Old Divers

[Rich Keller]

Well if they have to slow me down so they can keep up, I guess I wouldn't be offended.



Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

+1 I do not mind slowing down to accommodate the younger, less experienced divers.

 

[Merida Divers]

63 years old last month and very happy to be older and still in good health. First dive was in 1960 and I never looked back. With a bit of luck at least another 20+ years of diving.

 

[drbill]

I'm pretty glad I'm "old" these days and didn't die after I turned 30 (which many of us thought we'd do back in the 60s). I've been diving for 50 years (still trying to get it down right), have had years where few twenty-somethings could match my diving and am saddened when I see such youngsters huffing and puffing to get their bodies up the dive park stairs thanks to fast food and too many video games.

 

[agilis]

Like Dr. Bill I've been dismayed by the poor physical condition of some young divers. It's sad to see people unable to climb into a boat wearing heavy gear. On a recent Caribbean trip I had to wave away offers of assistance when returning to the dive boat. At first I thought it was my white hair, but then I saw twentysomethings puffing like marathon runners after climbing a short ladder. They also burned through an amazing amount of gas. The dive boat crew laughed, called me "Rambo". Serious discussions of SAC and similar technical issues followed, but somehow a diet of Doritos and cheeseburgers was not factored into the equation. Their inability to confront reality was dismaying.

I think an addiction to those brainrotting video games also affects the way many people dive: much too fast, much too oblivious, simply completing a circuit, superficially covering as much territory as possible. "That's how they want it", I was told. "they complain if we slow down". It's not an age thing. I moved just as slowly and looked just as closely when I began scuba diving in my teens. I'm convinced it's an attention span problem, essentially a cognitive deficit.

 

[j2s]

Good morning fellow Old Divers!! I'm well past 50 yrs old, and have a question: I shared a dive event here on Scubaboard. I got one response saying that, in other words, "a being "fit" suggestion eliminated alot of us older guys." So I adjusted the concept of any "requirements" to not be any. And the invite was broadened to include old divers. someone said that was "offensive!"

Grumpy Old Divers. 50+ in age. Would anyone here be offended if a dive was modified to include all or any of you here on this thread?

Thanks

Doesn't bother me at all....I just run them over in my wheelchair then steal their dive gear ;P !!!!!....That'll show 'em.

 

[danvolker]

Doesn't bother me at all....I just run them over in my wheelchair then steal their dive gear ;P !!!!!....That'll show 'em.

There is no reason a 50 + diver can't be in better shape than most of the 30 something divers....We are smarter, we have more time to train, and each year we dive we increase the experience gap we enjoy on the new divers.
Maybe you could do a 50+ for the Dean Martin set that did most of their training through the years at the bar, and a 50+ group that has always tried to stay fit. Desire to stay fit means far more than age....

 

[Zieg]

It's fun to get on the local dive boats with some of the young students from the Navy dive school. These guys are in TOP condition but most lack the experience. You'll see them racing all over the place sucking up air like it's going outta style.

 

[cudachaser]

I'm 62 year old instructor with a disability. I have been diving 46 years and teaching for 34 years. I don't mind being called an old diver

Joe

 

[ljwillia]

I'm 52. My husband started diving two years ago. Both of my sons are grown and gone. We couldn't have done this earlier in our lives. Age has its benefits. I'm happy to trade an empty nest for an open ocean! I don't mind being called "old". Of course, that's a relative term.

 

[OLDCOOT]

I'm 72 and just starting to feel my age. On yesterdays dive on the walk from the truck to the water the dive gear felt REALLY heavy for the first time. I'm just hoping that the air temp in the high 80's and me in a 7 mill suit had something to do with it. The 7 mil suit is needed with the h2o temp being in the very low 60's. I'm starting to think that doning the gear IN the water may not be such a bad thing. I could carry it to the waters edge a piece at a time that way. They say that your body changes every 10 years. Maybe I'll just wait to I'm 82 and see if my body has improved. Didn't happen in the last 10 years but there is always hope.