Some might have noticed from my posts here that I'm not very high tech or gear queer when it comes to diving toys. I've been extensively using two totally low tech, low cost dive aids recently, and thought I'd share in these two posts.
First up, my inner tube. Boats and kayaks are neat, but I've never found anything as good for my purposes as my trusty tube. It cost me $4 (well, 40 pesos), is durable, lightweight, and can be deflated and rolled up for travel. It also makes a good beach lounger, and I've slept on it. Not to mention a way cool surf rider, which is a blast even in conditions when you can't get up on a board. I love bobbing around in it, and started remembering that some of my favorite childhood moments were bobbing in inner tubes of Cape Hatteras or the Taiwan coast. It's so calming I've been known to doze off waiting for the next set.
But it's a solid, no nonsense tool. Most people here in Mazatlan assume I'm a fisherman when they see me with it. The oyster divers use them all the time. They rig a net around it, hanging down like a basketball net, and slamdunk oysters until it's full then swim them in. Usuall keep a beer or two in the net as well. Industrial proven. (In Cuba people ocean fish off tubes. Locals call these tube anglers "pneumaticos". I call them maniacs. But they're real relaxed.)
I bought it as a platform for going to islands a mile or so offshore. They have no beaches and I'm in rotten shape, so having a little support along seemed like a good idea. It's been a revelation. I've developed several new modes of surface swimming using the tube (and sometimes just sit in it to rest, skulling a little with my fins). One mode is swimming with my head inside the tube, so my snorkle is surrounded by a wall of rubber...seems to keep waves from splashing in as much. (Maybe.)
I've done several rigs. Sometimes I take along a couple of fathoms of rope and "anchor" by tying it to something on the bottom or on a wall. (Generally I just let it float and find it on the way up--trying to come up inside is just one more of my juvenile games.) I've put it in a net bag, forcing into an oblong shape like a life raft, and at time had a rope around it. I can carry stuff with me that way, like a thermos, a drybag, etc. I've thought of making a tube bag with a sleek bottom and mesh top with zipper for access to the "hold".
Inner tubes aren't revolutionary, but people always seem to think it novel when I show up with one. I'm sure a lot of guys use them, but would heartily recommend them to other divers who haven't tried them as a platform, vehicle, or wagon.
(I have a tubular bicycle pump of the "on frame" type for inflating mine, but it's a rough way to go. Haven't had such a sore elbow since I had my first "Playboy". One of my oyster-diver chums has actually blown his up by lung power a few times...build your lung power and get a free natural high when you pass out. Basically, there are a lot of filling stations and bike shops in the world and carrying an inflated inner tube to the water, even on a city bus or down jungle trails, isn't all that difficult.
First up, my inner tube. Boats and kayaks are neat, but I've never found anything as good for my purposes as my trusty tube. It cost me $4 (well, 40 pesos), is durable, lightweight, and can be deflated and rolled up for travel. It also makes a good beach lounger, and I've slept on it. Not to mention a way cool surf rider, which is a blast even in conditions when you can't get up on a board. I love bobbing around in it, and started remembering that some of my favorite childhood moments were bobbing in inner tubes of Cape Hatteras or the Taiwan coast. It's so calming I've been known to doze off waiting for the next set.
But it's a solid, no nonsense tool. Most people here in Mazatlan assume I'm a fisherman when they see me with it. The oyster divers use them all the time. They rig a net around it, hanging down like a basketball net, and slamdunk oysters until it's full then swim them in. Usuall keep a beer or two in the net as well. Industrial proven. (In Cuba people ocean fish off tubes. Locals call these tube anglers "pneumaticos". I call them maniacs. But they're real relaxed.)
I bought it as a platform for going to islands a mile or so offshore. They have no beaches and I'm in rotten shape, so having a little support along seemed like a good idea. It's been a revelation. I've developed several new modes of surface swimming using the tube (and sometimes just sit in it to rest, skulling a little with my fins). One mode is swimming with my head inside the tube, so my snorkle is surrounded by a wall of rubber...seems to keep waves from splashing in as much. (Maybe.)
I've done several rigs. Sometimes I take along a couple of fathoms of rope and "anchor" by tying it to something on the bottom or on a wall. (Generally I just let it float and find it on the way up--trying to come up inside is just one more of my juvenile games.) I've put it in a net bag, forcing into an oblong shape like a life raft, and at time had a rope around it. I can carry stuff with me that way, like a thermos, a drybag, etc. I've thought of making a tube bag with a sleek bottom and mesh top with zipper for access to the "hold".
Inner tubes aren't revolutionary, but people always seem to think it novel when I show up with one. I'm sure a lot of guys use them, but would heartily recommend them to other divers who haven't tried them as a platform, vehicle, or wagon.
(I have a tubular bicycle pump of the "on frame" type for inflating mine, but it's a rough way to go. Haven't had such a sore elbow since I had my first "Playboy". One of my oyster-diver chums has actually blown his up by lung power a few times...build your lung power and get a free natural high when you pass out. Basically, there are a lot of filling stations and bike shops in the world and carrying an inflated inner tube to the water, even on a city bus or down jungle trails, isn't all that difficult.
. Actually, it sounds like you and FD48 could be brothers.