Diver image. Do you even think about it?

[kr2y5]

Our image in other people's eyes should ideally be entirely based on our actions and interactions, never on our appearance or on the accoutrements with which we surround ourselves.

We may be social animals, but some solitude is also an absolute necessity. I prefer to dive alone, without an audience. An ideal dive for me is a solo dive off some isolated beach.

People who bask in the glow of their possessions, or who derive their self-image from material things and external appearances have serious maturity problems. I can honestly say that I have never bought a single piece of equipment with any thought for how others might react to it. The idea is ridiculously absurd. That some people do have such motivations is a very sad commentary.

I agree with you... still, the reality deviates from what we'd like it to be... and sadly, perhaps to some extent it's even justified? Appearance affects life outside of diving. I noticed, for example, that I'm treated differently by flight attendants, and the likes, depending on whether I wear a suit, or baggy clothes. It's 2015 in a modern society, but still... In many professions, it would be hard to do business if you don't care about appearance. I think it's safe to assume that the same kinds of biases and prejudices are present in diving. While it sounds quite terrible, caring about one's image might even make a bit of sense...

 

[agilis]

I agree with you... still, the reality deviates from what we'd like it to be... and sadly, perhaps to some extent it's even justified? Appearance affects life outside of diving. I noticed, for example, that I'm treated differently by flight attendants, and the likes, depending on whether I wear a suit, or baggy clothes. It's 2015 in a modern society, but still... In many professions, it would be hard to do business if you don't care about appearance. I think it's safe to assume that the same kinds of biases and prejudices are present in diving. While it sounds quite terrible, caring about one's image might even make a bit of sense...

I understand your point. That's why I shave almost every day, trim the hairs growing out of my aging ears, cut my nails, and refrain from wearing my Che t shirt while going through airport security. Practical considerations, especially job related, are perfectly understandable. When I was tenured more than 30 years ago I wore the traditional grungy tenure outfit, but just for a day or two. Being a tenured college faculty member gave me much more attire latitude than most professionals, but there were limits. I even wore a suit from time to time, for things like visiting reaccreditation teams or funerals.

Practical necessities are a very different thing from attempts to project an image through leisure sporting equipment, I think. Perhaps golf, but that is a world as foreign to me as ballroom dancing. I once saw a newly arrived diver at a Caribbean resort step out onto his patio after unpacking. He was dressed in shorts and a polo shirt, with a big diving knife attached to his leg glinting in the late afternoon light. I had to laugh.

Caring about one's image covers a wide spectrum, from basic courtesy and common sense to adolescent posturing. Buying scuba equipment with the intention of making the technical equivalent of a fashion statement, or attempting to impress onlookers in some manner, is a really childish and stupid thing to do. But so many things are, I suppose.

 

[DaleC]

The other point being, in the case of the flight attendants, or customers, there is a transaction of services so to speak. If you dress a certain way, you get a desired result. What service does one get by dressing the part for diving, other than an ego stroke.

 

[ZzzKing]

Hm. Maybe I and my clubmates are posers, I don't know.

I started out with the standard jacket BCD, got a back inflate for free, tried it out and ended up buying a BP/W. With the blue 'H' logo. I also went the LH/BO config route. And I use a somewhat "techie" looking drysuit. I still use singles, though, since single tanks are easier to stow under the benches of my boat than fully rigged double sets are. I'm not exactly thrilled with the thought of renting a standard jacket and short hose reg set the next time I go on a diving vacation, but IMO that's because I found the type of gear that fits my needs, and that's different than the standard resort rental gear. I've got clubmates whose only kit is a BP/W with doubles, rigged with a LH/BO reg set. Naturally, that's what they use on all their dives. We all dive drysuits, some of those are "techie" trilams.

Does that make us posers? I wouldn't be surprised if we were seen as posers by people diving a standard poodle jacket setup, but IMO it's just that a lot of people can't afford several sets of gear. So we dive what we've got, even if we look a little more "tec" than someone using a typical warm water type kit of wetsuit, poodle jacket and short hose reg.

Mi won't comment on your "poshness" as I have no idea about your training or abilities but dive whatever gear you want as long as you can do so without endangering yourself or others. On the other hand, I have never heard the term "poodle jacket" used in a positive way no matter what the context. I think you should be more concerned with being seen as being a jackass than being seen to be a poser.

 

[agilis]

Poodle jacket? I have no idea what that is, and I refuse to Google it because doing so will unleash a barrage of ads attempting to sell me one. This hypermarketing has got to be crushed like a diseased rodent. Sometimes it's funny. My cat was nearly twenty before she died, and for more than a year a significant part of her diet was baby food. Using a debit card at the supermarkets resulted in a flood of ads for things like diaper services.

I'm intimately familiar with poodle skirts. Wait...a wave of nostalgia...

I'm OK now. Poodle skirts, but not poodle jackets. I suppose men who wear poodle jackets also have mullet haircuts.

 

[Nemrod]

No need to google.

Poodle Jacket = Buoyancy Compensator (Device for PADI certified divers) promoted (erroneously) as a necessary life support system. Derisive term applied toward any fluffy, padded SCUBA buoyancy compensator usually fitted with a cummerbund and a chest strap and lacking a crotch strap.

Mullets are optional.

N

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I googled "Poodle jacket" and found this
Image from http://image.shutterstock.com/displ...tock-photo-poodle-in-life-jacket-11957923.jpg.

 

[shoredivr]

I googled "Poodle jacket" and found this
Image from http://image.shutterstock.com/displ...tock-photo-poodle-in-life-jacket-11957923.jpg.

And that dog's not even a poodle, it's a Bichon Frise.

 

[Rhone Man]

I once saw a newly arrived diver at a Caribbean resort step out onto his patio after unpacking. He was dressed in shorts and a polo shirt, with a big diving knife attached to his leg glinting in the late afternoon light. I had to laugh.

Well, if we are being honest, I only got into diving in the first place because as a pre-teen I was promised that I would be allowed to wear a really big knife...

---------- Post added May 4th, 2015 at 12:06 AM ----------

Mullets are optional.

:shocked2: Since when?

 

[ajduplessis]

I think I can beat that....

View attachment 207392

And NO!!!! they aren't mine.

But they do fit?