Posted by seahunt on July 19, 2001 at 21:53:13:
In Reply to: Re: Chris and Seahunt posted by Marc Hall on July 19, 2001 at 15:14:51:
You sound like a revisionist historian.
I use my snorkel for free diving. For scuba it
stays at home. This is true in the tropics and
in California.
>That's fine
I use my backplate and wings on all my dives. The
DIR setup is very streamlined and makes swimming thru kelp beds much easier. When diving under thick kelp beds I treat the dive as an overhead
environment and plan my dive accordingly.
>Easier than what? What about swimming through kelp paddies? Do you swim backwards with your wings? Do they work well when swimming forward?
There are DIR purists who believe dive computers
are acceptable for recreational divers.
>Careful, I agree, but there are others here that will burn you for that statement.
The only back tanks I own are steel(actually I
do have an aluminum 60something in storage). I
dive a single steel 95 in my wetsuit although
I have yet to dive in my wetsuit this year.
>Again, that gets some DIR people, ON THIS BBS, very hot. Interesting your vies on these points. They are the main gear issues I have with a strict DIR configuration. I'm glad you see it my way.
The buoyancy charteristics of steel tank may not
be all that great in warm water where minimal
thermal protection is required.
>I may dive warm water, but I like cold far better. I'm more prone to sea sickness in warm water and I often night dive just to avoid the sun. My idea of an adaquate spf factor is 7 mil.
The console is an entanglement problem. The gauges
are better placed on the arm.
>You have an entanglement problem with a console. Nicely, I don't.
Sounds like you chose not to shore dive in Florida. I have not yet either but when I lived
in the Bahamas I would do shore dives and some
pretty long swims. There is no kelp in Florida,
but then there is no fire coral in California.
>You can avoid fire coral, but you almost must swim in kelp
DIR configuration works great for shore diving
here in California. I imagine it would work
great in Florida.
>I'm not surprised, but I'd still like to try backplate and wings out.
I don't see what point you are trying to make
with this statement. You seem to indicate that
in California its cool to be bouncing off the
bottom stirring it up with your fins. I don't
think I would find you to be desirable to follow
over a muddy bottom. Also how do you manage to
swim thru a thick kelp bed. Avoiding entanglement
in kelp is a major issue in Calif. The streamlined
nature of a DIR configuration is a major help.
>Where are there muddy bottoms in CA? Actually, most of my contact with the reef or kelp is when I brachiate. It's a very controlled touch causing very little disturbence and then I'm gone.
>Avoiding kelp entanglement is not an issue for me. I love the deep kelp and tangle no more than a fish does. Read my site about crawling under the elephant ear kelp or in the kelp south of Big Sur... Of course I'm always looking for sugestions about what to do with bags.
BS. Some divers hunt, some don't. I used
to hunt a lot but now the vast majority of dives
are look-see or photo dives. On the So Cal boat
trips I have made this year the number of divers
hunting seems to be way down from even a few years
ago and much less then 15-20 years ago.
>Yes, but I mostly frequent the hunting boats and there are lots of huntres left. Can you get on a hunting boat in early October? By the way, profanity is very discouraged on this board Please cut it out... Your post may well disappear.
Don't kid yourself, every dive is a deco dive.
>If you say so, then you should believe so.
A memory that will always stay with me is the
Type 2 bends hit a tourist diver took on a cavern dive in the Bahamas. Max depth of 35 feet and
a bottom time of around 20 mintutes, just arrived
on the island the day before and no previous dives on this trip. Hearing her scream with pain as we carried her from the VW Van into the onsite chamber kinda sticks in the memory banks.
>Huh? Lucky the VW didn't explode.
Every dive is a deco dive.
>Well there are dives where you calculate from the tables and some you don't.
>You are one disagreeable cuss, but that's your privilage.
enjoy, seahunt