I was just on a weekend thang with a group I've never dove with before. Lots of cool people. Lots of young people... Some good young divers.
Anyway - they all had (for the most part) sparkling new gear. And it was funny to actually notice it.
* So when I got home, I start the rinse fest. And I look into my hood, and it's pulling at the seams, and its a little rough around my chin.
* My gloves are a complete mess - velcro pulling off, been repaired twice (re-glued, sewn, etc.) threads hanging all over the place. And these aren't even the lobster gloves...
* My beloved Sea Vision mask leaked a little on this trip (it has ALWAYS been bone-dry for me) and I noticed a little rip in its skirt. The plastic around the lens is fading.
* My drysuit wrist seals are not nearly as black, shiney and pliable as its new neck seal.
So I go to the log, and I see that I've done about 79 dives this year. The previous four years I had logged about 50.
So I draw this brilliant conclusion: Stuff wears out when you use it.
This isn't news to those of you that dive a lot. But to me, its sort of - well, unexpected. This is Ken - eBay monster. I flip gear and turn over stuff. I've never had a BC long enough for it to wear. I change dive bags like I change my sox (which is frequently) Fins? Please... they're here and they're gone. Wetsuit? Turn it over before it loses all its resale. Sell the light cannon two years later for more than I paid for it. I save all my boxes, take great care of my stuff and just re-sell it all.
I can't believe I've actually had a set of gear long enough for it to start showing signs of use. I'm actually felling pretty good about that, as I've finally settled into a groove with my gear and am actually, you know, DIVING IT. The diver is starting to supress the horse trader. Kinda cool.
K
Anyway - they all had (for the most part) sparkling new gear. And it was funny to actually notice it.
* So when I got home, I start the rinse fest. And I look into my hood, and it's pulling at the seams, and its a little rough around my chin.
* My gloves are a complete mess - velcro pulling off, been repaired twice (re-glued, sewn, etc.) threads hanging all over the place. And these aren't even the lobster gloves...
* My beloved Sea Vision mask leaked a little on this trip (it has ALWAYS been bone-dry for me) and I noticed a little rip in its skirt. The plastic around the lens is fading.
* My drysuit wrist seals are not nearly as black, shiney and pliable as its new neck seal.
So I go to the log, and I see that I've done about 79 dives this year. The previous four years I had logged about 50.
So I draw this brilliant conclusion: Stuff wears out when you use it.
This isn't news to those of you that dive a lot. But to me, its sort of - well, unexpected. This is Ken - eBay monster. I flip gear and turn over stuff. I've never had a BC long enough for it to wear. I change dive bags like I change my sox (which is frequently) Fins? Please... they're here and they're gone. Wetsuit? Turn it over before it loses all its resale. Sell the light cannon two years later for more than I paid for it. I save all my boxes, take great care of my stuff and just re-sell it all.
I can't believe I've actually had a set of gear long enough for it to start showing signs of use. I'm actually felling pretty good about that, as I've finally settled into a groove with my gear and am actually, you know, DIVING IT. The diver is starting to supress the horse trader. Kinda cool.
K
