No I would not send a student out with equipment which I felt was faulty. But there is a difference between used and faulty. I'd have to see the equipment to make a decision. Well worn bcd's can be perfectly functional and look awful. Weight belts can be functional and look awful. I'd make a decision about what was in front of me. If a weight pocket was functional but looked tired then I wouldn't have a problem telling a student that it was fine to dive with.
DM said "Don't worry about it".
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No I would not send a student out with equipment which I felt was faulty. But there is a difference between used and faulty. I'd have to see the equipment to make a decision. Well worn bcd's can be perfectly functional and look awful. Weight belts can be functional and look awful. I'd make a decision about what was in front of me. If a weight pocket was functional but looked tired then I wouldn't have a problem telling a student that it was fine to dive with.
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I appreciate you posting this, as this is an important issue. Honestly, I am glad you didn't dive the second day. Incidents can be a cascade of little problems that become unmanageable. Unless a diver has practiced dealing with such problems, I just wouldn't recommend it. Diving is supposed to be fun, and just the stress of wondering if your equipment will work as needed would take away from that. If I were on vacation where I wasn't planning to dive, so I didn't bring my own, but I happened to have a dive opportunity pop up, I'd make sure that through the LPI hose I could inflate/deflate easily and that the BCD didn't leak. If say a shoulder dump valve didn't work, I wouldn't worry about it too much. But I'd stay shallower as a result (to me 100 feet is shallow, your definition may or may not be different).
Now I can understand if you don't want to purchase your own gear if you do not dive enough. At what point would you be willing to invest in some gear? I don't want to take this OT as that is more of a long term thing than what you are asking here.
Bubblesong
Contributor
Now that I think back, there have been equipment issues that got past my due diligence. On AOW, my regulator first stage had a thin leak, but I couldn't see it in shop, or while diving since it was behind my head. I couldn't even hear it between my breathing and the other 11 people bubbling up the water. At the end of the dives, I mentioned that my SAC rate was not what it used to be, and THEN my fellow students told me what they could see. Thus was born my requesting people to feel free to mention anything unusual about my gear right up front!
I wish that inwater buddy checks for air leaks were required to be taught in all open water courses.
Bubblesong
Contributor
So true, so many potential leaks from equipment, bcd, dry suit that can snowball into something worse.
I'm not sure if I would have accepted the BC with no weight pockets. Probably would have, because I only use 4 lbs with an AL80, and would have made sure I could get to it from the top of the pocket. That's your call though, you were there. The important thing to know is that whatever decision you make should be respected by the shop. It's a tough spot to be in because you want to dive, and you've already booked your limited vacation time with this shop, so there is already internal pressure to continue. My first trip after certification was to Aruba, two weeks after my OW class. The rental equipment we got was wet breathing, ill fitting, and generally not very well maintained. That was 9 years ago. I took my own equipment on every SCUBA vacation I took up until a month ago. My last vacation wasn't actually a SCUBA vacation, it was just a vacation I was going to squeeze a few dives into. I specifically looked for reviews about the operators equipment, and had a good experience because of it. I'd still take my own gear if it were a SCUBA specific vacation. And a CO tester.
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I won't add to the myriad of good responses other than to say of course getting your own equipment is best. I would have refused to use the BC with non-removable weights, and done my best to demand some kind of action, refund or something. If it were in Nova Scotia I would need to remove them anyway as here I use both integrated and belt, but suspenders on the belt--which can be removed, but not easily if in a bad situation.
An opinion you didn't ask for (I hate that...) is--If I dived so infrequently that owning my own stuff was financially stupid, I would not dive at all since I would constantly feel rusty. But that's just me.
An opinion you didn't ask for (I hate that...) is--If I dived so infrequently that owning my own stuff was financially stupid, I would not dive at all since I would constantly feel rusty. But that's just me.
MichaelMc
Working toward Cenotes
@Diving_Parrot, I’d echo what has been said. You were right to wonder, and to post. Thanks. I dove Mexican Rocks and outside the reef; but only snorkeled Hol Chan with family, still a great experience, lots of cool fish.
