Considering Hanging it up...but...what to do after scuba??

[happy-diver]

Give it up ha ha ha ha ha, that's why we're all on here talking about it, ha ha ha ha ha!

Give it up that's why I just invested in a dive lodge for me, ocean in front caves in back

Give it up and along rolls this magnificent recently acquired DPV no more cliffs for me

and then when you cant use it anymore you look at it
and when you can't look at it anymore you put it all in a container put a motor on the
back push it out and sit on top of it then keep going!

 

[tr3a]

This? “or eating granola on skinny skis with braided armpit hair and wearing home sewn Frostline goose down jackets again.”

This goes back to the 1966-1978 Nordic (cross country) skiing popularity growth amongst younger people. It was an entire cult within a group that disdained conformity, instead adopting the North American lens on the Swedish/Norwegian Nordic style.

They used torches to apply tar to their ski bases and melt wax using a hot metal iron, all carried in their nylon backpacks. Now we have plastic bases and other scientific stuff.

I married a rather accomplished Nordic skier (US Team) and granola was a thing. The braided armpit reference came from some of the aficionados bathing habits: utilizing sweat huts, rolling in the snow, icy rivers, willow branches, all that tribal stuff. The ‘braided armpit’ reference was soon applied generically to female snowboarders. (Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger)

View attachment 747704

Frostline was a mail order company, very hippy commune presentation, selling kits to sew your own goose-down filled coats which they called ‘sweaters’. Very intensive sewing work and you had an otherwise unaffordable outdoor garment.

Hell, we used to see ads for sew-it-yourself wetsuits.

I appreciate your asking for that explanation. Just arcane stuff. For a moment i forgot i was so gd old

I still have and use my Frostline mummy bag I made in 1970

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Agreed, and total trip cost also plays in, especially with the current inflation and stock market tanking. I've been researching to learn more about what's involved in some of these far flung trips, and the time commitment gets serious. To go to Raja Ampat, 3 days to get there, at least 2 to get back, and since it's such a travel ordeal plan to stay at least 10 nights...now we're up to a 15-night minimum trip. The cost adds up...especially if you think about booking business or 1st class airfare (the prices scared me off fast). For a couple to go is prohibitively expensive and for a solo traveler it may be a long time to leave spouse and/or kids behind. Researching such a trip is much more involved than one to a mainstream Caribbean destination. People still working may have trouble getting 2 weeks+ time off approved, especially far in advance (as such trips are often planned).

Well, you could always plan more trips out to California. It’s cold water, but lots of other stuff to do too.
Just sayin.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Yes, really. Demographics show the crossover. Why? BOTH are now rich-man’s hobbies.

SCUBA and Downhill Ski are the KINGS of the CARBON FOOTPRINT

Diving used to be the game of the working man, we knew this because of the LDS parking lot in the 1970’s was filled with real working pickup trucks and the like. Now, it’s BMW and Lexus.

In 1968, my first article I wrote for SKIING magazine was headlined, “The $10 Lift Ticket?”. Everything about skiing involves fossil fuel. Same for vacation diving.

When oil prices dictate, we’ll all be snorkeling in the quarry in Ohio or eating granola on skinny skis with braided armpit hair and wearing home sewn Frostline goose down jackets again.

The world is changing.

Just to give you an idea, a jumbo jet burns about 33 thousand gallons of fuel to fly 10 hrs. The rate of burn is about 1 US gallon per second. Of course a lot of this is used on takeoff.
That’s a lot of fuel.
Then think about how many jets are in the air around the globe at any given time. It’s mind boggling.

Where I live, diving still is the working man’s game.
There are very few vacation diver types that will dive off our coast. Most are blue collar types that are sportsman, and sportswomen.
So for me diving is not that big of a carbon criminal. I live fairly close to the ocean.
It’s even better if a couple buddies carpool.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

I'd say hold on to the gear for awhile and consider that a transition to warm water diving on vacations will be something you can enjoy for many more years...

Or if you want to be totally frustrated and humbled, you could take up golf........ and if you suck at it as bad as I do then you get to swing the club a lot more than your buddies, walk a lot further, take excursions into the woods, etc...

I'm only 67 now and still diving dry up here in the PAC NW.....but not as often as I used to when I was teaching and running a dive shop. It really sucks that there are no longer any decent dive boat ops in the San Juans..... Back in my younger days....my go to op was with Gordon Bradley on the Starfire... I still have his poster in my shop... I used to dive with Gordon 3-4 times a month during the 90's. We were good friends and I even had a key to the boat so I could drive up to Anacortes the night before and sleep on the boat...

Wild, I did not know about dive charters in the San Juans before Lu-Jac's Quest...which, my uncle owned and ran Sucks that there are none after he hung it up. I LOVE diving the San Juans.

A big question pertaining to what you might use to replace scuba diving is, what is it diving give you an outlet for?

Diving means different things to different people. I'll make a list and throw in some reasons people might choose an outdoor activity to begin with:

1.) Something to look forward to (but why?).

