Why is tech suddenly the in thing for new divers?

[TSandM]

Yeah, we see a lot of divers here in the PNW with no tech aspirations at all, who have figured out that steel backplates make a lot of sense when dry suit diving in cold water. HID lights make a lot of sense in our murk, too, and by no means are restricted to technical divers. Our bottoms are very silty, so non-silting kicks make sense, which leads a diver to non-split fins pretty quickly.

I don't think there are that many people here diving doubles who don't have some kind of technical aspirations, but there are a LOT of cave divers in Seattle (surprisingly enough) so a lot of people who may never do OW tech diving, but use doubles nonetheless to stay in practice.

I don't think relatively novice divers should be pushed into doubles, if there are no local opportunities to do deeper dives, but I think it's not a bad thing to start people in a BP/W/long hose configuration, because it scales to any more ambitious diving they ever decide to do, and it works very well for the recreational diving that they are currently doing.

 

[Hank658]

Right on the money TS&M! I also believe it's never too early to at least introduce the concept of bp/w to students. I mention it in a gear review in my classes and take the responses from there. The rest comes with time and experience.

BTW, forgive my ignorance, never having made it to the PNW, but "but there are a LOT of cave divers in Seattle (surprisingly enough)", are there a lot of caves in Seattle or just folks who travel to them?

 

[VA Nick]

"Tech/Tec/Tek" gear is popular with some reason for the same reason a t-shirt that cost ten cents to produce sells for $50 or more if you write "Hollister CA" on it. Because people want to be the cool guy.

Not really any skin off my rear end though. If someone wants to drop a ridiculous amount of cash on something just so they can be the cool guy with the blue H or doubles, let them. I'll be hanging out with the guy wearing a 40-year-old, SeaTec BC who is out to have fun, not to tell all the guys how much better of a diver he is and all the ladies how cool he is.

 

[IceBergSlim]

"Tech/Tec/Tek" gear is popular with some reason for the same reason a t-shirt that cost ten cents to produce sells for $50 or more if you write "Hollister CA" on it. Because people want to be the cool guy.

Not really any skin off my rear end though. If someone wants to drop a ridiculous amount of cash on something just so they can be the cool guy with the blue H or doubles, let them. I'll be hanging out with the guy wearing a 40-year-old, SeaTec BC who is out to have fun, not to tell all the guys how much better of a diver he is and all the ladies how cool he is.

Well it does come in handy when doing actual technical diving.

So we have that going for us.

Which is nice.

 

[Hank658]

But by the time someone is ready for that kind of diving/training/gear investment one would hope a person would be knowledgeable enough to make educated decisions; not to be unduly swayed by either marketing or aggressive salesmanship.

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

. . . not to tell all the guys how much better of a diver he is and all the ladies how cool he is.

Wow! How awesome is that?! I had no idea that because I dove a Halcyon BP/W that it allowed me to tell other people how much better of a diver I am and all of the ladies how cool I am. . . That is sweet!!! And all I thought I was getting when I bought it was a high quality, well designed piece of dive equipment. Halcyon should really consider adding that info to their sales brochure or at least add it the owner's manual.:kiss2:

 

[VA Nick]

First of all, Fish, sorry you paid too much for your gear.

Second, diving Halcyon gear does not make you a jerk, but there seem to be a lot of jerks diving Halcyon gear. See the difference?

Its just like anything else that's on the high end of the price scale. You're going to have some people who buy it because they think its better (not trying to start a fight), and another group of people who are going to buy it because they think it helps their image.

 

[Rick Inman]

To me it's over overkill to dive doubles in DIR fashion when there aren't any caves or wrecks in this area.

Now you tell me.

We love scootering the walls of lake Pend Orielle down to 300'. Last year I went to Florida and dived the Transpac and the Hydro Atlantic (200' & 180') and the Spiegel Grove. This September I spent 10 days diving the St. Lawrence River - mostly the Jodrey at 230'. Two weeks ago I did a nice scooter dive in San Diego at Scrips Canyon (180'), plus a couple dives on the Yukon.

I'm not bragging about the dives. A lot of divers get to do this sort of diving every day. But if I hadn't progressed into DIR-style diving, BP/W, doubles and such, even though I live around a bunch of inland lakes, I'd have never been so fortunate to make those fantastic dives. It's been the most fun I've ever had!

You say it's overkill. I say it's the best thing that ever happened to my diving. What a blast I'm having!!

 

[PScUba]

Hank658,

I understand completely what you are saying, but wish they might have introduced more "tech" gear in the beginning. I know that most divers will no dive on vacation in warm waters or may not dive much after certification. Though, since I knew I was committed and would be living in the Philadelphia/NYC region for a while I was interested in getting into local diving early. Although my initial purchases enabled me to dive, they might not have been the best choice as a develop my diving.

When I bought gear, I probably wouldn't have gone for the drysuit right away for the simple fact that it cost much much more than a wetsuit (should have though). But something like a bp/w that would not be much more money, and maybe even less, then some of the better BCs from major manufacturer I might have purchased.

My point being... if divers think they are interested in one type of diving, I do not have trouble with a shop pushing some forms of equipment as they will likely be coming down the road whether the diver knows it or not.

PS Are you an instructor with a shop? If so, which one?

 

[rongoodman]

I have the Halcyon gear--when do the ladies show up?