I was once asked to add something about myself, in case you were wondering who this "Bitz" character is and who it is who is trying to help you navigate the labyrinth of the diving equipment world.
Well, I first learned to dive back in 1994, whilst on holiday in Pathos, Cyprus with Cydive. At that stage I'm sure all I wanted was warm, clear blue water with lots of fish, the idea of the UK's comparatively cold and sometime murky water would have been the last thing on my mind and a hundred miles from any documentary I'd seen on the television. Yet a few short months later there I was a somewhat wary and green trainee in Stoney Cove, a novice to that altar at which all UK divers must worship...No UK diver's log book is complete without a dive in Stoney Cove.
From there on there hasn't been much looking back, I hold qualifications with various agencies including PADI/SAA/IANTD/TDI and most recently GUE, the latter being the most humbling and valued experience in all my training, when all those bad habits, both taught and acquired in eight years of diving, became apparent! It certainly opened my eyes and forever moved the target.
I have dived and do dive in conditions which vary from a five metre "bimble" under Swanage Pier to a sixty metre+ trimix dive in the middle of the Channel; visibility can and does vary from a few centimetres to 25 metres plus. I've dived in the Far East, Middle East and Australasia, yet I still find that only UK waters offer what I really want. Perhaps it is the challenge, they say that a UK diver can dive virtually anywhere in the world due to the demanding conditions we often face...whatever the reason it certainly has that certain "je ne sais quoi".
As my diving has progressed, so has my knowledge, part by plan and an awful lot by luck, luck to have had the good fortune to have met the right people and been in the right place at the right time. I now look through technical diving magazines and oftentime wince at the pictures and stories told. But for fate I could be there now with four fog lights glued to the sides of my head trying to look for all the world like a mutant "Mickey Mouse" or a "Boy-Racer" of the diving world.
At one time I was nicknamed "Bits" by my club (changed to Bitz by me), the simple reason was because of all the bits of gear I had which ended up spread all around the boat, accommodation, house in fact everywhere I went...and hence my "nom de plume".
Equipment is easy if you know who to listen to and who to ignore, but there is so much more for us to learn, this is just the first step of many...
A friend once said to me "there is nothing at the bottom of the sea worth dying for", if you remember nothing else, remember that!
Safe diving.
Bitz
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Hit
Counter Complements of http://www.digits.com.
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Diving can be
a hazardous sport and the information contained within this site is
not intended to replace formal training. |
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© Copyright H Beasley 01 August 2001