Diver image. Do you even think about it?

[TN-Steve]

As a fairly low time diver I've found this thread most interesting. I've learned a couple of things over the last year, here they are FWIW

1. It is impossible to look good gearing up before or down after a dive. If it was, PADI would make it a distinctive specialty.
2. Most divers spend too much time worrying about the person across from them, when they should be more concerned about themselves.
3. I can't color coordinate my clothes, why should my dive gear be any different?
4. I've got a yellow slap strap and snorkel, mainly so I can spot ME in any pictures / videos.
5. I figure if the person across from me is gearing up efficiently (Knows how to put their kit together), their stuff looks like it's seen a maintenance bench in the last couple of years, no sense of doubt or hesitation as they gear up, I figure they know what they are doing.
6. If you bungee your tank to the bench, then put the regulator on without removing said bungee, it's hard to look good. (Still paying for that one with the local dive club)

It was all our first rodeo at some time (not too long ago for me). By watching divers who projected confidence and competence it helped me be a better diver.

Lets go diving.

Steve

 

[descent]

I could never grasp the point of camo wetsuits/drysuit ... must be hot as hell walking through the jungle in those things ...

A myth, Bob! Stop spreading myths!

It's maybe ... half as hot as hell. Maybe a little hotter.

Drysuits do a good job of protecting human skin from thorns, spines, razor-edged grasses, irritating or toxic sap, chiggers, leeches, mosquitoes, biting flies, medium-sized wasp stingers, kelabang chompers and the kind of grazing snakebite you get when you just bump into a fat one without actually stepping on it. Most importantly, they help you keep your feet dry when crossing wet places while carrying a heavy load.

Yes, sometimes they're too hot to keep closed up, but really, how hard is it to open the zipper or remove the top third? I used to call it "putting the top down on the convertible".

 

[jwllorens]

Wearing a hood pretty much nullifies any reason to give further care to your image at the surface, although rolling off the boat always looks fancy.

 

[DaleC]

A myth, Bob! Stop spreading myths!

It's maybe ... half as hot as hell. Maybe a little hotter.

Drysuits do a good job of protecting human skin from thorns, spines, razor-edged grasses, irritating or toxic sap, chiggers, leeches, mosquitoes, biting flies, medium-sized wasp stingers, kelabang chompers and the kind of grazing snakebite you get when you just bump into a fat one without actually stepping on it. Most importantly, they help you keep your feet dry when crossing wet places while carrying a heavy load.

Yes, sometimes they're too hot to keep closed up, but really, how hard is it to open the zipper or remove the top third? I used to call it "putting the top down on the convertible".

Hah hah. This reminds me of a dive I did last fall in Jasper National Park.

I wanted to dive a WWII wreck site but could not get an accurate shore location description anywhere, just some vague clues along a horse trail in bear country. With my gear in a wheelbarrow I trudged through the woods for a couple of km's until the trail started moving away from the lake. Wtf? After back tracking and some scouting I surmised the site was further along the waters edge, beyond the trail, so I suited up and began bushwacking along the shoreline in swampy willowy terrain. Even though it was at altitude it was hot and I had to unzip my DS and take off my UG's (even still I was sweating pretty good).

Finally I determined that this was not going to pan out either and backtracked again to my barrow where I unsuited and began trudging back to my van, thinking I would have to rent a boat to find the site from the water. On the hike back I came across the clues I had missed on the way in and suited up again to actually complete the dive.

[video=youtube;xHSZ2yp_6uQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHSZ2yp_6uQ[/video]

the video of that is here though I do not include my "error" in it:

 

[TMHeimer]

I understand the kids' reaction...

You sure that's not the monster from Piedras Blancas? When I was a little kid that movie scared the shait (as they say now) out of me.

 

[Rhone Man]

There must be a difference between "looking good" to your diving peers (always nice to be admired for good form, trim, etc.) and looking aesthetically appealing in dive gear to the general public (never gonna happen, unless you are a model in a diving magazine).

As my old windsurfing instructor used to say: "If you feel you are looking good, odds are your are probably doing good."

But I won't pretend I am completely above vanity in my dive gear. I freely admit to sewing patches onto my wetsuit for comedic and aesthetic effect.

 

[descent]

... reminds me of a dive I did last fall in Jasper National Park. ... I trudged through the woods for a couple of km's ... I suited up and began bushwacking along the shoreline in swampy willowy terrain.

Yes! You are my brother!

Those are the basics. Heavy gear. Thick brush. You sweat gallons and the days blur together. There's not much else to add for a complete Disneyland experience.

