Photo Meme for ladyelleth

[dawn_felagund]

Since I had to return my rental gear to the dive shop today, I photographed it all per the request of ladyelleth. The others are on their way within the next few days!

Taking the lead from sirielle, I have Photoshopped in comments indicating what you're looking at (since dive gear can look pretty mysterious to a non-diver) and explaining what's what for anyone who is interested. The only thing I couldn't photograph were the air tanks, which we returned yesterday. But that's one of the more boring items anyway.

Oh, and if you see strange numbers painted on the stuff...it's rental equipment! The wetsuits, BCD, gloves, hood, and regulator are all rental gear.

Comments

[dawn_felagund]

Sorry I took so long to comment! *hangs head in shame*

No head-hanging! *makes hott Elves walk by until you look up again* ;)

I had so much fun with this post; please don't worry about taking a few days to comment. I don't expect people to be online every day *cough* like me *coughcough*

But... you deserve a BIG FAT THANK YOU! For taking photos of everything!

You're more than welcome! I really had fun with it. :)

I'm just so blown away by how much equipment there actually is...

Yes, there's a lot! Most of it is small stuff, though, and a lot of it is optional in certain situations. Like I would not be wearing two wetsuits in warm water! I might also leave off the gloves and hood. There are BCDs that hold weights, so the weight belt isn't always required either.

I thought about taking a diving class at University (which was the first reason for asking to see pictures of your stuff), but I think I just changed my mind! Equipment there would be provided, but... no. I'm a technophobe, for the most part, and I'd be so scared to break any of it...

One day, we were at practice at the pool, and I was trying unsuccessfully to attach my tank to my BCD inflator. There's a little switch that you push to connect the two, and I could not get mine to connect. The divemaster came over to help me and did it in a jiffy. "You have to push really hard," he said, and I said that I was afraid of breaking it, and he told me, "Eh. Don't worry about that. You can be as rough as you need to be with this stuff."

And it's true! It is all very heavy-duty, and things are made now so that if they break, they aren't likely to be dangerous if it happens while you're underwater.

So, if the equipment is really all that daunts you, I would say to go for it! You'll be taught how to use all of the equipment, and it is really, really hard to mess it up. It looks a lot more complex in the pictures than when you get to hold the gear in your hands and learn what each little thing does (aside from my silly descriptions, of course!) I am terrible with mechanical stuff, and--aside from putting my regulator on the tank backwards every time except once--I found it all a breeze to learn. :) And the PADI system has you practicing and practicing before you get into the open water.

And once you're in the water, you forget that you have most of it on at all. It becomes really light and the awkwardness of the fins goes away.

So, yes, take diving if you can! If you love the water, you'll love it!