2.) Exercise.

3.) Mental stimulation in learning about and researching a new destination.

4.) 'Excuse' to enter the 'outdoors,' get 'on the water,' etc...

5.) Enjoy first hand engagement with foreign places, cultures, architecture, natural scenery, wildlife, etc...

6.) The 'challenge' of performing difficult diving well.

7.) Viewing exotic wildlife in their native habitat.

8.) Building a list of things you've seen (e.g.: a given # of species of shark or nudibranch, etc...).

9.) Enjoy an activity with family.

For me, it's be 1.), 3.), parts of 5.), particularly 7.) and some of 8.). I'm a 'coral reef + medium and big stuff' dude. There's another member on this forum who loves the shipwrecks of the Great Lakes and doesn't want to encounter sharks. Some people love cave diving. What specific itch does diving scratch for you?

Per your profile, you've dove "Truk Lagoon tec diving trip. Canada, Saba, Cancun rec diving." At your dive count, I've surprised you don't list more destinations, and it sounds like you're largely bored with your local diving.

With recent high inflation, and you having a family with 2 kids, I'm sympathetic about the cost (I'm retired, albeit with 1 kid, so feeling the pain on that). Would a 'scuba trip disguised as a family vacation' where the family could do other things, and you dive new places, be a good option? That's how I hit Key Largo, Jupiter, Morehead City (NC), St. Croix and Curacao.

If you give up diving how do we know its replacement will be viable longterm?

What did diving do for you that this replacement needs to take over?

This has a lot to unpack...I REALLY appreciate the in-depth analysis and personal share...I will be unpacking this. Thank you!!

Diveheart.

Wild, I will be looking into this...any branches of Diveheart out in Seattle?

Well, you could always plan more trips out to California. It’s cold water, but lots of other stuff to do too.
Just sayin.

I have not dove California...hmm...Catalina Island...and where else, eh?

Just to give you an idea, a jumbo jet burns about 33 thousand gallons of fuel to fly 10 hrs. The rate of burn is about 1 US gallon per second. Of course a lot of this is used on takeoff.
That’s a lot of fuel.
Then think about how many jets are in the air around the globe at any given time. It’s mind boggling.

Where I live, diving still is the working man’s game.
There are very few vacation diver types that will dive off our coast. Most are blue collar types that are sportsman, and sportswomen.
So for me diving is not that big of a carbon criminal. I live fairly close to the ocean.
It’s even better if a couple buddies carpool.

Well, for this carbon criminal...my main local dive spot is about a 4min drive...at a large muddy lake. It is not bad...just...I have been there about 50-60 times and my current buddies that I dove there a bunch with are bowing out of it [mostly] as they are bored of it. So, my scuba carbon footprint is on the lower end of the stats these days....I have not had many dive trips...too expensive with the fam.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

There are some really great posts here! I love reading the different perspectives and history each of you have shared. I am still struggling with this decision...hoping to get those LP50s and will see how they inspire me...maybe this inflatable fishing kayak and smaller tanks can inspire me to keep blowing bubbles until the next inspiration...we will see...

Reading these posts have helped keep the flame inside me a bit...at least they have kept me to think more about the decision instead of just letting it go and giving up scuba.

To give it up feels like jumping off a cliff....but...staying on the cliff feels uncomfortable...stagnant...boring...not quite right somehow...hence my coming here to get others perspectives on the situation. Knowing that other folks have cared enough about something here [scuba, a stranger in indecision, answering a call for insight, whatever] has helped me...and says a lot about each of you who have decided to respond...a great group of folks on here!!! I am humbled to say the least

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Andrew, I am thinking about giving up women if you or anyone else wants to talk me off that ledge. At 54, and after a long and storied dating history that never resulted in an official marriage anyway, I don't think I have the inclination, the energy, or the hormones to further pursue relationships.

Diving, on the other hand, treated me like a vindictive b**** but I still love it.

 

[happy-diver]

DUDE!



KAYAK DIVING WITH AN 02 CCR!

 

[Pressurehead]

I like it.
I have dived from my kayak on OC scuba only, last time was to recover a lost fishing rod [lure caught on a crab pot and pulled out of the rod holder], found and recovered, only in 6m of water, but poor vis.

DUDE!



KAYAK DIVING WITH AN 02 CCR!

 

[BoltSnap]

Give it up ha ha ha ha ha, that's why we're all on here talking about it, ha ha ha ha ha!

View attachment 747727

Give it up that's why I just invested in a dive lodge for me, ocean in front caves in back

View attachment 747728

Give it up and along rolls this magnificent recently acquired DPV no more cliffs for me

View attachment 747739

and then when you cant use it anymore you look at it
and when you can't look at it anymore you put it all in a container put a motor on the
back push it out and sit on top of it then keep going!

"dive lodge for me, ocean in front caves in back" as in hotel/motel or just private residence on the beach?

Can I come and visit???