Tales from the Logbook--I Buy My First Dive Gear

 

With my instructor’s sense of urgency that we get properly outfitted for the next class fresh in my mind, I drove by Santa Barbara Aquatics the next day to get fitted for gear and to look at the personal gear.  Independence Day was Saturday and the shop would be closed the entire weekend.

Santa Barbara Aquatics was tucked away in the middle of a small, non-descript office park on Hollister Avenue sandwiched between an apartment building and KTYD--the local FM rock radio station.  Every corner of the small store seemed to hold an assortment of equipment and accessories whose purpose I could only guess.  A glass case held an assortment of regulators, gages, and lights.  Wetsuits hung along one side of the store, the smell from the neoprene permeated the place.  I took it all in.  I must have looked like a kid staring at the wrapped gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. 

Patti, co-owner of the store with her husband, greeted me.  I mentioned that I was with the UCSB class and needed to get fitted for a wetsuit and buoyancy compensator.  “I already have a good mask and snorkel, but need to look at fins, booties, gloves and a knife.”   (As shown in the graphic, each diver needs to provide personal gear (items circled in blue.  The shop was taking measurements for the items in yellow, the wetsuit and buoyancy compensator device or "bcd".)

Patti was very helpful.  I filled out the required forms while she disappeared into the back of the store, returning with a blue and grey two-piece, extra-large wetsuit with US DIVERS stenciled on one arm and an XL2 marked on the shoulder. 

I had only worn a “shorty” wetsuit when sailboarding.  Even then, the first time I tried on a back zip shorty at home I put it on backwards—a fact my surfer brother Andy quickly pointed out with glee.  Donning the full wetsuit can be an awkward struggle.  I have heard it compared to “trying to put a marshmallow in a piggy bank.”  It turned out to be awkward, but not much of a struggle.  The shop itself was not that large, but there was a small fitting room with chair I could use to get into the wetsuit bottoms.  Once that was done, the rest was easy.  The suit fit fine, but with its 6.5 mm thick neoprene, I quickly became very warm.  She then handed me a “stabjacket” buoyancy control device with Velcro cummerbund.  It fit, but I had no idea how to use it. 

After I doffed the wetsuit, Patti asked “what is your weight?  I need to know it to set you up with a weight belt and weights for your open water training.”  She explained that as a rule of thumb with the equipment they used the initial weight would be 10 percent of my body weight plus two to four pounds.

“About 225,” I replied, “so that would make it 24 and a half pounds?”

“Let’s call it an even 25 pounds for now” she said as she marked the sheet, “you can always adjust it.  On the beach dive and again off the boat, Dave will do a buoyancy check in the water to make any adjustments that may be needed.”

She showed me a selection of booties, fins, and gloves.  The store’s selection was limited to two or three styles of each.  I selected with a basic thin sole neoprene bootie.  I liked the US Diver Compro composite fins in white.  It also came in red and blue.  I selected a pair of non-descript neoprene gloves. 

The decision on which dive knife to purchase was perplexing.  I recalled from lecture the night before that Dave explained that “a dive knife was a tool, not a weapon. We don’t carry knives to fight of sharks or other divers. There are two types of dive knives, a blunt-end knife and a pointed-end knife.  Most pointed-end knives end up as blunt-end knives because the pointed tip usually breaks off when someone used it as a pry tool.  In most cases you will use the knife underwater as a pry tool and to cut fishing line. “

One knife Aquatics sold looked a small sword with a large molded plastic grip, a long drop point blade with a serrated edge along the top.  Despite its lethal appearance, the sheath and straps were cheap plastic.  However, the knife that caught my eye was a Wenoka dive knife designed by Blackie Collins.  Neither name meant anything to me.  The features sold the knife.  The handle provided a secure grip, it felt good in in my hand.  A good hard plastic sheath held the knife securely.  Real rubber straps would securely hold the knife and sheath in place.  (Blackie Collins, I discovered later, was a well-known knife designer.) Most importantly, the blade featured a reasonably sharp cutting edge, a blunt end like a pry bar, and fish line cutter notch.  

I mentioned that I had a large waterproof duffle bag purchased for my trip up Mt. Whitney a few months before that would hold all the scuba gear. Patti pointed out that while that would be good for carrying the gear to and from the dive site or boat, I might want to buy a smaller bag as well.  She explained that while the smaller bag was really used for game, it doubled as a personal gear bag.  “On a boat, gear is strewn all over the deck as people come back from a dive.  Putting everything in the bag helps keep your gear separate for everyone else’s gear.  And on a boat, all gear looks the same!”  I selected a smaller yellow mesh goodie bag.  Looking back, the goodie bag was one of the most utilitarian purchases I made.

Finally, there was the logbook with enough room for 25 dives.  At the time I wondered how many years it would take me to fill the book. 

This initial purchase started what seemed an endless cycle of buying new gear to replace or upgrade gear that I owned.  The result 40 years later is a collection of masks, fins, gloves, knives and wetsuits.  One can never have enough gear.