Has anyone been griefed for their BP&W?

[Sideband]

I don't have anything against a bp/w except that I don't find them comfortable. I've tried it twice and did not like the feel either time. I also tried a Dive Rite back inflate that is similar but with more padding and I loved it. <shrug> Why should anyone care what someone else wears as long as it is safe and comfortable for the person wearing it? I guess the problem is, who should get to decide what is 'safe'?

Joe

 

[grazie42]

Originally posted by Sideband:

Why should anyone care what someone else wears as long as it is safe and comfortable for the person wearing it?

If you´re my buddy I care because I may have to depend on what you wear. If I don´t feel comfortable and safe with YOUR equipment I will choose to dive with someone else or treat our dive as a solo-dive.

I guess the problem is, who should get to decide what is 'safe'?

YOU do for YOU. Thats all there is to it...

 

[trevinkorea]

Very good thread.

I purchased an oxycheq bp/w set up based on comments from this board and after looking at it, it just made sense.

I too had a bit of a surprise when I tried to pool dive the set up. The owner/course director (not mentioning the agency) who belongs to an agency which promotes tech diving not only laughed at my configuatation, which was a perfect hogarthian system other than a slightly longer spg hose and no can light, and told me it was unsafe to dive and not nearly as well streamlined as a scubapro jacket. (guess what he carried in his store!) I was also surprised because I saw a BP with attached doubles displayed in his classroom.

After a lengthy conversation, he finally caved and charged me twice the usual pool rate. (found out after I used the pool) Some people feel a need to mock what they don't personally understand or consider optimum. (Recently found a new pool and shop, so far no problems.)

I live in Korea and here I may be the only one diving a BP/W. (I have never seen another one here) Most people are curious about the set up and do nothing more than point or ask what it is. This perhaps is not due to the gear. It tends to be the norm for people to point and question in remote areas where there are no foreigners.


Bottom line for me. I'll dive what I want and what I'm comfortable with. If others don't like it they don't have to partner with me. So far I have never had someone refuse to partner with me so, it probably isn't a big issue anyway.

 

[kidspot]

Like a lot of you, I've not gotten any real "grief" over my gear choices, but a lot of inquiries. The closest to "grief" was at my lds from their resident "tech" diver. He believes the rig is most suitable for tech dives and should be left out of the rec realm. Part of the problem was that he assumed I was "posing" as a tech diver. Once he realized I was not trying to impress folks, just quite happy with my choices he dropped the issue. I try to be upfront with folks about how new I am and why I chose the rig I have - A few weeks ago I dropped off a copy of the DIR III internet video for him to watch because he had never heard of DIR or GUE. A week later when I was talking with him about my buddy's gear he pointed out "You understand that DIR is dependent on a buddy for backup and this gear change is not ideal for that type of thinking? and he was right. He is not in agreement with DIR, but he took the time to understand it and my gear choices and is helping me on the path of learning that I have chosen - We have a mutual respect for one another now and he is probably my favorite dive shop employee. We now are trying to find a time to dive together . . . if our schedules ever coincide lol.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Uncle Pug]

The closest to "grief" was at my lds from their resident "tech" diver....Part of the problem was that he assumed I was "posing" as a tech diver.

Tim, I think that could be at the core of most of the more *unfriendly* responses folks receive using their backplate/wings in such settings: poser turf wars.

Once he found out you weren't a poser too, he wasn't threatened by you.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Tim, I think that could be at the core of most of the more *unfriendly* responses folks receive using their backplate/wings in such settings: poser turf wars.

Once he found out you weren't a poser too, he wasn't threatened by you.

Mon Oncle Pug,

Les poseurs sont horribles, non, mon amie?

Mssr. Rob

 

[H2Andy]

dude, what do you have against possums?

they're kind of cute, in a skunky kind of way... also, no sharp teeth (always a plus)
and far more cowardly than me (right on!)

gotta love them

 

[RiverRat]

Most of the *unfriendly* remarks I get are from LDS employees that basically work for free and are "tied in" to what I consider a "screwed up" system. The LDS' sell overpriced gear to new divers and that's dictated by the training orgs (one in particular) and the manufacturers. The BP/W setup does not fit their mold. So the industry has segregated divers and gear into "rec divers" and "tech divers". I think it's sad really. You see so many struggling new divers because they've been fed so much misinformation. They dress you up the way they think you should look as a diver, weight you down and toss you in the ocean. I argue my point about several subjects everytime I enter the LDS. It does no good. They should know better but they're all brainwashed into a screwed up mentality that I'll never figure out. If I ever get into being an instructor I would probably go the independant route, if at all. Anyway, when I'm out diving and someone compliments me on my "less is more" approach, or my rig looks "streamlined" then that makes me feel good.

 

[doole]

My 2c (as a BP/W guy myself) is that I'd rather be left alone by DMs on boats anyway, once they've given me a tank.

 

[The Kraken]

Andy, you'd better check out those possums again. Theose little critters have a pretty good set of canines up front, and the WILL bite. Don't ask how I know . .

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming . . .

I've never been given grief regarding my rig, but I've had numerous cattle boat divers ask "what kind" of B/C it is or "who makes it" kinds of questions.