Which kind of diver are you with respect to gear?

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as every time I'm provided with a choice of extremes

both and neither

it depends

my hydros pro was great but had plastic it places plastic had no sense being

so I got an xDeep

the xDeep sturdy but lacked common practical elements like a lift handle and a tank height retainer strap and stupid 1960s tank bands

changed out the tank bands to clamps

added a lift handle

added a tank strap height retainer

so, it depends

I modify as needed

when I modify, it means its a poor design - because I tend to purchase upper to premium grade gear
 
I was group 1.
I found diving to be magical but the gear to be annoying to the point of discomfort after a week of repetitive dives. Back and neck stiffness was going to be an issue?

On to group 2...and Scubaboard.
Coming from a construction background, a properly fitted harness made so much more sense than a six inch wide elastic waistband in a short sleeve windbreaker.
And why is this massive tank lashed down between my shoulder blades when I can just clip it along my side?
Thanks Scubaboard!
 
Definitely group 1. I spent a bit of time initially streamlining my gear for comfort in the water and for dive travel, but beyond that...let's go diving. :bounce::bounce::bounce:
 
I am group 2. I am like this for all of the outdoor sports I do. When I climbed, gear was a constant topic of attention and discussion. I am always tinkering with/tuning my bicycles. I enjoy tuning my own skis and have taught my children how to work on their own skis. I get enjoyment from being able to maintain and fix my gear. For some situations/sports it adds a degree of safety to be able to fix something or improvise a fix to something that breaks on the trail.
 
Why wasn't this a poll?

Because people's explanations are the interesting bit, not a comparison of the number in each group. Besides, as several have pointed out, it's sort of silly to give a binary choice when for many of us how we think about our gear is more nuanced than that.
 
I spent today building a vacuum pump assembly for tuning my regulators....

Last week it was a variable flow regulator for calibrating my CO and O2 meters...

earlier in the week I picked up another Double Hose...

need I say more... :surrender:
 
I'm a two for sure!

I just like taking stuff apart, making it better (or worse ;-) ) and putting it back together again!

My lockdown project was a twinset build, using pretty much all second hand parts except where i either couldn't find a part s/h or it made no sense to use a s/h part

A pair or second hand cylinders, bought out of test cheaply, and hydo'd
An ex-display Apeks isolator manifold, much reduced
An second hand Mares XR backplate
Two second hand Scubapro MK25 1st stages, both fully rebuilt
A second hand Apeks MTR octo reg
A (very) second hand Intespiro Aga Full face mask, that someone had used in salt water, failed to wash out, then left. Was bought as "in freeflow" and inspection showed the dv assembly to basically be a corroded pile of scrap. Quick look through the parts books, and i found that the SCBA version of this mask uses most of the same parts, so i bought a very cheap ($20) second hand SCBA mask, and pulled it apart, and yes, the metal bits which were corroded were identical, so a rebuild kit and some o rings later and bingo, one FFM for under $100

The Apeks WTX45 wing is new, because a) it's safety critical and b) most second hand ones are well knackered by the time people want to sell them!
All the hoses and fittings are also new, because new hoses are cheap, and are effectively a service item anyway, and because i wanted exact lengths for tidy hose routing


My next project i think is a DIY WOB machine, to automatically plot respiritory pressure vs flow, including when wet, and at ambient water pressures up to 5 bar........
 

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