On Monday, September 15, 2003 9:03 AM, Lee Bell wrote:

(snip)

> > And I've never tried scuba diving in a vulcanised rubber, standard
> dress!!!
> > Ithink they'd be just a tad too cumbersome!  :-))))

> That's always been my impression.  Until just a few years ago, however,
that
> was all I ever got to see.

G'Day, Lee!  Now that, honestly, does surprise me.  The suits that we used
to wear for free-swimming pre-dated the commercial introduction of the
Aqualung.  (In a shameless plug for Nekton, there's a bit of an intro to
drysuits in the newly re-vamped archive section - under Equipment - at
www.e-nekton.com )

They might not have been as 'user friendly' as, say, the models produced by
DUI within the past ten and more years, but they were certainly sleek and
figure-hugging and - I always assumed - universally accepted, copied and
improved upon.  (I still like the look of those suits, but from a more
practical point of view, the recent improvements in materials, cut and
design are far more comfortable.)  :-)

I still had one of the Standard Dress suits until about 1990, when I
literally gave it away to a dive shop as a display item because I didn't
have a workable helmet.  Now I have access - through a friend who's a
collector of helmets and who's having quick-entry suits made locally so that
he can dive the things - I wish that I'd hung on to it!  :-))

In fact we've started an off-shoot of the Diving Historical Society - called
SCUM (Sydney Classic Underwater Mob) - and are diving with the Navy guys, at
their base in Sydney, at the end of October using Mk V's; Siebe-Gorman and a
couple of other helmets.  (Which is to stray off the topic a bit bit ... )
:-))

> > And now I'm off for a pleasure dive with some folks who'll be wearing
> > dry-suits and some who'll be wearing wet-suits, followed by the
obligatory
> > BBQ at "Strike's Reef"!  :-))

> Have a great time.  I'm off to Dallas in the morning and will be back
> Tuesday.  That's when I have to get serious about a rec.scuba dive I'm
> hosting during DEMA.  I'm not sure how many people will confirm, but some
> that I've never met in person have already confirmed.  I'm really looking
> forward to it.

It's always good to meet up and dive with folks that you've met through the
lists.  It's a reminder that the shared passion is really what all of the
lists are about.  I've never been disappointed and all of the folks that
I've met have always exceeded my expectations. :-)

Today's dive was a great example.  We - well!  those of us wearing
wet-suits! - froze our nuts off.  But the apres-dive BBQ/Eatothon was
terrific!  Even if Kip - the dog - did disgrace himself by stealing food
from the plates while we weren't looking.  JJ returns to the States tomorrow
and while a little of the talk revolved around diving, most of it was in the
broad ranging,  'shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings'
category!  :-)

And tomorrow, I'm back in the water while some more folks attending the Dive
Expo do a dry-suit orientation course!  :-)

Strike