Importance of Checking out new gear

[octotat]

I recently bougth a new hood and 7mm wetsuit and boots. Had a rare opportunity to house sit a place with a beatiful indoor heated pool so decided to rent a tank and wieghts to see how it felt diving in it. A few things that I learned:

1) I underestimated how much weight I would need, several trips to edge of pool to get the weight right.

2) My legs were very bouyant and I had to adjust for that.

3) While practicing mask removal and clearing, I had to make sure the mask was under the hood.

4) My perceptions were not reality and doing this checkout dive corrected that.

All these things were easy to deal with in a warm clear pool in shallow water. I'm very glad that I figured this stuff out before some challenging dive off a boat in poor vis in ice cold water. I can't recommend enough that folks should try new equipment in controlled circumstances. I'm sure too many of us (me included) just get new gear and wonder how it will work on the next dive trip. I'm glad that I did the smart thing for once and you will be too

 

[Ber Rabbit]

My guess is this was your first experience with cold water gear You've just discovered why warm water divers need to buddy up with an instructor or at least an experienced cold water diver for their first cold water dive. There are a lot of "little things" that can turn into big problems for someone who isn't familiar with any new environment. That's why when you get certified you are considered "...competent to engage in open water diving activities without supervision, provided the diving activities and the areas dived approximate those of training."

I'm glad you had a chance to try the gear out in a controlled environment, now get yourself an experienced buddy or instructor and start freezing, errr diving!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[ScottyK]

Although I've seen some of the wreck divers up here putting their mask straps under their hoods I normally don't.

Just a quick tip. You can take a scissors to your hood and open the face up a little so your mask will fit on the outside. I'm assuming that the hood is getting underneath the mask skirt, probably at the sides.

Happy diving.....

Scott

 

[H2Andy]

"Although I've seen some of the wreck divers up here putting their mask straps under their hoods I normally don't."

the only reason i do it is because, should my mask come off (either by being kicked off
or by having the current blow it off or whatever) it will stay on my head, and retrieving and clearing it won't take me as long as having to find the darn mask with no mask on.

 

[octotat]

You put your mask on then the hood? I could barely get the thing on without a mask on . Any tips?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Just a quick tip. You can take a scissors to your hood and open the face up a little so your mask will fit on the outside. I'm assuming that the hood is getting underneath the mask skirt, probably at the sides.

The only problem with this is that the more you open up the mask, the more skin you're likely to expose once you're done with the scissors. And that'll defeat the purpose of the hood, which is to keep you warm.

It's better just to practice pulling your hood up over your mask skirt. With practice the procedure gets pretty easy ... and your face will stay warmer.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ScottyK]

It's probably not a bad thing to do, although I could swear there was a debate on that here once.

I know what you're saying, "a debate on Scubaboard, never"

My problem is my head is so big I can barely get the largest size hood on. Putting anything else underneath it could stop the blood going to my head

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You put your mask on then the hood? I could barely get the thing on without a mask on . Any tips?

Yeah ... don't do it that way. For recreational divers there's no real advantage, and as you've observed it's a lot more difficult. Besides ... if for any reason you needed to remove your mask (or someone needed to remove it for you during a rescue attempt), you'll first have to remove the hood.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[H2Andy]

ok, just to make sure we're talking apples and apples:

i wear my mask around my neck, my hood (3mm) is pulled back (not on).

the LAST thing i do before diving in is put my mask on, then pull my hood on
over the strap.

i don't have any trouble.

now, could your hood be too small for you?

 

[Erik Il Rosso]

My guess is this was your first experience with cold water gear You've just discovered why warm water divers need to buddy up with an instructor or at least an experienced cold water diver for their first cold water div

I was certified in Sharm El Sheik were I used to dive with a 3 mill wetsuit...

When I returned to Italy I bought a semy dry 7 mill wetsuit and on my first dive in the Mediterranean I was not able to descend Although a nice (joking) divemaster tried to take me down grabbing me from behind...
I refused to go down, I played with the new wetsuit for a while and the next day I was able to descend...

After this using a pair scissors I opened the face up a little and made two small holes in the upper part of the hood in order to avoid "Conehead"...

It is the same old story, practice makes perfect...

Ciao Erik Il Rosso