It's all good - so much to see underwater and there is something for everyone!
Wow! Someone has figured out how to market diving!
- Thread starter pauldw
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
Beautiful stuff - maybe, someday, I’ll give it a try but there are so many warmer destinations to hit first for me - including Palau, Raja Ampat (and many trips to see all of that), Philippines, Maldives, Socorro and maybe Cocos. Next trip outside of the Caribbean is Fiji next August!
There is so much drama around the pee valve, most of it unnecessary. What is critical is buying the correct size catheter, and a quality brand. There is no need to glue anything. A quality catheter goes on easy, stays secure and comes off easily. Again, size is most critical. Most people will never be as large as they think they are. ;-)
The key thing to remember is there's a rather large medical supply industry outside diving that services all manner of medical conditions that require 24/7 catheter use for males. Unless you have a latex allergy, they work well. (and there are alternatives if you have a latex allergy though I've never tried them).
As for dry suits vs. wet suits, the first thing to remember is that a proper wet suit for our conditions is 7mm farmer john plus jacket, giving you 14mm over the core.
I dove a wetsuit for my open waters many years ago in March on the Sunshine Coast, and then for the entire spring & summer until Aug when I took my AOW and then bought my first drysuit. After the OW, the spring/summer was all diving in Lake Minnewanka AB, which is a glacier fed VERY COLD lake year-round. <brrrr>
The thing about wetsuits that I found is they are just fine for 1 dive. It's the surface interval that starts chilling you, and then the second dive is misery. Also (don't ask how I know) - the worst thing you can do with a wetsuit is get in a hot tub to warm up between dives wearing the wetsuit. The dive after is almost guaranteed hypothermia because all the blood vessels are wide open thanks to the hot tub.
Would I dive wetsuit again in our waters? Nope. First, I like being dry. I love drygloves (no wrinkled fingertips). I love changing from dry undergarments. I'm also too old to like the cold anymore. Heck - I even have a heated vest that I'm about to use tomorrow (first time since last winter). I dove last Tuesday and it was just too cold to go without it anymore this year.
I dove a wetsuit for my open waters many years ago in March on the Sunshine Coast, and then for the entire spring & summer until Aug when I took my AOW and then bought my first drysuit. After the OW, the spring/summer was all diving in Lake Minnewanka AB, which is a glacier fed VERY COLD lake year-round. <brrrr>
The thing about wetsuits that I found is they are just fine for 1 dive. It's the surface interval that starts chilling you, and then the second dive is misery. Also (don't ask how I know) - the worst thing you can do with a wetsuit is get in a hot tub to warm up between dives wearing the wetsuit. The dive after is almost guaranteed hypothermia because all the blood vessels are wide open thanks to the hot tub.
Would I dive wetsuit again in our waters? Nope. First, I like being dry. I love drygloves (no wrinkled fingertips). I love changing from dry undergarments. I'm also too old to like the cold anymore. Heck - I even have a heated vest that I'm about to use tomorrow (first time since last winter). I dove last Tuesday and it was just too cold to go without it anymore this year.
Unnecessary is the operative word.
I have never had the need for any of that specialized equipment, in forty-plus years of diving in cold water with either dry or wetsuits. A bit of proper planning; regularly hitting the head; and that dry air and activity causing vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone) to kick in, solves a myriad of problems, regardless of water temperature.
All of that glad-handing old crap about "planning your dive" and "diving your plan" doesn't extend to preemptively taking a leak before hitting the water?
Further, any lengthy ride back, in either truck or boat, doesn't then reek like the f**king urinal troughs at Pac Bell Park . . .
I have one on my brand new suit too. Very handy for rear entry models, lets me keep the suit zipped up all day long.
I was surprised at how few operators there are on the site. Really just Gods Pocket, Hornby, and a few shops that sometimes run a boat on the weekend. Hideaway and Nautilus Swell are gone. Ogden Point used to be almost a mini resort by itself. Is the industry contracting that much?
Similar threads
