Have you ever used scuba equipment you absolutely hated!

[The Chairman]

Early on, I was all in on the idea of having an air2 and air integrated computer so I could have the minimum number of hoses coming of my first stage.

It was a solution to a non-existant problem. It's a case of throwing gear at a training and experience issue.

Please do let me know so that I can get offended for real

No thinks. You were harsh enough the first time.

Best fit ever I had was Cressi Calibro.

My Mako mask is my favorite... it looks small on my face, but it seals great. It goes well with my new Dakine Scuba Hat...

I post this because many would think my hat is 'garbage' and would never wear one. For me it serves a useful purpose when I'm in a pool or on a boat in keeping the sun off my ears when I'm topside and teaching. It also keeps moon jellies off of my ears when they are in season and there's just no way to mistake me for anyone else underwater. The brim is quite stiff, so it doesn't bend with the water pressure as I swim. Since it's colorful, it doesn't scare fish like black wet suits seem to do. It's my King Angel Fish disguise.

 

[kmarks]

My Air2 went away shorty after I got it which was when I bought my first set of gear. They were touted as the best thing ever.
My buddy and I were doing air shares once during a rescue class and it was my turn to be OOA, so I signaled him and he handed me his primary. He went to grab his Air2 for himself and instead grabbed his snorkel and took in a lung full of water which sent him straight to the surface 20’ above, of course ripping the donated second stage right out of my mouth and leaving me there. Good thing it wasn’t for real.

Lucky for me, when this happened to me, I was using a dry top snorkel and it did it's job perfectly. I tried to breathe off of it and instead of drowning, I just got nothing at all. It took me a second, wondering if something was wrong with the Air2, like there was a switch that I had bumped and turned it off or something before I realized I had my snorkel.

It was a solution to a non-existant problem. It's a case of throwing gear at a training and experience issue.

There is no training or experience issue that the Air2 is addressing. It's trying to address a convenience issue.You already have a low pressure hose running to your inflator, why not make double use of it as your back up reg? It saves you a little bit of bulk and prevents dangly bits hanging from your otherwise perfect trim. The problem is that you are really trading a whole lot of functionality, safety, and comfort for that convenience. My shop really likes to sell the combo inflator/seconds so I'm discouraged from telling students my true feelings about them.

For the record, when I eventually bought my own regs, I got a 7 foot primary even though I don't do caves because I was willing to sacrifice the convenience for the versatility and safety. I think a long hose, primary donate, and a bungee second is the best way to go, not matter where you dive. I use an AI computer (Vyper Air) for the convenience of having everything on my wrist, but also have a brass and glass SPG that is usually ignored. That redundancy and a backup computer (I carry the Vyper and a Zoop on every dive) saved a weekend in Lake Michigan last month when the Vyper gave me a low battery warning when I first got in the water, then reset itself at the safety stop on my first dive. I really thought it would survive at least one dive since it was the first time I had seen the low battery warning.

 

[BoltSnap]

No thinks. You were harsh enough the first time.

I am harsh because I asked you to clarify your opinion of my opinion? I didn't understand your statement blaming the user not the bad tools but not offended.

 

[drakcheslav]

My Mako mask is my favorite... it looks small on my face, but it seals great. It goes well with my new Dakine Scuba Hat...

View attachment 609298​

I post this because many would think my hat is 'garbage' and would never wear one. For me it serves a useful purpose when I'm in a pool or on a boat in keeping the sun off my ears when I'm topside and teaching. It also keeps moon jellies off of my ears when they are in season and there's just no way to mistake me for anyone else underwater. The brim is quite stiff, so it doesn't bend with the water pressure as I swim. Since it's colorful, it doesn't scare fish like black wet suits seem to do. It's my King Angel Fish disguise.

That image is majestic!

Mine doesn't fit quite as well as yours, but still.
It's a great alternative to the micro mask, considering it's not as expensive.

I'd like to try the mako mask, looks like a good version of the micromask, but shipping is way too much to serbia.

 

[The Chairman]

I think a long hose, primary donate, and a bungee second is the best way to go, not matter where you dive.

All my students learn on this, so we agree.

It's trying to address a convenience issue.

