New Recruits
Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:58 am
I've been the lone man out, the only DM at my LDS, diving with vintage equipment for the past decade: diving the local quarries sans BC, octo, SPG, and relying on my j-valve equipped cylinders. Well earlier this month, we graduated two new DMs, both girls around 20 years old, and they told me they thought the twin 72s coupled with my yellow hose, black mouthpiece Jetair was just about the coolest looking gear around. [Points for both flattery and good judgment]. They told me they wanted to learn to dive with vintage equipment, becoming only a little anxious when I told them the main thing that they would have to get used to was diving without a BC. Still, curiosity is a strong motivator, so yesterday we had our first outing with vintage gear. We decided that we would dive as a team, with me in my typical vintage kit, one of the new DMs in her regular gear and the other using a 72 equipped with J-valve and a set of Alan's cotton harness straps, a Phoenix equipped DAAM with an SPG and an old Conshelf 2nd stage as an octo [just in case]. We would weigh ourselves to be neutral at around 30 - 35 feet and go nice and easy on a +/- 30 minute loop around the quarry., have a nice surface interval, with a debrief and then repeat with the other DM using the vintage gear while her buddy would then dive modern.
Success!! They both loved it! My favorite comment was, 'that regulator is older than my dad'. They found the equipment just as easy breathing as their modern kits, and the diving without the all encumbering poodle jacket, 'like flying'. Of course, we've known that for a long time. Still this outing gave me some faith in the new generation, maybe all is not lost.
Success!! They both loved it! My favorite comment was, 'that regulator is older than my dad'. They found the equipment just as easy breathing as their modern kits, and the diving without the all encumbering poodle jacket, 'like flying'. Of course, we've known that for a long time. Still this outing gave me some faith in the new generation, maybe all is not lost.
