Crusty white stuff on gear?

[emttim]

Hey, anyone happen to know what some small white deposits on gear may be? I swam in the ocean, and thoroughly rinsed the stuff, and it's completely dry now...and there's a few small white deposits (powdery) on my gear. Any thoughts on what this is, whether it's a sign that the gear is getting damaged, etc.? I dried my gear off in the garage, but there's no direct sunlight hitting the gear, although there is sunlight filtering into the room. And no, I can't do anything about that, the people I live with are *******s and won't let me dry the gear in the house in the bathroom or something preferable like that.

 

[tc]

Could be some salt residue.

 

[almitywife]

salt is my guess.... give it a taste

you may have washed it but like sand, salt likes to hide and when the gear dried the residue was left

we leave our gear hanging in the garage also so dont fret aboot it, and we dive with our gear weekly and my bc is about 7yrs old and no troubles yet (touch wood)



cheers

 

[Doc]

salt is my guess.... give it a taste

Reminds me of a Phyllis Diller line.

But then again, a lot of things taste salty.

 

[emttim]

Oh ok, yeah salt residue makes sense...well if it's nothing to worry about, then I won't worry.

And uh, about tasting it...no. ;P

 

[fisheyeview]

Chicken.

My gear lives in my garage when I'm not diving. Never had a problem except for the fact that my wetsuits seem to shrink occasionally.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Bill Clinton hasn't visited lately, has he?

Honestly... The likely culprit is salt... or, you may have brushed some coral, and that is residue...

 

[almitywife]

cheeky boys

not saying salt residue on dive gear is a good thing but it happens so make sure you do give everythign the best wash you can (this does not mean soaking for 3 days btw)

i usually give everything a good rinse, bcd inside and out, and hang to dry - it doesnt get dry for too long in our family

cheers

 

[Tom Winters]

Thank God it's not dried vegemite. Then you'd have to haul the affected gear to the nearest active volcano and hurl it in.

 

[spectrum]

emttim

It does sound like salt but I have to wonder why you are seeing it the extent of it being powdery.

Is your rinse water fresh for every dive day? Otherwise it will turn to brine and be counterproductive.

Fill your rinse containers before you go diving (or after your last dive) so they can be at ambient or sun warned when it's clean-up time. Warm water will do much better at extracting the salt especially if it has dried at all.

Are you rinsing with a spray hose or by soaking and dunking? I much prefer soaking and dunking.

Pete