And becomes quite inconvenient for me in the process. Not to belabor the point, but it's vaunted to simplify something that needs no simplification. It's indeed a non-existent problem. Some people seem to love it, and use them successfully, so it's not 'garbage'... just not for me.

I've pointed this out in other threads, but as a group, divers tend to use only two categories: Awesome or crap! It's a result of the fairly common attitude that states "If I don't dive, teach or sell it, then it must be crap!" Dive and let dive. Gear and let gear. Post and let post.

 

[The Chairman]

That image is majestic!

Thank you. I was inspired by King and Queen Angel fish. The big predators on the reef are usually black or turn black just before they feed. Sharks and Jew Fish come to mind. No one's afraid of the King Angel, so 'majestic' indeed!

I didn't understand your statement blaming the user not the bad tools but not offended.

In a society that loves to blame everyone and everything else instead of accepting personal responsibility, I hope you get my point now. You and only you can decide to splash. You and only you are responsible for your dive. You and only you are responsible for your safety and fun. Ergo, you and only you are responsible for the choices you make. What may not be suitable for you or even for a specific dive doesn't make any gear 'garbage'. My first dive was in Lake Underhill. Orlando Florida in June of 1969. I dove a discarded Healthway reg I had worked through, a salvaged tank on an atpack, a ScubaPro tri-panel mask and heavy jet fins. No SPG, no BC and my depth gauge was a red ribbon. I managed to have so much fun in spite of my gear that I kept diving again and again. Of all that gear, I still own the fins which are way too small for me to wear now. That Healthways reg was garbage to the Navy, but magic to me.

 

[BoltSnap]

I've pointed this out in other threads, but as a group, divers tend to use only two categories: Awesome or crap! It's a result of the fairly common attitude that states "If I don't dive, teach or sell it, then it must be crap!" Dive and let dive. Gear and let gear. Post and let post.

The whole premise of this thread and of SB in general is for people to solicit and give their opinions on the various issues of concern to the participants. In this specific thread the OP is specifically asking about "scuba equipment you absolutely hated" there is no grey zone or doubt about what the opinions are about. In fact, in the post part, this is what keeps SB going, opinions and recommendations of equipment, travel destinations, etc. People will give you opinions that would include what they don't like or even hate about these various subjects. It is their opinions based on their knowledge, experience and taste, this is what makes the world go around and what keeps SB, and other online dive forums, going and stay in business. Following your logic, you'll just have to shut down this thread and pull the plug on SB and let everyone go diving and keep their opinions and preferences under water (it may not be a bad idea) and people will have to repeat the same mistakes in gear choices, going to terrible travel destinations and other wrong choices just because we aren't supposed to share our experiences and our opinions.

And yes, people remember what appeals to them, the awesome, and what they hate, the crap, the stuff that is in the middle or the mediocre is just that mediocre that doesn't stick in their memory. People in ALL activities, not just scuba, want and seek the awesome and avoid the crap, this is what this activity is all about, awesomeness. No one goes diving wanting to have a mediocre dive let alone a crappy one, this is the goal and the dream of our activity, awesomeness!!!

 

[tridacna]

It goes well with my new Dakine Scuba Hat...

Exactly which one do you have? I've been looking for a hat like that to take UW.​

 

[Still Kicking]

It took me a second, wondering if something was wrong with the Air2, like there was a switch that I had bumped and turned it off or something before I realized I had my snorkel.

I never had an integrated inflator but your comment reminds me of the most ridiculous addition to one -- Aqualung's inline shut off on some models of the Airsource inflator.

To have a device that could be accidentally bumped and leave the owner without a working alternate regulator in an emergency AND without a way to power inflate their BC seemed borderline criminally negligent to me. A panicked diver could hardly be expected to realize the valve was shut and open it in the heat of the moment.

I'm not even sure what the purpose of the shut off was -- was it to shut off air to a poorly maintained, leaky Airsource? I know it was a fixed hose to the inflator but never figured out the thinking behind that BS.

 

[HKGuns]

My first mask, SP Spectra, gave me a headache every time i dove. It put tremendous pressure on the unibrow portion of my forehead. I still have it but don't use it and it wasn't exactly cheap.