Women and everything being heavy in scuba diving

[Bubblesong]

My 18 yr old daughter is the Gear Goddess. She carries her weight, literally!

 

[Akimbo]

As a small male, I find that everyone learns to get the job done working with the cards they are dealt. There is no question that it is simpler and faster for someone twice my size and a third may age to move heavy stuff, but they have limits too. Yes, on average males are larger and have a greater percentage of mussel mass than females, but everyone learns to work around limits. It's all about working smart with available resources.

 

[tilikum]

Women view scuba in much the same way men do, kind of a silly and pointless question.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I just got back from the gym. I was admiring a young lady who was squatting 275. Not once, but sets of 8. She was not huge. A little shorter than me. Wearing a university soccer team t shirt. I have a student who is a soccer coach. Doesn't look muscular at all. 22 yrs old, about 5'4" and 130 lbs. I just saw a video of her clean and jerk 225 over her head.

I switched to sidemount because a set of 95's on my back is just more than I want to deal with. Asking how women deal with heavy gear is a pretty sexist remark. I have no problem with anyone asking if they can shlep my gear. I'm getting close to 60 yrs old. If some one wants to show off hauling my tanks as well as theirs, go for it! Just don't touch my valves after I've got them on.

 

[Akimbo]

... Asking how women deal with heavy gear is a pretty sexist remark...

It can be, but can also be informative. I was in the Navy when they started putting females aboard ship. It was a real safety problem at first, though politically incorrect to bring it up. For example, it turns out that that a lot of emergency damage-control gear was stowed in lockers that naturally evolved to meet the limitations and capabilities of the all male force. It is way more complicated than just average size and mussel mass. Different genders and races have different average proportions which changes where they bend, their center of gravity, and how they leverage loads. Genders also have differences in average sensory function.

It turns out that it wasn't a strength problem at all. The solutions were largely found by making small geometric adjustments that benefited the entire crew. There was nothing sinister or intentional about how the ships developed before. There just wasn't a reason to look beyond what had been working.

This phenomenon repeats itself in almost every field of design. The trouble is that being "politically correct", or worse pretending that differences between people don't exist, works against improvement and innovation. I hope you or other readers don't take this a criticism, only another way to view the question.

 

[Cali_diver]

I have no problem with the question and can answer by saying... Yes sometimes things are heavy, but where a man might lift a tank clean with his arms I just use my legs to do the lifting. I do not claim to be stronger than most men, but I might be smarter than some in how I lift things. My husband used to be able to out-lift me and he would help me whenever he could... until he ruptured his L5. Now I do all the heavy lifting and he just feels bad about it.

Finally, the older I get the less I can lift so if you see me struggling on a dive boat please by all means offer to help if you want to! Actually if you see anyone struggling offer to help, the worse thing to happen will be someone refusing your help, the best is you might make a friend and get a beer at the end of the day!

By the way... I never even considered the fact that the gear might be heavy when I got into diving.

 

[SeaHorse81]

As a smallish woman who is more athletic than most, I am not at all offended by OP's question. I think it's natural to wonder, and asking the question shows me an interest in understanding, which I always appreciate.

Personally, I've always found the weight of the gear to be difficult and the passage of time has not improved the situation. I've resigned myself to dealing with it as necessary, but have alway been grateful at any offer of assistance. I've never felt that it diminished me as a person to be offered help, and accepting the help when it's been available has spared my back and knees a lot of grief.

The weight of the gear has always been on the negative side of the scorecard when it comes to diving, but it hasn't been a reason to reconsider the sport.

Thanks for asking.

 

[sea_otter]

Good for you. Here is my dive guide, leaving Chuc Mool. She's smaller than you.

View attachment 419539

In doubles?! Nat took me to one spot, where after I carefully negotiated the climb down a steep, slippery trail, through mushy bogs, over loose rocks and rickety logs, she said "I wasn't sure that climb was negotiable in backmount, but I figured if anyone could do it, you could!" I think she was trying to convince me to switch to sidemount as she carried her tanks one by one.

But as a woman, I'm still happy to shore dive with heavy tanks. AL80s in Mexico are light by comparison!

 

[Dan]

In doubles?! Nat took me to one spot, where after I carefully negotiated the climb down a steep, slippery trail, through mushy bogs, over loose rocks and rickety logs, she said "I wasn't sure that climb was negotiable in backmount, but I figured if anyone could do it, you could!" I think she was trying to convince me to switch to sidemount as she carried her tanks one by one.

But as a woman, I'm still happy to shore dive with heavy tanks. AL80s in Mexico are light by comparison!

That was in 2011, way before she has "Under The Jungle" shop. She uses sidemount nowadays.

 

[Kimela]

I'm 57 and not offended by the question. I think if I was in my 20's I'd probably want to lug my gear out of 'feminist pride'. At my age I'll take any and all help offered! Also, because I'm petite I have small hands and have trouble with things that bigger hands don't. I.e., when we got our first underwater lights they were those huge things that you switch on and off with your thumb. My thumb simply didn't reach to the other side. It took both hands to turn the danged thing on! Of course this would be true for a man with small hands as well.

Anyway, I'll take help ... just offer ... no offers refused!