As I mentioned, I *might* have dove, but I am much more experienced. I also *might not* have, as it is a sign other things might be amiss. You are not as experienced and your training may or may not have been as good as mine. I’m happy you did not face the choice about diving the second day to 85’.
You can alway call a dive, no questions asked. It’s always your comfort with you and the situation that day: sickness, gear, people, or weather. A good buddy at the time might say ‘Thats fine. No problem. Any emergent medical worries you want help with??’. It’s a balance between making sure you’re fine sitting around on the surface, and absolutely not pressuring you to dive.
Asking later is good, but hard. Its always good for the community to wonder. But no one else was you, there.
Second guessing yourself later shows you’re a thinking diver. You checked your gear. You wondered and asked at the time. That is all VERY good. Maybe you might not make the same choice you did again, while still a new diver. I do not fault the choice at the time. A new me wanting to dive might do the same thing.
Diving without ditchable weights is generally advanced in training or experience. Sure, today *if* that BC had my weights dialed in, I could do the dive without ditchable weights. But I would not have liked it. Too much of not liking it for the person diving means calling the dive. I have dialed in weights *and* some are ditchable. That is me, not you, or some other diver.
I think the DM was asking you to abandon the training that, had he been your instructor, he could well have just given you, how to ditch your weights. I fault the DM and the operator that allowed that. Emailing them might be good feedback to them of your concern as a customer with how the dive prep went. I think that concern is justified.
Experienced divers can do more, and still be safe, though sometimes we are just fooling ourselves. I would not advise new divers to tough it out and pretend they are much more experienced or far better trained divers than they are.
Listen to your gut about something being off. Go snorkeling instead, most of the light is shallow anyway...
. Not an excuse for the operator, and it messes with your plans, but sometimes the diving gods are against us, be it weather, illness, or gear. Best to look at the fish some other way or day, they will still be there when you come back. (Edit: If we take care of the reefs!) I'm glad you're out there diving, I hope the rest of the trip was better.
As I mentioned, I *might* have dove, but I am much more experienced. I also *might not* have, as it is a sign other things might be amiss. You are not as experienced and your training may or may not have been as good as mine. I’m happy you did not face the choice about diving the second day to 85’.
You can alway call a dive, no questions asked. It’s always your comfort with you and the situation that day: sickness, gear, people, or weather. A good buddy at the time might say ‘Thats fine. No problem. Any emergent medical worries you want help with??’. It’s a balance between making sure you’re fine sitting around on the surface, and absolutely not pressuring you to dive.
Asking later is good, but hard. Its always good for the community to wonder. But no one else was you, there.
Second guessing yourself later shows you’re a thinking diver. You checked your gear. You wondered and asked at the time. That is all VERY good. Maybe you might not make the same choice you did again, while still a new diver. I do not fault the choice at the time. A new me wanting to dive might do the same thing.
Diving without ditchable weights is generally advanced in training or experience. Sure, today *if* that BC had my weights dialed in, I could do the dive without ditchable weights. But I would not have liked it. Too much of not liking it for the person diving means calling the dive. I have dialed in weights *and* some are ditchable. That is me, not you, or some other diver.
I think the DM was asking you to abandon the training that, had he been your instructor, he could well have just given you, how to ditch your weights. I fault the DM and the operator that allowed that. Emailing them might be good feedback to them of your concern as a customer with how the dive prep went. I think that concern is justified.
Experienced divers can do more, and still be safe, though sometimes we are just fooling ourselves. I would not advise new divers to tough it out and pretend they are much more experienced or far better trained divers than they are.
Listen to your gut about something being off. Go snorkeling instead, most of the light is shallow anyway...
. Not an excuse for the operator, and it messes with your plans, but sometimes the diving gods are against us, be it weather, illness, or gear. Best to look at the fish some other way or day, they will still be there when you come back. (Edit: If we take care of the reefs!) I'm glad you're out there diving, I hope the rest of the trip was better.
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