Cabin Fever - pointless discussion topic

[CT-Rich]

It is cold and wet and I am going nuts waiting for dive season to start.
As my father would say: "The days are getting longer.... almost sailing season..." he was always a big sailing nut. Used to get dragged to every boat shop with fifty miles every weekend all winter.

Today, through the wonders of modern technology, my kids are being spared those drives (not that they don't claw at the car window as I drive else where waxing poetic about the dive gear I would like to get.)

Anyway, I was getting my sunday morning fix on e-bay and saw some old dive patches for sale. Like most old time divers I look askance at patches on jackets the same way I look at wallets stuffed with certification cards. They don't usually say very much about the diver other than he is a collector (very good divers can have many certifications, but they seldom carry them in their wallet).

Some of the patches were standard dive flags, some for certs (Shore Diver? certified scuba diver?) others for group affiliations like police rescue and EMT or dive destinations... some humorous and politically incorrect. Some of them I think I would use, others not so much....

I admit I have a few event patches somewhere, and I got to thinking what patches do people actually wear? Do you have a jacket that you save for special occassion or put them on your bag?

Finally to keep this discussion as meaningly broad as possible, what are the ways other divers keep entertained during the cold months out of the water (other than diving dry or getting a plane ticket)?

 

[Dsix36]

ScubaBoard and other online dive forums, but living in Florida the dive season is year round.

 

[BabyDuck]

larry has a 'bubble-maker' patch he swears he's gonna put on his drysuit. i still have my girl scout patches & that's enough for me.

don, tell isabelle that i tried fin-keepers and think they might make a slight positive difference, hopefully even enough of a difference to work. only two dives with them, though, so early days. i've forgiven you for stepping out on me.

 

[Dsix36]

larry has a 'bubble-maker' patch he swears he's gonna put on his drysuit. i still have my girl scout patches & that's enough for me.

don, tell isabelle that i tried fin-keepers and think they might make a slight positive difference, hopefully even enough of a difference to work. only two dives with them, though, so early days. i've forgiven you for stepping out on me.

Glad to be back in your good graces.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Debbie has dive "pins" she puts in her dive hat. I am just a walking billboard for our books and merchandize in my Scuba Snobs t-shirts, jacket, sweatshirt, hoodie, hat, mug, etc. etc. etc. complete list at scuba snobs.com.
DivemasterDennis

 

[rhwestfall]

I have a patch of a pig wearing a scuba tank with the words "Air-Hog" on it. It needs to go on my wing...... Wife bought it for me some time ago when she was down in Fla. on business, and now it has gone missing.... crap! Thanks for the reminder. I used to have a ball cap with pins, but one spirited and windy ride one day, it ended up in the Niagara River.... a tragic loss... I still have my YMCA patch and chevron that they used to issue to you at certification (1988). It has never made it to anything, but should. Can't find the right thing...

As to diving, if it wasn't for SB, I likely wouldn't be still in the sport for the stupid seasonal SI's. Diving shuts down here in September, and not likely start up until late May/early June (I'd do more, bur can't find others interested). I do have other hobbies getting me through in the winter months, but would like diving to fill in more of it. For now, its just living vicariously through the teasing from a few friends "up north" who harass me with dive reports on a frequent basis on my message page.... its all good!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

It is January. It is hot. The AC is on at 9:00 am.

 

[divediva13]

I do not have any pins or patches I have a collection of dive t shirts and to keep me going through the winter I obsessively plan my next big dive trip or the next 2 or 3 lol but my husband and I are planning on taking the dry course to extend our dive season!

 

[Laurie S.]

I have only one patch and that's a DM patch that is sewn on my PADI jacket. I do collect scuba jewelry, mostly earrings. I switched from SSI to PADI 2.5 years ago and just have cards for my specialties and I keep them in my dive log binder. I do have a bunch of dive shirts, too!

 

[TMHeimer]

I have 2 caps--one with the DM patch and one with Master Scuba Diver. I wear the DM one when I'm not around divers because of your description of (what other divers may think) what patches are worth. Same with the MSD one but I don't even mention to other divers that I have the hat or that I am one (due to the fact that many divers think a PADI MSD cert. is useless). Except on SB of course, a place where I have only met 2 of the posters in person. I was wearing the MSD hat years ago at a BBQ and one guy said "You're not REALLY a Master Scuba Diver are you?" I said "Why yes I am".

As for cabin fever, none here. We've been lucky enough to usually do Jan.-March somewhere on the Gulf of Mex. And people in Nova Scotia ask me why I never went dry..... I dive all the parks in CT on the Sound in mid summer with shortie. Just wish you could get more than 12' without sticking the SPG in the mud......