Separately though...

Kathy and I borrowed a pool, I borrowed her gear, and we did (she did) some drills. I just 'tried' to hover, instead spent most of my time asking way too many questions and boggling at her backwards swimming. Backwards as in going in the wrong-right direction. Pretty neat. She showed me how to do an S-drill, went through a GUE pre-dive check, and made sure I knew how important it was for a person to do those checks especially with doubles heavier than your body weight. I also learned about the properties of Argon, which to my mind is like some kind of scuba voodoo at work. I can't wait to get kitted with a drysuit to try this magic air stuff all over my th-insulated body.

On another evening, Robert and his wife Allison spent some time at the Wallins pool sorting out gear with me. This time, I had a Halcyon standard aluminum plate and wing with weights mostly around my waist and a pair of Large Scubapro Jets. My torso was more floaty. I surely don't know what's going on. Also, my used demo Whites Fusion flooded through the neck and wrist seals, since they had been cut (and poorly). I really want to like the Fusion. The leg/fit is perfect. Robert thought it was one size to big, although I am within the very bottom range of the Fusion sizing. But the bunchy, too-long-in-the-girth Whites MK2 underwear and all the extra lining length and width through the torso, just drives me batty. On the surface, the excess bag appears mostly as a giant hunchback of fabric and wrinkly arms. In the water, the zipper, which hangs up and over me like football shoulder pads, stands out a little from my body and the excess fabric sort of floats around - I don't get a whole lot of squeeze on my upper body or arms. All this sort of defeats the purpose of the wonderfully streamlined Fusion design. I suppose the neck and wrist seals are fixable, but I really wish Whites would make a truly female cut - i.e. narrower through the shoulders and arms, longer legs to torso proportions. As it is, the Fusion is perfect for burly chested guys with short tight legs, and apple or pear women with large biceps. Very skinny people or petite people will likely bag out some, as I do.


However, I was perfectly happy in my giant wet diaper doing "torpedo" drills, which mostly involved Robert pegging me with plastic missiles and me signaling back OK. At one point while picking up more ammunition, I felt like I was spread flat, really balanced, hovering without effort, just for a second or two. Maybe it was my imagination, but it felt like when you are shooting hoops and you know in your body that you're going to see a perfect swish. The sensation was elusive, but for a moment I thought, hey, maybe it could be like this all the time.

As we were swimming leisurely back to the shallow end, I realized I hadn't been obsessing about gear or noodling in my head about trim or whatever. I forgot to wonder if those tech guys will dive with me if I'm not kitted with Halcyon stuff, or if I kill myself if I don't get x equipment, or get fitted properly for my suit, or how long my money will last before I need to replace my cheapskate purchases.  I remembered I had just as much fun freezing my ass off in a wetsuit that shivs me in the neck with a BC that perpetually inflated. Maybe that joy won't outlast the crappy gear forever, but it exists. Just like it did when I was duct taped to my dirt bike boots in Nevada and the shifter fell off twice during the ride.

I did get a purchase order down finally...

Underwear
Drysuit
Aluminum Plate - short
Plain Harness
30 lb Wing
Boots
Fins

For future reference...

Steel tank - whatever size is most manageable in terms of weight and length


Schooling scenarios...

1. Drysuit lessons, Some Diving, GUE Fundementals
2. Some Diving, Rec 1