Diver image. Do you even think about it?

[DaleC]

Angle upward is your friend

 

[beester]

Many people with the tech rig all the time are simply using the everyday dives to stay in practice. It's good entertainment and repeating a drill only once per dive is relatively painless but builds up skill pretty fast if you dive with any frequency.
As it happens, I only own the 1 rig, so when I visit a max 6m quarry my choices are doubles or a snorkel (I prefer the doubles). And it's just as well because the big reason I feel comfortable doing something challenging on a rare occasion is that very little of the challenging situation will be new or unfamiliar.

So??? I'm a GUE diver so of course I always use the same setup and I'm aware of repetition to build muscle memory... but I'll take the smallest double set necessary for the specific dive... unless training for a bigger dive... I understand training and of course if I see someone hanging full with stages and a double set in a 30 feet pond I'll assume he's training for something else.... What I'm talking about is people who are not doing "big" dives (no technical training whatsoever) but still are hoarding those big double sets and setup. In my book it's a bit silly but we are talking about image and I presume (don't know) that their decision doing must be influenced by image...

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think the gear should follow the type of diving one plans to do and whatever gear and protocol is used then becomes the image.
Nobody can get away from an "image", just the fact that you are out there diving with gear of any kind projects an image (you are seen).
Doesn't matter if you care or not and are using the exact gear suited to the dive nothing more nothing less.
When image comes first then maybe those people can be called posers or wannabes or whatever.
I've been around guys who went from regular recreational gear to tech and then after a while as their ego's inflated couldn't be seen diving anything but their fully decked out tech rigs for every dive, even in classes helping students. The instructor in that case looked at them and thought "really?"
But of course it was all about training and muscle memory even though they didn't really have any plans to use the gear to it's fullest potential, that didn't matter, as it worked out it was the image they were after strutting down the beach past all the OW students and craning their eye balls around to see who was checking them out. I found it interesting that very few of them could go back to just regular recreational single tanks to do a simple leisurely 30-40 foot dive like everyone else. Funny thing is, none of those guys even dive anymore because it wasn't really the diving they were after, it was the image. Once they hit the pinnacle of gear, certs, and "been there done that" there was nothing left for them to conquer so they moved on.
I also find it interesting that supposed tech divers have to wear all the gear even if they are doing basic dives or somehow they will forget how to use tech gear and lose memory.
I did the tech thing too at one time. I never had any problem switching back and forth, I think it must be a newbie tech diver thing. Yes we had to wear all the stuff for all dives per the instruction to get used to it, but to me it started to get silly when I just wanted to get wet and splash around at one of our local sites. Having to gear up with all that crap and waddle to the water with a twin set and a stage seemed like a lot of work. However I could go back no problem and just be a regular diver again. I guess the difference here is that there really isn't anywhere to do full deep tech dives and I'm not the type to travel just so I can tech dive somewhere, so I got rid of all the stuff and went back to basic single tank diving.
There was one instance with me when I got into "image" the most if it relates, and that was when I got into vintage diving for a spell. It's kind of a re-enactment in a way and a nostalgic history lesson, but doesn't really go much further with me. It was different diving with a double hose and I got to the point where I was completely comfortable with the gear. The issue I had was the breakdown and cleaning of the regulator after every day of diving that finally made it not worth it for me. Did I have to use a DH for the types of dives I was doing? no of course not, but yeah I have to admit it was an image driven venture to some degree when people on the beach would look on, similar to a guy driving around a '57 Chevy and having people look. It's not a practical car to drive but the looks you get and the thumbs up are kinda cool. I've since sold the double hose and have drastically downsized my remaining gear collection to a manageable assortment of the things I actually use.
The gear I use now is custom selected and built to fit the exact types of dives I do. The "image" that that creates is a by product of the functionality of the configuration.
I suppose anybody could say that, if they are actually using the gear and protocols to fit the dive,... and that being bigger than the end means of "image" alone.

The bottom line is, whatever you choose to do and whatever direction you go, live the life and walk the talk, don't just pretend.

 

[FinnMom]

Worrying about your own image is optional. Worring about other people's image is a waste of time. If we want to change other people's behavior (not a promising endeavour), let's at least stick to important things like safety, treating others with more consideration, or just doing a tiny bit to make others (esp. new divers) have a good time.
If the worthwhile efforts overlap with "image modification suggestions", sobeit. Otherwise we all must have better axes to grind.

 

[beester]

Worrying about your own image is optional. Worring about other people's image is a waste of time. If we want to change other people's behavior (not a promising endeavour), let's at least stick to important things like safety, treating others with more consideration, or just doing a tiny bit to make others (esp. new divers) have a good time.
If the worthwhile efforts overlap with "image modification suggestions", sobeit. Otherwise we all must have better axes to grind.

That is true FinnMom... very true!

 

[descent]

Worrying about your own image is optional. Worring about other people's image is a waste of time. ...

I agree, and find your logic well-considered and compelling. I have always felt that way, too.

But ...

It seems to me that many new divers spend a large amount of time obsessing over their outfits. No one wants to "look like a tourist". Even on the first day, they want to fit in.

How can we make these people feel more comfortable as we welcome them into the sport, when they cringe at the high price tags in the LDS, and then they cringe again when they see the beat-to-hell rental wetsuits?

 

[kr2y5]

If we want to change other people's behavior (not a promising endeavour), let's at least stick to important things like safety, treating others with more consideration, or just doing a tiny bit to make others (esp. new divers) have a good time.

I think very much the opposite is true... we, people, are social animals, and we care about our image in other people's eyes far more than we are honestly willing to admit even in front of ourselves... so appealing to our ego has much better chances of success at influencing our behavior than a dry argument about safety, or some presumed benefit to the society.

 

[Storker]

I've been around guys who went from regular recreational gear to tech and then after a while as their ego's inflated couldn't be seen diving anything but their fully decked out tech rigs for every dive, even in classes helping students. The instructor in that case looked at them and thought "really?"
But of course it was all about training and muscle memory even though they didn't really have any plans to use the gear to it's fullest potential, that didn't matter, as it worked out it was the image they were after strutting down the beach past all the OW students and craning their eye balls around to see who was checking them out. I found it interesting that very few of them could go back to just regular recreational single tanks to do a simple leisurely 30-40 foot dive like everyone else.

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.

 

[agilis]

I think very much the opposite is true... we, people, are social animals, and we care about our image in other people's eyes far more than we are honestly willing to admit even in front of ourselves... so appealing to our ego has much better chances of success at influencing our behavior than a dry argument about safety, or some presumed benefit to the society.

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.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

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.

A poser would be someone who just pretends or poses to be somebody or something that they're not. For instance actors are posers because they may play a cop on TV let's say, but they aren't a real cop they just pretend to be one. In diving if someone dresses up fully decked out in tech gear complete with doubles and stage bottles but yet has no tech training to even know how to use the stuff and knows nothing about tech diving whatsoever, they just like the way the gear looks and are wearing it as a fashion statement and to create an "image", then they are posers.
Not that there's anything wrong with being a poser. If people need to do that for some reason to satisfy some need and it makes them happy more power to them. Who is anybody to tell them different.
As long as nobody else gets hurt who cares?
At least they're diving and buying a lot of gear.

---------- Post added May 2nd, 2015 at 03:40 PM ----------

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.

This is pretty much where I'm at.
The less people I see the better, preferable none.