Short people problems/hacks

[scubadada]

In (public) school? That's amazingly comprehensive. Over here, the schools are happy if they manage to teach the kids to avoid drowning and hopefully being able to swim a little. And since breaststroke is the normal way to swim here, that's what's taught. If you want your kids to to learn backstroke, butterfly or crawl, you'd better buy them a membership in a swimming club.

Of course, there are always some parents who go the extra mile and teach their children themselves.

No, generally no swimming in public school until high school. Swimming lessons earlier in life are generally private, many start quite young. I grew up in Southern California, learned to swim as a baby/infant, swam competitively from age of 4.

 

[MichaelMc]

I had a female dive buddy say that women dive teams work together on things while man tend to stand back and let others struggle. Women generally have less upper body strength than men. Part of my read from the women in U.S. military results was that the women worked together and smarter and got the job done while the men picked big things up alone and hurt themselves. And the women were better shots.

I think the exploding tank concern was if it falls on the valve after trying to shoulder it. Nothing to do with hydros and rust.

 

[Lobzilla]

Balance:
Being stable under water is like our upright walk. As far as the physics are concerned there is nothing stable about it. Our brain has to learn how to constantly make very subtle corrections that make us appear motionless. This takes time.

One way you can accelerate this process is by laying on the bottom of a pool in the correct posture, slightly negatively buoyant. Belly on the floor, knees and shoulders slightly higher, lower legs close to vertical and fins above and behind you, head back, face forward and arms forward and off the floor. That's going to feel very awkward, even painful, at first but just suffer through it. Then, inhale deeply to move up from the ground and try to balance yourself without much flailing for as long as possible. Try to slowly move the fins further back or closer to your butt and the hands further forward or closer to your shoulders with bent elbows. If you can't find a balance point this way, you have to move some weight or buoyancy around. Heavier fins, moving weights, whatever it takes. Then rinse and repeat the balancing exercise.

Like learning how to ride a unicycle. Get in the normal "riding" position while hanging on to something stationary, then let go of that object and try to maintain balance. Once you can hover in place, moving forward, backwards, and sideways gracefully is easy.

In between the pool sessions go diving and try hard to stay in the correct posture while finning. After a few weeks you'll wonder what was so hard about it. As adults we don't remember how many times we ended up on our face or butt while learning to walk.

Moving tanks:
How do I move double tanks that weigh about 100lbs? On my back of course, using the backplate and harness as a carrier. You can carry the wing regulators, etc. in a separate trip if you do not want to move the whole, assembled kit.

Custom drysuit:
If you go with DUI, call Faith Ortins and ask who she recommends to take your measurements or when she will be in your area to do it herself. If you shell out that much money, you want the suit to fit perfectly. There are many re-sellers that have the DUI measuring instructions but only a few people know where to add or subtract fabric to get a great fit. This is more of an art than a science. Cannot help you with other manufacturers.

Tank and backplates:
Nothing to add to the excellent suggestions from other posters.

 

[Storker]

How do I move double tanks that weigh about 100lbs? On my back of course, using the backplate and harness as a carrier

Might work for a twinset, but with a single tank/backplate rig, the plate and the (probable) STA weight will add quite a bit to the total weight of the package. I use a single tank BP/W rig, and I prefer to lug the tank down before I assemble my kit.

 

[laevimanus]

I had a female dive buddy say that women dive teams work together on things while man tend to stand back and let others struggle. Women generally have less upper body strength than men. Part of my read from the women in U.S. military results was that the women worked together and smarter and got the job done while the men picked big things up alone and hurt themselves. And the women were better shots.

I think the exploding tank concern was if it falls on the valve after trying to shoulder it. Nothing to do with hydros and rust.

I think the problem is I like to have a laugh at my own neuroses, and at the difficulty of navigating gender roles/expectations among other things, and this sometimes doesn't communicate well, especially in writing.

I also have an overactive imagination. I don't know the facts about whether a damaged valve will cause an explosion, but my mind produced that image, and I compulsively shared it.

@Lobzilla Good points about walking, and thanks for the practice tips. My lds sells DUIs, so I made a note of Faith Ortins.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

No, generally no swimming in public school until high school. Swimming lessons earlier in life are generally private, many start quite young. I grew up in Southern California, learned to swim as a baby/infant, swam competitively from age of 4.

Some public schools will do swim lessons for kids, paid for by PTA fundraisers. I had them, and my kids did to. But it's crawl and maybe backstroke if you're lucky.

 

[MichaelMc]

and at the difficulty of navigating gender roles/expectations.

I also have an overactive imagination. I don't know the facts about whether a damaged valve will cause an explosion, but my mind produced that image, and I compulsively shared it.

Negotiating gender (height) sensitivities is hard in the better new world, if a women is struggling and I offer to help am I: 'trying to help the helpless (short) lady, and drawing everyone's attention to her being here', or 'being a considerate fellow diver and just giving a buddy a hand'. Context of the helper helps, but it is often a calculation on how it will be perceived I feel I need to run in my mind. Best advice I got was to act blind to gender, but the recipient may not read it that way..., so more reading of the context, and by then the heavy thing is already moved.... Maybe best to ask forgiveness than worry about permission.

Oh, I'm fairly sure dropping on the valve is a BAD thing. Though if your hand is on the valve its less likely the valve will hit first.

 

[Storker]

Negotiating gender (height) sensitivities is hard in the better new world, if a women is struggling and I offer to help am I: 'trying to help the helpless (short) lady, and drawing everyone's attention to her being here', or 'being a considerate fellow diver and just giving a buddy a hand'.

Core question: would you behave the same way if your buddy were of the other gender than they are but otherwise of similar size and body strenght? If so, eff the SJWs. You're a good buddy. If not, you're probably sexist and should reconsider your attitude.

 

[Storker]

Having been an active performer of martial arts, I'm pretty darned impressed by what some gals are able to do. More than once I've had my arse handed to me by a girl who's also smaller than me. Sometimes a lot smaller. So no, neither size nor gender is a sure indication of that person's capabilities. But since size is somewhat correlated with strength, I initially expect a 100-kg chunk of beef to be more capable of lugging gear than a 50-kg waif would be. So I'm more prone to ask a 50-kg waif if they need help than a 100-kg chunk of beef. That size statistically is somewhat correlated with gender is, I hope, incidental to my behavior.

 

[laevimanus]

Negotiating gender (height) sensitivities is hard in the better new world, if a women is struggling and I offer to help am I: 'trying to help the helpless (short) lady, and drawing everyone's attention to her being here', or 'being a considerate fellow diver and just giving a buddy a hand'...

Ha, in my case, when a man offers to carry my tanks and/or gear, part of me is like, F*** yeah, I'm worn out from the aerobic workout of getting my wetsuit on, and part of me is like, Am I negatively affecting The Cause???