Just a fun article on gear...

[mikerault]

Just a light hearted look at scuba gear...

http://scuba-diving.suite101.com/article.cfm/why_i_hate_my_scuba_fins

what part of your gear do you hate and why?

Mike

 

[ClayJar]

I have grown to hate my jacket BC, but only because in a drysuit with gloves and rings, it's terribly inconvenient at best (unusable at worst). I can't work the zippers, but it doesn't matter, because I can't fit my hands into the pockets with the ringed gloves on. (Oh, and the cummerbund just doesn't fit me well -- I'm too narrow, perhaps.)

Go figure, half a year after saying that I couldn't see a reason I'd go to a BP/W, and it should be delivered this evening.

 

[jmani]

Hated the first jacket style BC i bought, then upgraded (some would say lateralgrade) to Knighthawk back inflate. Also the thing i hate the most is the weight belt, or the need to lug around 45lbs of lead to get my fat but under the surface for cold water diving.

 

[mikerault]

I've found that with the drysuit I need more weight with the back inflate BCD than with the BP/W, even more than can be attributed to the 6 pounds the SS backplate weighs.

 

[RJP]

I've found that with the drysuit I need more weight with the back inflate BCD than with the BP/W, even more than can be attributed to the 6 pounds the SS backplate weighs.

Most non-BP BCDs are bouyant in and of themselves.

 

[TSandM]

I think I hate dry suits. I mean, aside from the fact that they're all that allows me to dive at ALL where I live, what's good about them? They're hard to get into, and often harder to get out of. They all seem to be cut just that half inch too short somewhere to allow anybody easy access to his valves. The dump valves either don't vent when you want them to, or are busy venting all of the air in your suit while you're trying to do a valve drill, resulting in your buoyancy control looking worse than it actually is. The feet are air magnets. The zippers require the pulling power of an F-250 to close (or open) and are always oriented so that no muscle in your body contracts well in that particular direction. And finally, as NW Grateful Diver taught me, and as has been verified in my own experience, a dry suit is only dry until it leaks, and they all eventually do . . .

Expensive, uncomfortable, untrustworthy, and utterly necessary. Yeah, I think I hate dry suits.

 

[3-Ring Octopus]

Drysuits are hard to get into??!! Since when? Beats putting on 14mm of neoprene anyday in my book.

Most annoying piece of gear/gear that I hate? Hmmm....5mm gloves. I love them because they allow me to keep my hands warm...I hate them because you'd think we as humans could come up with an ultra-thin yet highly-insulating material by now. Are astronauts using 5mm neoprene to insulate their hands? lol Why aren't there ultra-thin yet highly-insulating materials available to us yet?

Cheers,
Austin

 

[nymbus]

I think I hate dry suits. I mean, aside from the fact that they're all that allows me to dive at ALL where I live, what's good about them? They're hard to get into, and often harder to get out of. They all seem to be cut just that half inch too short somewhere to allow anybody easy access to his valves. The dump valves either don't vent when you want them to, or are busy venting all of the air in your suit while you're trying to do a valve drill, resulting in your buoyancy control looking worse than it actually is. The feet are air magnets. The zippers require the pulling power of an F-250 to close (or open) and are always oriented so that no muscle in your body contracts well in that particular direction. And finally, as NW Grateful Diver taught me, and as has been verified in my own experience, a dry suit is only dry until it leaks, and they all eventually do . . .

Expensive, uncomfortable, untrustworthy, and utterly necessary. Yeah, I think I hate dry suits.

Wow. Totally different experience from me. Sure, they can become undry oddly, (if only because I don't take the most loving care of the gear,) but mine is very trustworthy, and I love how easy it is to pull on and off. Plus, I don't feel like a nasty salt water lick after getting out, besides staying nice and toasty during a dive.
Now... I have a personal feud with gear as a woman. My experience has been that most women are fitted originally into suits that "look good" but don't really have the room, length and fit that is required to add undergarments and the like.
(My first suit was like this, and the second one which I actually picked out and insisted on was a wonderful fit for me.)
I find byouancy control easier and more intuitive as well... and when I don't want air venting out, I'm careful not to roll to the left to far or simply screw down the dump valve.
The biggest reason I love drysuits? I get to stay places that are colder longer. I may have stopped diving a long while ago if I didn't have access to drysuits, regardless of how much I love diving.
Different strokes, I guess.

 

[nymbus]

Oh wait, wait... thing I hate: drysuit hoods. Can't stand them. Never found one that fits right, always have to cut it down or poke holes in the head. Sure, I love being warm and fuzzy... but can't I be able to hear or not end up looking like a conehead from air building up in it?!

 

[offroaddiver]

Probably the one thing that aggrivates me. MASKS you have to have one to see underwater. You have to do considerable maintenance to them. What else do you have to wash every now and then to keep the grim off the lenses and then add chemicals to them to make it work better (antifog or tearless shampoo). I have used goggles that are antifog, but anything that encloses your nose fogs. There are probably masks that dont' fog out in the market but they probably don't fit my face well. Which brings on an entirely different statement.