The responses to the Orange Shovel question in the New Divers ... forum raise two questions.
A number of posts, on the Orange Shovel thread (what is the diving equivalent of the hiker's orange shovel, signifying a newbie) and the ‘Most Regretted Equipment Purchases’ thread, mentioned retractors, as either the sign of a newbie, or something that people didn’t find useful after they purchase them. I am curious about the reason(s). I have found a retractor useful in a couple of situations, and maybe just haven’t had one ‘fail’ in the fully extended position to appreciate their deficiencies (or maybe am too clueless to appreciate why they are geeky). So, what are the negatives that others find with retractors?
Similarly, some great orange shovel comments were made about larger volume masks (‘aquarium on the grille means a new c-card in the pocket’. I use both simple, low volume masks, as well as an Ocean Master View 3 - which I consider to be a big volume mask. While I find low volume masks to be fine for virtually all my diving, I don’t have a problem with my OM. So, what are the negatives that others have found – do they fog more, are they easier to get knocked around or off in smaller spaces?
Just curious.
A number of posts, on the Orange Shovel thread (what is the diving equivalent of the hiker's orange shovel, signifying a newbie) and the ‘Most Regretted Equipment Purchases’ thread, mentioned retractors, as either the sign of a newbie, or something that people didn’t find useful after they purchase them. I am curious about the reason(s). I have found a retractor useful in a couple of situations, and maybe just haven’t had one ‘fail’ in the fully extended position to appreciate their deficiencies (or maybe am too clueless to appreciate why they are geeky). So, what are the negatives that others find with retractors?
Similarly, some great orange shovel comments were made about larger volume masks (‘aquarium on the grille means a new c-card in the pocket’. I use both simple, low volume masks, as well as an Ocean Master View 3 - which I consider to be a big volume mask. While I find low volume masks to be fine for virtually all my diving, I don’t have a problem with my OM. So, what are the negatives that others have found – do they fog more, are they easier to get knocked around or off in smaller spaces?
Just curious.