I have noticed something very interesting on a lot of the comments which many may not be aware of. While most tried there best to say they did not care about their image or the way they looked, they actually do.
It's very common. "I don't care about looking cool" very often means "I care about NOT looking cool", or "I care about not looking like a n00b".
- In martial arts, a frayed and bleached belt is "cool". It signals "my black belt is OLD, I'm bada$$". I've seen competitors been sent of the mat to get a newer an less frayed belt by the ref before he would start the match.
- In some mountain hiking subcultures, the old-fashioned cotton anorak is strongly preferred over modern neon-colored membrane jackets as long as that's a suitable attire for the weather (typically, below-freezing temps). That anorak should preferably be sun-bleached and a little frayed at the edges. A patch or two helps, as well.
- Some of the freestyle skiers I knew back when freestyle skiing was still a bit avant garde, made a point of wearing clothes that looked like crap. It set them apart from the fashion crowd. "Look like crap, ski like a god"
- I know flyfishers who deliberately wear an old windbreaker and a felt hat instead of the newest flyfishing jacket from Sierra or G. Loomis, and use a splitcane rod.
In every one of these examples, the stated "I don't care about looking great" claim really means "I care about not looking like a n00b". Don't tell me there aren't similar attitudes among divers. What sends the signal "I've been doing this for many years, and I've got my sh!t together"? A bleached harness, somewhat frayed at the edges, or a brand new and still stiff one? Old and scratched tank(s), or shiny new with all the paint and original decals in place? A same-brand gear package from the local LDS, or a mashup of stuff of different brands and different vintages?
First off all I'm sure most of you have color preferences and for that reason, if you had a choice of colors you would choose the color that you like.
Of course. When I and my son were taking our certs, we went shopping for gear. When I could get my stuff (mask, snorkel, fins) in the same color, I chose yellow. My son chose blue. That way, we can easily see what gear belongs to whom, and it
does look nice to have an all-black-and-yellow or an all-black-and-blue outfit. As I said in my previous post, my color scheme went down the drain when I started to switch some of my gear for stuff that fitted me and my diving better. From yellow-accented splits to black Jets. Those are a pain in the back, though, because about a third of my clubmates use Jets. "Are those my fins?" "No, they're mine." Then I lost my (yellow) snorkel for the 2nd time, and since I was switching to a LH/BO config, I went for a roll-up snorkel carried in my thigh pocket. Second yellow accent gone. I still have my yellow mask, though, and since my yellow hoses were on sale when I was switching out my short (black) ones, I still have a bit of yellow on my outfit. Paired with orange accents on my trilam suit, and orange drygloves. Oh well. I have (female, of course
) clubmates who ordered pink accents on their custom DS, just for the sheer heck of it, and then they deliberately chose pink hoses and pink fins. Looks good. I know tec divers who by drygloves more or less by the dozen, and to save a bit of money, they buy them in a store selling gear to commercial fishermen and fish industries. Those gloves are pink. So, one of the guys got himself pink reg hoses as a sort of a joke. He's straight as an arrow, and definitely not homophobic...
Equally important is how one attaches their loose gear, and carries themselves. This also presents a good image. It shows that you are sharp and not sloppy.
Not "equally" important. "Most" important.
---------- Post added March 19th, 2015 at 08:50 AM ----------
who the heck would steal a BP with neon pink webbing?
I know one or two who would at least covet it a bit