I love the smell....

[Aum]

....of neoprene in the morning. Actually anytime does it for me.

I dunno, am I weird? But I do have to admit that I luv the smell of wetsuits....well to clarify, *new* wetsuits. I don't like sniffing some mangy old thing. (Not that I make it a habit to sniff mangy....oh lord) Don't know what it is. Perhaps the smell of "newness" or thoughts and anticipation of diving or the old memories of dives past but there is something about the smell of new wetsuits that I dig.

Little bit like when I was a kid going to the airport, and the smell of jet fuel would waft through the air into the car the closer you got. Used to love that smell too. Hang on....I still do.


Am I a freak? Do others feel the same way? Or do you have different or similar....I won't go so far as to say fetishes but how about perculiarities like this when it comes to all things diving?

Come out of the closet you freaky ppl.....please show me I'm not alone.

Arch

 

[d33ps1x]

For me it is the sound of stage bottles clinking on concrete. It is music to my ears so I can understand what you mean. It means I am going diving when you hear the hollow ring of a Luxfer against the concrete parking garage.

 

[mweitz]

There is a lot of discussion on smells and their effect on memory. It is believed by some that smell memories have greater detail recall. Just do a google search on "smell" "evoke" and "memory"....

So, you're not too weird

Mark

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I get the same response with avgas and jet-A (but not so much with neoprene). Smell is the sense most associated with memory and the memories that smells evoke tend to be very clear and powerful. So if neoprene triggers an emotional response in you, I don't think it is weird at all.

What is weird is a little weird are the research results from a study of a group of married people. The guys wore identical shirts all day long and then threw them in a pile. The wives were then individually asked to ID their spouse's shirt in the pile by smell with the result that nearly all the wives were able to correctly do so. The sense of smell also has much more discrimination to it than most people would think.

 

[SueMermaid]

DA, I have the same thing with AvGas.

I LOATHE the smell of neoprene, but I think I associate it more with the discomfort of stretching it on, compounded with the thought of puking, which I am known to do frequently while on diveboats.
Once I do that giant stride, though, it's allll worth it. Can't smell anything underwater.

 

[String]

Jet-A1 does it for me too.

Then again so does unleaded petrol - that means we're fuelling the boat to go diving

 

[frenchy07]

My new hyperstretch smelled like a skunk but I kinda welcomed it (my first suit you see), now skunks have a whole new meaning for me (no I don't stop to smell them or run over them to get the odor).

I understand the attraction to AvGas but 116 (purple) racing gas or racing methanol really gets my senses tuned up. Might have something to do with the racing I have been involved with for the last 21 years.

 

[Aum]

Yah I have to admit that the sound of tanks hitting (gently of course) concrete is pretty damn close to music for me too. And yes smell is an amazing catalyst to accessing memory.

String - for me it's regular petrol as it usually means I'm gassing up for a nice ride or even touring on my bike.

SueMermaid - Can't say I've ever associated neoprene with vomiting myself....I usually associate vomiting with running over fresh dog crap with the lawn mower. Gawd I used to gag when that happened.

Frenchy - suits and skunks....and here I was worried for myself :11:


On a slight off topic tangent I just remembered my days back at school years ago and the fresh smell of that purple ink they used to use with the print-press machines....before photocopiers. Forget the correct name of the machine or the ink. Then again it never used to remind me of anything....was just a chance for all of us to get a lil buzz off it before the test or quiz began.

Arch

 

[Xanthro]

I love the smell of gun cleaning fluid. Reminds me of my grandfather. As others have said, smell triggers powerful memories.

Xanthro

 

[freediver]

heehee this is funny, i thought I was a bit strange when smelling diesel exhaust i am reminded of dive boats in Cozumel.