Why the freaking out?

[Bryan]

I did a bit of editing....Sorry guys but talking POLITICS, RELIGION,GENERALIZATIONS or ABSOLUTES get us nowhere except PO'd at each other......There are many forums you can discuss all the topics above.....But VDH is not one of them. Not taking sides nor do I mean anything personal by my editing.....Let's just keep it about diving

[crimediver]

I rode with a buddy of mine the other day in his new car. It had a TV monitor in the dash. It was a GPS going forward and when he put it in reverse it had a rear view camera to help him back up. I hate crap like this. I will stick with my 71 VW camper. I can put in a new clutch and be driving it again in an hour or so.

I have accumulated a few firearms over the years but when I want to go put meat on the ground I grab the old Browning I bought when I was a teenager. I cut acres of grass with a pushmower to buy it. Sure, the gold plating is worn off the trigger from me slapping it thousands of times at dove, quail and waterfowl. But it is hard to beat the combination of a reliable design and the melding of finely fitted walnut and machined steel. No synthetics, polymers or stamped parts and it leaps up to your shoulder perfectly aligned with your eye and gets the job done.

Yeah, I had some fancier and more "modern" guns but found I did not use them as much so I got rid of them.

[USdiver]

I have accumulated a few firearms over the years but when I want to go put meat on the ground I grab the old Browning I bought when I was a teenager. I cut acres of grass with a pushmower to buy it. Sure, the gold plating is worn off the trigger from me slapping it thousands of times at dove, quail and waterfowl. But it is hard to beat the combination of a reliable design and the melding of finely fitted walnut and machined steel. No synthetics, polymers or stamped parts and it leaps up to your shoulder perfectly aligned with your eye and gets the job done.

I'm a "round knob, long tang" Belgian Browning man myself. I know exactly how you feel.

[YankDownUnder]

Ron

I mentioned your experience to a friend at our NAUI: Standard Dress Supervisor's course over the weekend. The instructor owns the major commercial diving operation in this area.

He said your reply should be:

"All diving is potentially dangerous as it is underwater and unskilled people like you can drown. So yes, for you this equipment is dangerous, as you don't seem to be a very knowledgeable diver."

I thought that summed it up rather well.

Steve

[YankDownUnder]

I have been diving for 52 years and I use double hose most of the time. I also dive oxygen and Nitrox rebreathers, or my standard dress, like last weekend.

I just sold one of Rob's double hose regulators to another American at our standard dress supervisor's course. He was a former U.S. Navy diver. When he got out, he became a commercial diver working in the North Sea. His longest saturation dive was 57 days and he has dived to 1,000 feet, so I think he will be okay with his green 'USN' Voit. Steve

[Ron]

"All diving is potentially dangerous as it is underwater and unskilled people like you can drown. So yes, for you this equipment is dangerous, as you don't seem to be a very knowledgeable diver."

I could not have said this better. I love being responsible for myself, but I just wish other people were. Hell, my girlfriend does it...but then again she is a far gnarlier diver than most people. I love when people make crazy comments and then the girlfriend jumps in with a tank pack and a swimsuit.

[JES]

... "All diving is potentially dangerous as it is underwater and unskilled people like you can drown. So yes, for you this equipment is dangerous, as you don't seem to be a very knowledgeable diver." ...

Like Ron, I love this reply! Make sure you tell your friend that it was well received.

[pearldiver]

I've never had anyone tell me my gear was too old to use, or it was dangerous. Even when I'm on a boat dive and don't know the guy. They may look at me with worry, but no one's ever said anything negative. If anyone does, I may just tell them I found the gear in a basement I just cleaned out for someone yesterday and thought I'd try it out. Then ask them if they think it is hooked up properly.

[1969ivan1]

Gayle RULES!

[Robohips77]

I've never had anyone tell me my gear was too old to use, or it was dangerous. Even when I'm on a boat dive and don't know the guy. They may look at me with worry, but no one's ever said anything negative. If anyone does, I may just tell them I found the gear in a basement I just cleaned out for someone yesterday and thought I'd try it out. Then ask them if they think it is hooked up properly.

Hope to see you at Portage!.

[wrcook]

Those hi-tech people kept us out of diving for almost 10 years.. .. I am glad that I found this crowd. .. I was certified in 1970, and I gave my wife SCUBA lessons in 1975 for her birthday (before we were married). We lost all but our regulators in a fire in 1997. A couple of years later we went to a dive shop to get re-equipt, and they tried to sell us so much stuff, and were not impressed with our regulators, that we just walked out without buying anything, and it put us off diving for quite a while. BTW: the Navcon happens to be an excellent regulator.

for my open-water test, I used two double 72s and a single, I used both single hose and double hose regulators. This open water test was the final for our basic course. We had a quarter mile course to follow. Why I used so much air was that I buddied with each student for the course, because the instructors figured i could get any of the students out of trouble (there was none). We were taught to be safe divers irregardless of what equipment we were using, from just a mask and fins to the full rig.

Good training, experience and common sense make a good diver not a bunch of hi-tech gadgets.

Bill C

[JES]

Gayle RULES!

Always has!

[treasureman]

This summer while I was at Golden Lake, I had similar comments from a fella and his wife with some real purdy single hoses and big aluminum tanks. He commented how old and obsolete my Royal Aquamaster was... this was not my pheonix, but my everyday RAM. He further opined that they were dangerous that no onem should dive them.

I bet him 100 dollars right there in front of his extremly hot wife that my Old RAm would perform better and provide greater air than his 1000 dollar plastic and metal wonder.

He looked at me surprised as I was grinning ear to ear, as I had just tuned it up and on the Magnahalic is broke at less than half inch . Took some doing, but it is stable as a rock and breathes like a golden throat charmer.

well he did not take the bet, and later we spoke again. I suggested he try it in 20 feet of water. he did while I used his plastic wonder (Sherwood ).

Well the look on his face said it all. His eyes were wide, there was a grin on his face the mouthpiece stifled. When we got out, he said "i dont believe it, that thing breathes easier than my reg. Where can I get one. I explained the workings, and then gave hiom teh web site for VDH. I told him to get a RAm or a pheonix. next year I expect him to be using a DH. As for his wife, she tried it as well. darn but that thing looks good on her. She also had a huge smile on when she got out, told her hubby she wants one because teh bubbles are behind her. Who knows maybe two more converts