The burn! (Negativity towards tech divers)

[supergaijin]

I have nothing against divers who bring extra equipment and are self-sufficient in using it. It is a PITA to haul doubles on to a boat but it's not that big of a chore. I was guilty at one stage for being smug at divers with doubles on an 'easy' site but that was before I realised that not all the dives that they do are in the same league and they are simply using the equipment that they 'normally' dive in.

What I dislike is the equivalent of a weekend camper who brings along all the bling but doesn't know a thing. But no divers ever do that...

 

[bletso]

You know....that is the attitude that starts a lot of the angst against tech divers. As a former tech diver who did penetration cave diving in the late 70's early 80's, giving it mostly up in the late 90's...I see way too much diving arrogance from my fellow techies. I found it unpleasant enough to drift away from it. The "holier than thou" falls hard on people who have been diving longer than some techies have been alive when they are treating extremely experienced divers like dirt because their gear is rec gear.

I just pretty much ignore them. (The know it alls. There seems to be no shortage of them) If ask questions I will answer them of course. In the end I just do my thing, which is don my homemade MCCR and dive.


Dale

 

[boulderjohn]

e and they are simply using the equipment that they 'normally' dive in.

..or are practicing. I have worn doubles (etc.) on very easy sites because I wanted to work on specific skills using that gear, and I didn't need to go deep to do them.

 

[diverdoug1]

The only negative vibe I have noticed was when I was on a small day boat, and one of the other divers had doubles as well two 80's slung. This amount of gear made it quite cramped for the other customers. The captain tried his best to accomodate everyone, but he was visibly supprised when the diver showed up with his own 4 tanks. I do not know the divers's reasons for electing to choose such a small rereation vessel to use with this gear set-up, but the dive site was 50' max. and everyone had to be back on the boat in one hour per dive. It certainly had a negative effect on the other divers, but everyone seemed to remain polite and pleasant.

 

[mainedvr]

While I am by no means a tech diver (at this point) my wife and I are moving into the relm by taking cavern and intro to cave this year. As I am configuring our gear I took our mk25s to have them converted to din and was asking the LDS about getting rid of the console and having just a spg by its self and the other items wrist mounted or something else. The response I got was " well you could just take your retractor and put it on your shoulder strap and wear it like a bandolier", I am thinking that is a point to get caught up on something and well simply do not like that idea anyhow. Then he stated (making the quote sign) " I have some used brass ones somewhere if you just want to look like a tech diver" up till now I have had an ok relationship with them but since I have started to reconfigure my gear I have noticed some attitude, which is why I have bought my bpw from someone else and probably will other than airfills and service will be doing my business elsewhere.

They are a decent shop but seem to be more into steering you towards the type of diving they want you to do so they can make money off you. Oh well, doesn't hurt me I can always find someone to take my money for what I want lol....

Just come across a bit of negativity towards tech divers and tech diving in general.
Anyone else catching a bit of this attitude out there?
I know not everyone will be your friend but because you dive a certain way?
The world is not as an accepting place as I once thought, !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though I have noticed some vibe out there at local watering holes.
I have tried to not enter in to the beating of any level or agency of divers but yet get lumped into the group I look like!
So be it.
This is not a B&M thread just wondered it anyone else having this issue other areas?

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning.

 

[James R]

Most of the people around here are cool about it, or at least don't say anything within earshot. Sometimes some people will ask a couple questions then move along. I don't mean to, but I sometimes hear I give dirty looks to people so they leave me alone ... or maybe I'm just ugly

I have had instructors, one of whom just started diving in 2008 actually, say/ask some crap along the lines of "you are just a divemaster, not an instructor" then ask me to help with a class...uh yeah sure thing, hero. I see a lot more elitism from instructors against us lowly DMs...some of which look like a trainwreck out of the water and even worse in the water.

 

[JamesK]

...uh yeah sure thing, hero.

LOL. Yep, you can tell you're military!

 

[macado]

I've got some condescending looks and attitude when I dove my doubles (and singles rig) in a pool where the dive shop was teaching open water students. I'm not really affiliated with that dive shop so I usually just stay out of the way and ignore them but am friendly with some of their instructors/DMs.

I was getting ready to head to Mexico to start cavern/intro to cave training and wanted to make sure I was properly weighted and had everything adjusted for freshwater and do some final gear checks. It wasn't about "showing my gear off" or trying to "look cool" I just wanted to give my gear a final check.

I don't remember the full gist of the conversation I had but basically I was told I was crazy for diving doubles in a pool and that they have "never seen someone do that" and that "it's dangerous"?

Sorry but I didn't relish the idea of doing some final gear and weight checks in late February in Boston in a full 5mm wetsuit. Might have been a tad too cold.

Finally, saw the same instructor at the pool (or it might have been a shore dive) and she gave me the sarcastic response of "what no doubles today?"

Other than that, on most charters nobody really cares when I have dove doubles on recreational charters just as long as I'm not down for much longer than everyone else. Most charters in New England have encounter doubles, backplates and wings so it's not exactly new.

I do distinctly remember getting some very odd looks about 5-6 years ago when I was diving my wing/backplate in Mexico. Lots of people asked me why I had a metal plate strapped to my back but I think most frequent divers have at least encountered backplates and wings nowadays.

 

[chrpai]

Does this street go both ways?

They look at us and our Jet Fins like we are stupid dinosaurs for wearing such heavy, primitive fins and we look at them and their twin jets like they are fat, stupid, dangerous unskilled lemmings who fall for the marketing hype.

Seems like snow skier - snow boarder culture wars to me.

 

[akdeepdiver]

Here at home, there is one shop that is a big tech diving shop and a couple that are focused on Rec diving. So, at the normal dive spots that are used for training, you will see a mix of gear setups all the time, and no one gives it any second thought. I will say, if I am diving out of town, and I hear in the background snide comments, etc, I just grab the spare hood I keep in my dive bag instead of the normal one. It really throws people for a loop when you gear up and they see you at the edge of the boat wearing a batman cowl (complete with ears and logo).