Monterey/North Coast Equipment Dream List

[Peter_C]

My gear is not my favorite gear, it is just my gear and is paid for and works. There is no way I would get in our local waters without a drysuit. Last time I wore a wetsuit and went snorkeling in Gerstle Cove I froze. My Scubapro regs (MK25/S600's) I bought when I first started diving are about the only things I still have left. My fins are Jets, but today there are better fins available. There are tons of options, and my partner has completely different gear than I do.

A Hogarthian type dive setup is my preference, and the way most of my dive buddies dive. For scootering it is one of best systems, and never snags when slamming thru the kelp. There are few situations it doesn't work well, but to each their own. I dive with a can light and prefer my dive buddies use a light too for communication. Makes it far easier in poor conditions to keep a dive team together. I carry lots of safety equipment, including a whistle, SMB, spool, sometimes a reel, a Nautilus Lifeline, and other stuff.

Scooters have come a long way since I got mine. Although old, it still works just fine and can pull two divers around. They are built for Point Lobos and many other shore dives, taking an otherwise uninteresting dive, into an exploration. Fort Ross is awesome once you get far enough away from the beach.

Boats...hmmm. These days I rarely even dip my trailer in the water as I can easily just roll my boat into the water. Coming out of the water we just winch it onto the trailer. I suppose I should finish my electric winch install so I can load the boat by myself up a steep ramp. We used the boat the previous weekend to go for an ocean, then bay cruise, followed by a nice hike at Angel Island. I enjoy my dive boat for much more than just diving. We had 5 divers in it a few months ago outside Lobos enjoying all the mammalian life at the surface and of course the underwater world too. We can beach launch anywhere that a boat can roll too, giving us easy access to many dive sites.

 

[Ben_ca]

I use the same gear as Peter C.

...and the same gear as TSandM, Gombessa, Adobo, Eelnoraa and about 40 more diver friends in and around the area. This makes it easy for me (and them) to borrow or lend gear if needed. It also helps when we all have the same training, hand signals and protocols. This makes diving here and other places so much easier. I recall doing some dives with visitors from LA and Seattle and the besides the dive site briefing there was very little else that we were not in sync with.

My recommendation would be to find someone who's diving the dives you want to do in the future and ask them how they got there. There's nothing more frustrating than having to buy things twice because your gear is holding you back from what you want to be doing.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Well of course so will I, I'm not a monster.
However, I personally don't see the value of using a 5'or 7' long hose in Norcal waters, especially in kelp and on shore dives. I don't think the long hose configuration is the end all in hose configurations.
I use a regular octo length alternate, and if I'm in a situation like you describe (on a boat with an insta buddy I don't know) I'm sure as hell not going to trust them with a long hose, they could do all sorts of goofy stuff with that much leeway like try to bolt to the surface. In that situation I personally would be hanging on to them face to face making full eye contact the whole time and controlling the ascent. A 40" hose is the proper solution for this - a shorter leash.

So to answer your comment, I do have an alternate but it's an alternate that works for me, and if I'm going to share with an OOA diver they are going to share my air ON MY TERMS. They don't just get to do what they want, they came to me with a problem, and it's MY training that's going to get them to the surface.
And if someone doesn't like my 40" octo length hose then they need to find another buddy.

On the other hand, if you are diving with a known buddy that uses a long hose or another long hose trained insta buddy like a DIR type then knock your self out.

The long hose isn't just for the recipient. It's for the donor in a couple ways:

- When you do donate, it's easier because you have some room to maneuver and so the sharing is less likely to turn into a Charlie Foxtrot. If you
need to swim (and all three of my donations required a bit of a swim back to the anchor line) you can swim side by side.

- When you take your tank off on the surface at the end of a boat dive, you can leave your reg in your mouth.

Having donated both ways, I'd never go back to a standard octopus hose.

Chuck

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The long hose isn't just for the recipient. It's for the donor in a couple ways:

- When you do donate, it's easier because you have some room to maneuver and so the sharing is less likely to turn into a Charlie Foxtrot. If you
need to swim (and all three of my donations required a bit of a swim back to the anchor line) you can swim side by side.

- When you take your tank off on the surface at the end of a boat dive, you can leave your reg in your mouth.

Having donated both ways, I'd never go back to a standard octopus hose.

Chuck

That's the beauty, being able to choose what works for our individual needs.
It's extremely difficult for me to conform to just one style of anything.
There are so many options out there and they all work, they all have their plusses and minuses.
It's all just opinion, and that's what makes these debates so much fun.

Thank you