool and lived a life of excitement. Last thing I wanted was to have a neon suit, Red fins and Blue Mask....I went with mostly black and some color coded trim. Excusable I suppose.....

I use those defogging gels....I always assumed that technology would work better than spit. Plus my instructor used it too....why tempt fate and ruin a good dive?

I got the slate too...never used it....but liked the idea...In truth, I always wanted to have a bit of fun and scare my friend a little by writing "BIG SHARK BEHIND YOU!" to my pal.....silly but I have to do it eventually.

Most of my diving is travel diving and I am doing it a lot. my work and play takes me all over the world and this year alone, I am going to Florida, Malta, Palemo, Sipidan, Phuket, Oman & Sharm. It is because of this that I use the big bags to lug my stuff around on airplanes. I also have a Mesh duffel bag for use on the boat itself.

My reg is a Delta 4 and I also have a D9. Many would say it is overkill to buy expensive gear for a novice but I can afford it and I would hate to WASTE money by buying sets which I may upgrade not long after (no diving in the foreign country I work in as an expat.....so no 2nd hand sales possible too for me at a local dive shop).


To summarise, I am the bright orange shovel noob which this thread is about.

HOWEVER, I am comfortable with what I have...I got all this because of comfort and a sense of security (which is what I thought diving was about)....yes, some stuff will end up in the closet and get no use eventually.....but for now, with the little experence that I have, I like the idea of all these shovels on me (as long as I am not dragging the crap on the reefs and destroying the envioronment- or risking getting tangled)


To me, an Orange Shovel was bought by those who thought there was some utility and convinience to carrying one, only later to realize that it was redundant and removed it from their gear. There will always be some people though who rather use the shovel as opposed to a stick. To each man his own. He may laugh at me one day as he uses his shovel to dig his hole and all I can find are twigs to use. This is why I wouldn't laugh at them and call them silly noobs or fad junkies.

Great thread however.....I got the Neoprene Strap covers because of it...lost some hair in Miami putting mask on. If the damned banger does not work, I will place it on my buddies forehead instead and rap him on the back of his head to get his attention...

 

[geraldp]

Do they make Scuba Diver Barbie?

They make the Librarian action figure, you know. Shushing action and all. I've got the deluxe edition myself.

I had a Scuba Diving GI Joe with Thunderball scooter AND the Deep Sea Diver Joe complete with bell helmet. Does that count?

 

[Kevin K]

You guys are gonna love this! When we bought our scuba gear I let my daughter put pink on her/my 600 dollar reg. This bugged me to no end and the other day I took it in and had it replaced with black. I am liking hose protectors at this point in my diving career but it bothered me everytime I looked at that fine piece of high tech equipment with that pink on it! I don't know if she knows yet. kk

 

[D_B]

I had a Scuba Diving GI Joe with Thunderball scooter AND the Deep Sea Diver Joe complete with bell helmet. Does that count?

Ya know .. I still have that deep sea helmet, white suit, and lead boots .. somewhere ..... funny that I never had the GI Joe to put it on :laughing:

 

[scubabrn]

I like my Atomic split fins and orange whistle!!

 

[Vtdiver2]

Well, I've been reading this whole thread, and have come to the conclusion I have so many orange shovels that I doubt I'll have room for my scuba gear next time I want to get in the water............sad! :shakehead
C-Dawg

 

[Splitlip]

All of you high school mentality types that LOVE to single out "newbies" or anyone that doesn't fit in your mold of "COOL" can dive with each other and put little stars on your shirts and have weinie/marshmellow roast together. {this kinda reminds of a story written by DR Seuss that I used to read to my kids} GROW UP !! Why should any body care what some one else wants to dive with as far as color, style, brand etc.
If you see someone laughing at someone else that is having fun GUESS WHO THE REAL DORK IS ??

My thoughts too when I first watched the thread develop. After thinking about it, I realized it will be a good read for new divers and is in the right forum
Fact is, a lot of "experienced" divers (particularly on this board) have serious attitudes when it comes to new divers. Look at all the threads out there about avoiding new divers. There have even been threads about all the names they have for new divers and those who might not subscribe to someone else's philosophy. A few have even suggested that by being abusive to the new diver he will be more motivated to improve. Nonsense. This isn't boot camp with 18 year old recruits who will try harder to please their DI.
More like as not, a new and anxious diver facing ridicule from the "pros" will develop more (performance?) anxiety, thus justifying the "experienced" diver's tactics. Kind of a remote controlled self fulfilling prophecy.
So I think the new divers will benefit from this thread in a number of ways. There are some dicks out there who will prejudge unfairly based on their own prconcieved opinions.