After the dive....

[Ren127]

Everyone has been so helpful with my What to take on the boat thread- I'm going to ask another question - what is your after the dive procedure for cleaning everything?

Do I need to unroll the safety sausage to wash it out and let it dry? What do I do with the regulator (I don't have tanks) other than rinse the mouthpiece and the hoses off? Anything special with the dive knife? Lights?

Right now when I get home I fill the bathtub with sink the stink and dump wetsuit, skin, boots, mask (slap strap), gloves, and bc in the tub- I take off the Airsource3 and get water inside the bc and leave everything overnight then the next day drain and air dry. I've been just washing off my lights and camera case in fresh water and throwing the weights outside to dry. The bc unfortunately won't hold air in it with the airsource3 disconnected (it stays with reg) so there I usually try to manually blow air in just to open it up some but it won't stay inflated.

Any other tips or suggestions as to where to put all this stuff to dry? No garage and it's filling up my bathtub rapidly!

Thanks everyone - as a new diver I REALLY appreciate all of the help I get on these boards.

Lauren

 

[Straegen]

I posted this on another thread, but I have a bakers rack on wheels from CostCo with a closet rod attached to the top. I unload my gear from the truck spreading it out on the bakers rack, hang my BC and wetsuit on the sides of the rack then rinse everything down and leave it on the rack to dry. Even better when a big rainstorm is coming through as I just wheel it out into the rain.

When I wash out my BC, I put a bit of diluted mouthwash in there and swirl it around then pour it out. If you can find it use unsweetened mouthwash. Kills the bacteria and keeps it smelling fresh.

I wash my neoprene down then turn inside out and rinse down again and let dry that way. I also dry out of the sun as UV damages plastics. The other big suggestion is to get a monster fan and point it right at your gear. It will dry faster and you won't have anything building up bacteria.

Couple times during the season I will put my neoprene items in a big tub with McNett's enzyme product and so far no smells.

Aside from that just make sure to give everything a good soaking to dilute the salt/chlorine depending on where you have been.

 

[vladimir]

Scubaboarders will, I bet, tend to overdo the gear maintenance because they like to spend quality time with their gear. On a week-long liveaboard, you can ignore your gear all week without any consequences--just rinse and dry it thoroughly before you go home and put it back in the closet. Is that optimal? No, but I've been getting away with it for years, probably because the gear stays wet all week, but also because scuba gear is pretty tough.

 

[Straegen]

*cough* i do the same thing on vacation *cough* I spritz it and hang it in the shower before the days next dive. It sometimes doesn't make it that far depending on how good of a time we are having. When I get home I put it on the rack and give it the what for under the hose though.

 

[SangP]

The gear is pretty tough but fresh water isn't enough when it comes to the funk. You can pick up some really nice stuff from the sea and after 2 weeks the suit can smell like something the cat dragged back n left under your bed a week ago lol!

I let the suit, booties, gloves, hood soak in mild detergent for a night, rinse, dried inside n out n a light sprinkle of talc power n they're good to last a while.

My regs are soaked in mild detergent too, scrubbed with some tooth paste around the metal parts/mouth piece, rinsed & hung to dry.

Knives, fins & the more durable stuff just gets a light soaping over, rinse n dry.

SangP

 

[emoreira]

Here I post some links :

McNett Dive | Repair Guide | Dive Gear Cleaning & Care

SCUBA Knowtes, Showing Your Gear Some Love

Wetsuit :
Scuba.com Video: How to properly clean your wetsuit after diving -

Regulator :
Scuba.com Video: How to Properly Clean and Maintain Your Scuba Diving Regulator After Diving -

BCD :
Scuba.com Video: How to Properly Wash and Maintain Your BC After Diving -

UW camera :
Scuba.com Video: How to Properly Care and Maintain your Underwater Camera After Diving -