Vintage diving...what was it like?
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diverdoug1
Contributor
I remeber that without a BC, and a thick Farmer-John, It ws tough not to be a vertical diver when you got down enough to really compress the neoprene. I was a lot more aware of breathing resisatance (get ready to flip that valve!). I also spent a lot more time thinking about how cool and macho I was , because not many people actually dived. I remember that the former UDT, YMCA instructor for my cert. class was not what you would call a "customer service" kinda' guy
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See, that's one thing I do not get. I like diving with vintage gear, but I do not think it makes me "macho" or "cool". I don't get why in diving if you use vintage gear you get a bunch of negative labels. If you own a fine vintage wine or a nice antique auto nobody say things like that to you. Maybe I don't give a crap about being macho, maybe I just living diving simpler stuff and feeling free in the water. If it was super hard or it sucked, why would I do it? I'm not alone either, there's at least 189 other people in the National Association of Vintage Equipment Divers, and we dive the crap out of the old gear.
Doesn't this look so painful and aweful? My friend Earl (the fish) didn't seem to think so.
diverdoug1
Contributor
Hey Slonda, how about reading the post before you comment!?! I do not use vintage dive gear, I was answering the OP about what it was like "back in the day". I was saying what it was like when I was a teenager many moons ago. I said I then thought I "was cool" because not many people were diving back then. It was harder to get certified, and it was easy to think you were part of an elite crowd. I would have thought I was even "cooler" if I had the latest and greatest gear. Now that I am long of tooth, I realize that I am neither cool , nor elite.
Hey Slonda, how about reading the post before you comment!?! I do not use vintage dive gear, I was answering the OP about what it was like "back in the day". I was saying what it was like when I was a teenager many moons ago. I said I then thought I "was cool" because not many people were diving back then. It was harder to get certified, and it was easy to think you were part of an elite crowd. I would have thought I was even "cooler" if I had the latest and greatest gear. Now that I am long of tooth, I realize that I am neither cool , nor elite.
I did read your post, I understood it, and I was speaking in generalities rather than to you. I did not for a minute think you were coming down on vintage diving, me, or the concept of diving at any level. I am very well educated, and I understand what I read. I cited your post merely as a reference for what cued me to comment. I think you got me wrong. I'd buy you a beer, but we are on the internet. Relax man. Now that Navy bubblehead, on the other hand, I was actually picking on him.
diverdoug1
Contributor
Alright! a beer summit in the rose garden!
Alright! a beer summit in the rose garden!
Hey man, if it works for the Commander in Chief, then it works for me. I was actually debating stocking the dive shop fridge with beer for when I inadvertently piss people off , but I am not sure what laws that violates...
It also facilitates classes in the shop pool on underwater beer drinking, which is one of my distinctive specialties.
diverdoug1
Contributor
One question about your picture Slonda. Where did you get those hoses for your vintage reg? They look like they came off a megalodon rebreather.
Vintage Double Hose , the best vintage diving equipment supplier! The ends are 1", and IIRC most rebreather couplings are usually 1.25-1.5 inches in diameter, though admittedly I am not a rebreather expert so do not hold my feet to the fire on that one.
captain
Contributor
The view of some who would never go back to using vintage equipment is no different than the driver of a modern car would never consider a coast to coast drive in a restored 57 Chevrolet even if in their youth they drove one. Some people just do not relate to the past in a positive way for whatever reasons.
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