Hey all!
Been lurking ever since I got my NAUI basic cert back in the summer... yeah, it takes me awhile to join an online community.
I guess I should do the customary thing and tell a bit about me. This may take awhile.
Decided to try out SCUBA after a recent deployment, certainly glad I did. Words can not describe the experience, but I certainly don't need to tell you all that.
Age: 21
Active Duty Air Force; Currently stationed in central New Jersey
Favorite Jersey dive shop (so far) is The Scuba Connection, just north of Princeton on Rt 206
Done quite a bit of diving up at Dutch Springs, PA.
Even though I'm NAUI basic, I plan to do some more bouyancy control/kick/trim courses, followed by advanced certification, then maybe ... who knows, technical training or GUE or a million other things I want to get into!
End goal is technical, wreck, some photography, and maybe even cave diving.
I'll save the reef diving for the sparse vacation, simply because I live in the Northeast right now.
Currently use a BP/W setup; Halcyon Eclipse 30 wing, Diverite SS plate, Diverite Hogarthian harness, Diverite STA/straps/etc
Diving wet (7/5), drysuit in the... future.
I guess I tend to use quite a few DIR principles setting up my gear, I read up on both viewpoints and a lot of the DIR stuff makes sense and works well for me. Only thing I don't agree with is why they don't like pony bottles. That and some of the guys acting like jerks to everyone else.
I do understand that I am NEW (less than a year diving as of now), so I'm sure that my opinions and gear may tweak a bit.
I am not a closed-minded "don't dive with strokes or people that wear jackets blarrrghhh" kind of person. Just wanted to throw that out there because I've seen some nasty e-fights about that crap. I was hearing about it before I got my rating or even knew what those terms meant, haha.
And yes, I did try out conventional gear, so to speak. Probe and Excursion (Oceanic) BCs, both hastily returned.
Outside of diving, I love flying. Mainly sailplanes; there are few things that can compare with soaring around for 8 hours on a beautiful day, not burning a drop of fuel in the process (save for the initial 5 minute tow). Screaming along the ridges along the Delaware water gap; riding thermals near the shore, seeing the NYC lights as dusk nears. I am a huge fan of aerobatics as well.
I'll also fly just about everything else. Ultralights, hang-gliders, powered general aviation (Cessnas, Pipers, etc - working on my single-engine-land private certificate), parachutes (I have been known to leap from perfectly fine aircraft so to speak), and even the occasional hitch on one of my jets (KC-10A) where I'll spend the whole mission up front unofficially "helping out," hehe.
As a profession, I am a USAF aircraft mechanic. Currently jumping into the NCO tier, as well as retraining to be USAF flight crew (wooohoo!).
I know that's a lot for 21, but life is way too short to be boring.
So, I hope that was enough info. I can't get too personal due to security reasons.
Anyone in the Jersey area who wants to get together or just has questions can PM me anytime of course!
I promise I don't talk this much normally. Or maybe I do.
Been lurking ever since I got my NAUI basic cert back in the summer... yeah, it takes me awhile to join an online community.
I guess I should do the customary thing and tell a bit about me. This may take awhile.
Decided to try out SCUBA after a recent deployment, certainly glad I did. Words can not describe the experience, but I certainly don't need to tell you all that.
Age: 21
Active Duty Air Force; Currently stationed in central New Jersey
Favorite Jersey dive shop (so far) is The Scuba Connection, just north of Princeton on Rt 206
Done quite a bit of diving up at Dutch Springs, PA.
Even though I'm NAUI basic, I plan to do some more bouyancy control/kick/trim courses, followed by advanced certification, then maybe ... who knows, technical training or GUE or a million other things I want to get into!
End goal is technical, wreck, some photography, and maybe even cave diving.
I'll save the reef diving for the sparse vacation, simply because I live in the Northeast right now.
Currently use a BP/W setup; Halcyon Eclipse 30 wing, Diverite SS plate, Diverite Hogarthian harness, Diverite STA/straps/etc
Diving wet (7/5), drysuit in the... future.
I guess I tend to use quite a few DIR principles setting up my gear, I read up on both viewpoints and a lot of the DIR stuff makes sense and works well for me. Only thing I don't agree with is why they don't like pony bottles. That and some of the guys acting like jerks to everyone else.
I do understand that I am NEW (less than a year diving as of now), so I'm sure that my opinions and gear may tweak a bit.
I am not a closed-minded "don't dive with strokes or people that wear jackets blarrrghhh" kind of person. Just wanted to throw that out there because I've seen some nasty e-fights about that crap. I was hearing about it before I got my rating or even knew what those terms meant, haha.
And yes, I did try out conventional gear, so to speak. Probe and Excursion (Oceanic) BCs, both hastily returned.
Outside of diving, I love flying. Mainly sailplanes; there are few things that can compare with soaring around for 8 hours on a beautiful day, not burning a drop of fuel in the process (save for the initial 5 minute tow). Screaming along the ridges along the Delaware water gap; riding thermals near the shore, seeing the NYC lights as dusk nears. I am a huge fan of aerobatics as well.
I'll also fly just about everything else. Ultralights, hang-gliders, powered general aviation (Cessnas, Pipers, etc - working on my single-engine-land private certificate), parachutes (I have been known to leap from perfectly fine aircraft so to speak), and even the occasional hitch on one of my jets (KC-10A) where I'll spend the whole mission up front unofficially "helping out," hehe.
As a profession, I am a USAF aircraft mechanic. Currently jumping into the NCO tier, as well as retraining to be USAF flight crew (wooohoo!).
I know that's a lot for 21, but life is way too short to be boring.
So, I hope that was enough info. I can't get too personal due to security reasons.
Anyone in the Jersey area who wants to get together or just has questions can PM me anytime of course!
I promise I don't talk this much normally. Or maybe I do.
