I was recently speaking with a colleague, from the Great White North; and we were both reminiscing about our crap jobs while in college. His was a fry cook position at a Mary Brown's in Toronto, or thereabouts; mine was the lowest position and pay, on a now-defunct dive shop totem, where I was tasked with both the installation and cleaning of cold water kits, which usually involved, inserting and / or removing sizable wads of thick silicone lube, often likened to automotive bearing grease, from piston firsts. Older Scubapros were terrible, due to the larger size of the holes, near the ambient chamber; leakage was all too common. It was a sticky mess -- a bit too Something About Mary, though not, eh, water soluble.
We both did quite a bit of cold water diving back then; and he reminded me that I had sold him on another older, though far more pleasurable alternative in cold water kits, involving a shot of vodka, in a little rubber shot glass, clamped to the first stage. Nowadays, there are far more elegant technological alternatives being put to use -- large exposed springs as heat sinks, etc; but where else can you enjoy a decent shot, right on deck, after diving somewhere in the single digits?
Who else is still using those older cold water kits -- whether grease, booze, or otherwise?
We both did quite a bit of cold water diving back then; and he reminded me that I had sold him on another older, though far more pleasurable alternative in cold water kits, involving a shot of vodka, in a little rubber shot glass, clamped to the first stage. Nowadays, there are far more elegant technological alternatives being put to use -- large exposed springs as heat sinks, etc; but where else can you enjoy a decent shot, right on deck, after diving somewhere in the single digits?
Who else is still using those older cold water kits -- whether grease, booze, or otherwise?
