carrying gear

[Surelyshirly]

Does anyone else have a problem managing their gear?

Carring 26 lbs of weight, wetsuit, my bcd, a full tank of air and all my other "essentials and incidentals" I dropped my fin putting it on today and when I bent down to pick it up had a hard time standing back up.

Felt like such an idiot but I dont think not being able to benchpress a volkeswagon makes me out of shape.

Am I the only one here?

 

[TSandM]

You don't have any profile information about how long you have been doing this, but I can tell you that, when I started, I could NOT bend over and pick anything up off the ground. I can now, but I'm both stronger and more used to the gear.

On the other hand, we had to climb down a broken rock slope to our first dive site yesterday, and the bottom portion of the broken rocks was underwater and slippery and hard to see. I ended up falling, which didn't surprise me, and my buddy had to work HARD to get me back to my feet.

I'm 120 pounds, and carry about 70 in gear in a single tank. That's a lot of extra weight to manage, and to lift if it falls.

My dive buddy is licking his chops over his new twin 130's. I probably couldn't get to the water wearing one of them.

You aren't alone.

 

[Aquanautchuck]

I did my first shore dive in several years last month. I now know what I hated about it. Carrying 80 lbs or more over rocks and then up the shoreline is one pain in the rear. Oh well back to only boat diving. That's what I love about my zodiac, put gear in boat, get in gear sitting down, scoot over to tube and fall back.

Charles

 

[PenguinAdLitem]

I'm a wimp, so I've tried to find ways to position the gear around me for the hike to the water (most of my dives are shore entries). For instance, I have a quickclip on my right chest D-ring that my fins clip onto so I'm hands free walking down.

Also, it helped a lot to move most of my weight to my back. I'm diving with a BP and STA, now. I often use ankle weights. Sometimes I use tank weights. By positioning my weights along the length of my body instead of in my BC pockets or a belt, I get better in-water trim and find it easier to move around on the surface.

Even with all that, though - I'm about a 230lb guy and I feel pretty tippy with 70lb of gear. You're not alone. I think the trick must be to spend as little time out of the water as possible.

 

[kidspot]

as has been said, to a point you do get used to it. Another option is to get a BIG dive buddy - I have a couple very small dive buddies, that on long shore hikes I'll carry their tanks for them. I dive a lot more than they do, weigh 2-3x as much, so carrying an extra Al80 or two doesn't slow me down much.

 

[TheFoggyMask]

It is hard to carry all your gear when you first start. But its not anything close to benchpressing a car, and the average level of fitness for most americans is deplorable. Even if you're not out of shape, diving is strenuous. I would imagine a person with a background in hiking would have a better time of it than your average joe slob.

 

[diverdown247]

I did my first shore dive in several years last month. I now know what I hated about it. Carrying 80 lbs or more over rocks and then up the shoreline is one pain in the rear. Oh well back to only boat diving. That's what I love about my zodiac, put gear in boat, get in gear sitting down, scoot over to tube and fall back.

Charles

Dwayne and I had similar issues at Table Rock lake in Branson, Mo. We decided to shore dive and negotiate the rocks. It just eats up so much quality dive time carrying gear back and forth. Granted, you get a good surface interval.

 

[CheddarChick]

After our dive in Lake Michigan yesterday I remember why I love shore diving. Ralphitis. Didn't stop diving though. The brisk 47* water snapped me right out of it. When we dive shoreland we try to find a easy entry and put our gear on it the water. Might take a couple of trips but worth it. And don't feel bad if you are not a gym rat look-alike not many of us are!

 

[m3830431]

I think it is harder getting out than in. Not use to carrying all that weight after the dive. Especially on a rocky shoreline with some surf.

 

[hlsooner]

Get one of nice little "lead bags" which can hold all of the weight needed for two people. It is amazing how much lighter everthing is when you take away all the lead and just carry your gear.