If you had brought a less-experienced buddy along, maybe he could have spent a few hours complaining about your navigation skills without offering significantly better options. Bonus points if you and the heckler come to blows, giving away your position. (assistant team leader stereotype)

You could have done the hike in the dark, with night vision goggles. That way, you would get to fall down a lot, and your teammates would get to smack you in the face over and over again with branches they pulled back, that you cannot see with passive IR. Too bad the drysuit doesn't protect the lower part of your face. If you get toxic sap in your mouth, can you spit it out before it makes your tongue go numb? Repeat after me: "Puhh. Puh! Oh. Are we out of water? Again?"

Did you ever step in mud so deep, the suction made you pull your foot out of your boot? Once I jerked my knee nearly up to my chest inside the drysuit, toppled over like a falling tree, and damn near broke my other foot off. Took about five minutes just to stand up and get my pack on straight again. Thank god the tide was out.

So what exactly is the "diver image" after a week or two of that?

Bruised. Abraded. Exhausted. Unshaven, sweat-soaked, grimy, and in dire need of soap and water. Half Fight Club, half homeless.

By comparison, a wreck diver with a mismatched, faded, ripped up wetsuit looks like James Bond in a tux.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I could never grasp the point of camo wetsuits/drysuit ... must be hot as hell walking through the jungle in those things ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

They're designed for free divers to hide in giant kelp forests to hunt the ever elusive and easily spooked White Sea Bass.
I wish they made a plain black one that was the same material, cut, and skin-in neoprene because they are the warmest most comfortable suits I've ever used.
Now I see the non Freedive suit companies are making regular nylon lined scuba suits in camo thinking people wear them as a fashion statement, which most don't, it's the cut and skin-in material we're after not the print. The camo isn't something we necessarily want especially northern abalone divers, it's just a by-product we're stuck with. But like a lot of scuba manufacturing they just don't get it.

 

[Z Gear]

Yes! You are my brother!

Those are the basics. Heavy gear. Thick brush. You sweat gallons and the days blur together. There's not much else to add for a complete Disneyland experience.

If you had brought a less-experienced buddy along, maybe he could have spent a few hours complaining about your navigation skills without offering significantly better options. Bonus points if you and the heckler come to blows, giving away your position. (assistant team leader stereotype)

You could have done the hike in the dark, with night vision goggles. That way, you would get to fall down a lot, and your teammates would get to smack you in the face over and over again with branches they pulled back, that you cannot see with passive IR. Too bad the drysuit doesn't protect the lower part of your face. If you get toxic sap in your mouth, can you spit it out before it makes your tongue go numb? Repeat after me: "Puhh. Puh! Oh. Are we out of water? Again?"

Did you ever step in mud so deep, the suction made you pull your foot out of your boot? Once I jerked my knee nearly up to my chest inside the drysuit, toppled over like a falling tree, and damn near broke my other foot off. Took about five minutes just to stand up and get my pack on straight again. Thank god the tide was out.

So what exactly is the "diver image" after a week or two of that?

Bruised. Abraded. Exhausted. Unshaven, sweat-soaked, grimy, and in dire need of soap and water. Half Fight Club, half homeless.

By comparison, a wreck diver with a mismatched, faded, ripped up wetsuit looks like James Bond in a tux.

Holy cow! You guys are hard core! I think the diver image after a week or two of that is an adventurous one. Where only a few dare to experience and even attempt. It does project an image, I think non superficial but a deep sense of endurance and passion for the sport/activity of diving. It is presenting an image of your self.. By your description I think its all good and worth it, its good to know some go to great lengths just to have another type of dive experience. In the beginning of the original post I was primarily focusing on exterior looks to describe diver image. As the the thread progressed I learned an important note that I over looked thanks to the help of those who chimed in. All though this topic is kind of odd to bring up, it does have a lot more meaning than just superficial looks. It is more defined by what you do and how you act towards others, that really defines and represents your true image. That's what I have learned from bringing up this topic.

 

[Phantom Menace]

They're designed for free divers to hide in giant kelp forests to hunt the ever elusive and easily spooked White Sea Bass.
I wish they made a plain black one that was the same material, cut, and skin-in neoprene because they are the warmest most comfortable suits I've ever used.
Now I see the non Freedive suit companies are making regular nylon lined scuba suits in camo thinking people wear them as a fashion statement, which most don't, it's the cut and skin-in material we're after not the print. The camo isn't something we necessarily want especially northern abalone divers, it's just a by-product we're stuck with. But like a lot of scuba manufacturing they just don't get it.

Note all open-cell wetsuits are camo - here is a black one in New Zealand: Moray Revolution Black 5mm - 5mm Wetsuit - Wetsuits - Products - Ocean Hunter

I have one of these (but it happens to be camo ) that I use for spearfishing and free diving.