What are the biggest challenges for female divers compared to men?

[Aqua Lung Lauren]

Hey Ladies... a lot has changed for female divers since this picture was taken in 60's! But female divers still face challenges when it comes to diving that our male counterparts don't have to worry about.

What are some of your biggest obstacles when diving ... Equipment sizing? Long Hair? Fashion? Staying Warm?

The Aqua Lung team wants to know .... In a perfect world, how would you want these issues resolved?

 

[TSandM]

By far and away, the thing that's caused me the most headaches is managing gear on land, or during the transition from land to water and back. Second would be staying warm in the water.

There really is no getting around the weight of the gear. Make tanks lighter, and unless you also make them smaller, you just trade tank weight for lead. I have learned to make use of the wheel, which was a pretty darned good invention, wherever I can. I wish boats would design ladders for smaller people, with a smaller rise between the steps, and better handholds at the top. I wish the landowners in Mexico would do the same thing, or at the very least, maintain the ladders they have . . . In an ideal world, parks that have shore diving would have gear benches like the cave divers have, so that you could assemble your gear closer to the water than your car, and I think every shore diving site ought to be like the Catalina Dive Park, with a lovely stairway with railings for getting in!

Staying warm is solvable. I've worked my way to heavier and more expensive undergarments (which of course increase that weight penalty to dive) and eventually to suit heat.

 

[BabyDuck]

biggest obstacle for me backmount was getting safely into and out of springs. looking at freidman's was truly frightening with falls i'd already taken at cow, little river, and peacock 3. my solution was sidemount.

other problems - i couldn't lift doubles from the ground level to suv/truck/waist level or into a water bath by myself. gloves usually don't fit. neck seals pull my hair. wrist slates were ridiculously large on me diving wet, ditto the straps that come standard on computers. (yay bungee!) less hand strength means more trouble snapping on deco or stage bottles. i pull and glide less efficiently because the power of my pull starts at about chest level instead of at max reach. plusses - i can frog kick forever.

 

[j2s]

Putting up w/male divers !!!!!...Especially the ones who think women aren't capable.......

 

[down4fun]

Strength to manage the equipment is number one. especially once you transfer to the world of doubles. As long as they were on my back i could manage, but when i would take them for fills and have to put them on the ground it was tough. And then getting them back up off the ground was even harder. Now i dive ccr and the unit is lighter than doubles but still enough that my choice of moving it around is by wearing it. After that, fitting of suits, wet and dry. After that i have to agree with Lynn the spacing on ladder rungs and a good place to hold onto when exiting the water booth on boats and caves can make a huge difference between independence and needing a hand up. I work out and am pretty strong for a girl, a lot stronger than most of my female dive buddies and if the rungs are to far apart forget it, i can't make it. I also notice a deficiency in my upper body strength when compared to men when pulling down a line to deep wreck, say 200+. If there is no current i am good, but throw in some current i can't keep up with them. Oh and pee valves. As one of the ones who has not mastered the she-p yet i envy the simplicity of there donning a pee valve.

 

[TSandM]

Yes, coping with urination wasn't on the list!

 

[MMM]

I have long, skinny, narrow feet. I bought 3 pairs of fins before I found a set whre foot pockets weren't huge on my feet. They aren't the longest or the best fins in the whole world but at least they fit.

 

[drydiver]

I am with Lynne and Kim on the pee bit, working on mastering the She-p. My other issue is not exactly a female issue, I am a complete klutz, but managing the weight of the doubles definitely plays into this... I think if I was stronger or more coordinated, I wouldn't take a look at some of the cave exits and cringe. In backmount I find it challenging to get up from a crawling position without a nearby sturdy handhold. Although my buddy and I have worked out a pretty good "lean on me" routine

 

[Scuba Christine]

Notice how there are no votes for fashion being an issue. I'd like to be able to tell all manufactures that PINK does not make women's gear fit or function better!

More choices in sizes, gear that fits my torso/center of gravity. That's where I'll blow all my spare cash. But if it is freeking pink, I'll wonder if it is just a cut down guys pattern with a "girly" color.

My biggest problem is staying warm, so I'm finally shopping for a drysuit. So many fewer choices in women's sizes. Because of this, I'll probably end up going w Whites Fusion where fit is more flexible. And it doesn't come in pink!

 

[BluewaterSail]

Moving heavy gear on land has got to be the number one thing on my list. However, for both that, and the other item I noted (wet suit sizing), I think that its not just that I am female, I am also not in the physical condition that I would like to be. Lots of things would be easier if I wasn't a bit out of shape and over weight.

Once I move to a dry suit, the She-P will probably move to the top of the list.

To tell you the truth, being female has not been a significant problem for me in participating in recreational diving.

I wonder, for those younger women for whom its still relevant, if your monthly period sometime interferes with your diving schedule. I can recall sometimes feeling crappy enough that if I had been a diver at the time, I might have called a challenging dive.