Have you ever used scuba equipment you absolutely hated!

[BoltSnap]

I ran a student machine and welding shop for the College of Architecture at the University of Florida. I would take great care to show them how to use a tool, be it a lathe, mill or band saw. I would watch them carefully for a few minutes to make sure they were safe and not damaging equipment. I would then leave them, sit at my desk taking care of various things and listen. I could hear the process and knew if they were doing it right just by the sound. I was known for a catch phrase I repeated often when things began to howl: "It's not the tool."

Scuba, like using tools, is all about limits. It's not up to the tool to be used correctly, but the user. If you use equipment that doesn't fit, is ill serviced or not otherwise suitable for the job, you will fail. You can blame the equipment all you want, but they don't have a choice here. You have the choice.

People will tell me how horrible a BC is. Try diving without one. I have. I still often dive without a bladder on my harness. Does that make the bladder 'bad'? I don't rely on equipment to keep me safe: I rely on my skills. Some people hate split fins, yet I have hundreds of dives on them. You have to kick quicker to go faster, not harder. It's exactly the opposite for my cave fins. Each tool has a technique you need to master. If you don't learn it and use the tool correctly, you will fail. You call the tool garbage while I see your technique as lacking. I don't use split fins, because I would rather kick harder than faster especially with heavy gear or towing a distressed diver. It suits my massive thighs and calves. Calling the fins garbage is intellectually dishonest. They just don't work well for me.

It's not the tool. Even when you think it's the tool, it's still not the tool. It's not ever the tool. It's always the user.

My intent was to express a perspective different than most. Perhaps to help you pause and think. I get that people don't like taking responsibility for their decisions and/or actions. I'm different in that respect, I guess. I'm sorry if this offends you. That wasn't my intent, but it's still not the tool.

No such thing as bad tool or bad design or low quality equipment?

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Fara-Fins. After using them twice I literally threw them in the trash.

 

[kelemvor]

Fara-Fins. After using them twice I literally threw them in the trash.

View attachment 609084

What an odd contraption. Might be good for my son, who has muscular dystrophy.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Seac Italica mask. it was great and I loved the silicone, but after a year of trying many many times, I got sick of it fogging and gave up. Gave it to my son as a back-up. I think I just don't do well with low volume masks because they sit too close to my face and I apparently generate a lot of heat.

 

[Bob DBF]

I have a low threshold of what works underwater. I'm picky about what I'll spend a lot of money on, but I have been known to dive anything handy or cheap. Got no hate for any dive gear.

Fara-Fins. After using them twice I literally threw them in the trash.

View attachment 609084

I had the version before that, it had factory spring straps (around 1980) and was the best pair of fins I ever owned. When they wore out Farallon was out of the fin business, I believe they focus on DPV's now.

I believe SeaRat, @John C. Ratliff, worked on a pair to make the brace angle more user friendly. He can direct you to the thread, if he shows up and you are interested.

 

[The Chairman]

No such thing as bad tool or bad design or low quality equipment?

Not really. It's all about limits. Fins sold in Walmart are designed for kids playing in the pool or by the shore. They are perfectly adequate for that purpose, but would be horribly inadequate for a dive into high currents.

There was an old commercial when I was a kid about trucks. It seems that Wilbur was trying to haul two ton of fertilizer in a one ton truck and was running into problems. The slogan you were left to ponder was "Why, that's as dumb as trying to haul two ton of fertilizer in a one ton truck!" Every piece of gear has limits. Every diver has limits too. Every environment dictates those limits. Your job is to make sure you abide within those limits or you'll experience the consequences. I get sent lots of gear and once I was sent a plastic "never jamb" reel to take as a primary cave reel. It worked out real well for pulling a flag in the ocean, but I never trusted it enough to bet my life against it in a cave.

There was a well loved person here on ScubaBoard who owned a Texas Dive shop. He sold off his interests in that shop and went into paintballing. His main complaint is that most of the gear most of the divers buy will never need to be replaced. If they buy a low end regulator, chances are they'll still be using that same regulator years later. Buy a paintball gun and when you get hit in your first game, they never blame themselves: they blame the gun. Consequently, most paintballers have several guns. They keep hoping in vain that the better guns will make them better players. Practice and learning a modicum of tactics will do that, but that takes time and effort. It's far easier to throw gear at a training issue instead. A back plate and wing won't improve your trim and buoyancy: only you can do that. A new regulator won't affect your SAC a single bit: that's entirely up to you.

 

[AdivingBel]

Buy a paintball gun and when you get hit in your first game, they never blame themselves: they blame the gun. Consequently, most paintballers have several guns. They keep hoping in vain that the better guns will make them better players. Practice and learning a modicum of tactics will do that, but that takes time and effort. It's far easier to throw gear at a training issue instead.

Sounds like a few golfers I know. Fortunately they sustain the market. Always a silver lining...

 

[Wathdoc]

I did have a wing that was far too big, which was a pain.Some split fins and a snorkel.

 

[kmarks]

I ran a student machine and welding shop for the College of Architecture at the University of Florida. I would take great care to show them how to use a tool, be it a lathe, mill or band saw. I would watch them carefully for a few minutes to make sure they were safe and not damaging equipment. I would then leave them, sit at my desk taking care of various things and listen. I could hear the process and knew if they were doing it right just by the sound. I was known for a catch phrase I repeated often when things began to howl: "It's not the tool."

Scuba, like using tools, is all about limits. It's not up to the tool to be used correctly, but the user. If you use equipment that doesn't fit, is ill serviced or not otherwise suitable for the job, you will fail. You can blame the equipment all you want, but they don't have a choice here. You have the choice.

People will tell me how horrible a BC is. Try diving without one. I have. I still often dive without a bladder on my harness. Does that make the bladder 'bad'? I don't rely on equipment to keep me safe: I rely on my skills. Some people hate split fins, yet I have hundreds of dives on them. You have to kick quicker to go faster, not harder. It's exactly the opposite for my cave fins. Each tool has a technique you need to master. If you don't learn it and use the tool correctly, you will fail. You call the tool garbage while I see your technique as lacking. I don't use split fins, because I would rather kick harder than faster especially with heavy gear or towing a distressed diver. It suits my massive thighs and calves. Calling the fins garbage is intellectually dishonest. They just don't work well for me.

It's not the tool. Even when you think it's the tool, it's still not the tool. It's not ever the tool. It's always the user.

My intent was to express a perspective different than most. Perhaps to help you pause and think. I get that people don't like taking responsibility for their decisions and/or actions. I'm different in that respect, I guess. I'm sorry if this offends you. That wasn't my intent, but it's still not the tool.

That's all true, sure, but Air2 is garbage. I used one once while assisting with an open water class and managed to put my snorkel in my mouth when demonstrating an out of air exchange instead of the Air2 because they were right on top of each other and I wasn't used to that. I made sure that will never happen again by never using an Air2 again, even if it does mean putting my own reg in the chlorinated pool water.

I've also never been a fan of jacket BCs. They don't ever fit me well and tend to ride up at the surface. I thought the issue was not having a crotch strap, but my back-inflate Stiletto doesn't have one and I like it just as much as I like my BP/W. (maybe more...sacrilege!)

I have friends who dive with Air2 on a jacket BC and seem to like it.

 

[ofg-1]

Well "Dad,"
You are always entitled to your own opinions on what you like and don't like and don't have to agree with others, it is a free world.

Well, sorry if I offended you. I was just trying to make a joke, obviously a bad one. Thanks for the diving resume, but I am not hiring. Remind me tomorrow, and I promise I will act impressed.