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That 10-hour sewer repair in Portland changed my mind about drysuits
I always figured a good wetsuit was enough for any job until that January afternoon in the Willamette where I was freezing solid after two hours. Switched to a drysuit on day two and finished the whole shift without a single shiver. Has anyone else found a piece of gear they swore by that turned out to be dead wrong for certain conditions?
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terrywilson19d ago
That Portland job was a real eye-opener for you. I've had the same sort of thing happen with work gloves, actually. Spent years using cheap leather ones from the hardware store, thinking heavy-duty gloves were just for show. Then I got a pair of those dipped mechanic's gloves with the rubber coating for a sewage pump rebuild. The dexterity was so much better that I could actually feel the o-rings seat properly, and my hands were still in one piece after 8 hours of wrestling with greased-up pipes. @skyler_adams is dead on about how we punish ourselves out of habit until something forces us to switch.
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skyler_adams1mo ago
Funny how that works, isn't it? You get set in your ways with one tool and it takes a brutal afternoon to realize you've been making things harder than they need to be. I see it all the time with people and their daily routines. Like how my neighbor refused to use a vacuum robot for years because his old upright was fine, then his back started hurting and he finally tried one and now he can't imagine going back. Same thing with people who swear by paper planners until they try a simple calendar app for a week. We get comfortable with what we know and it takes something hitting us in the face to admit there's a better way.
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linda_wood1mo ago
That vacuum robot neighbor story threw me for a loop. I've got a bad back myself from years of concrete work and I've been stubbornly dragging around my old canister vacuum thinking it's what I deserve. Now I'm sitting here wondering if I've been punishing myself for no reason.
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