Dive ops handling wetsuits

[mikeycanuk]

Someone should invent a wet suit with a velcro fly.

Better watch out for groupers. There was an incident involving said fly and grouper on the Brac which involved stitches!




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[Mike]

I've smelled pee stinky divers on dive boats before, it's not pleasant, but the remedy is simply to go stand up wind of them. If you pee in you wet suit, remember to flush it out for the courtesy of others and yourself. That 3-5 minute safety stop is a good time to flush the wetsuit a bit.

 

[Peter69_56]

Not only my wet suit, I prefer to wash and handle all my equipment after a dive (maybe that is the DM in me ). I know that some dive operators offer this service of cleaning all customer's gear as a courtesy to their cliental and that is great customer relations which I truly value. But my equipment will be maintained by me. This way I know that my 1st stage was not accidentally flooded, all sand has been removed, my gear was handled with care and the wet suit is clean, etc. After I neatly hang my equipment I have seen many Dive Operators put the equipment rack in safe storage over night for safe keeping, I am ok with this. I have yet dived with an operator, other than a Liveaboard, who will take my gear and have it ready on the boat, so I cannot speak to that practice yet.

I am the same, I wash all my gear. I like it done my way. I also don't pee in my wetsuit ever, probably a thing from when young and older brother used to wet the bed.

For all those who find the thought of washing a peed in wetsuit gross and not an option, consider this. All those parents who have had to deal with poo and pee from their kids, it does tend to make you a little more able to deal with body products. What of all the nurses and doctors who do this daily. Of all the people who find the task disgusting, do you have children? or are you single. Have you ever had to deal with incontinent parents who are near the end of their life? I am not trying to belittle anyone, but show that dealing with all these issues does make people less selfish, more practical and less fearful of these things. The more you are exposed to this the more logical you become and the less emotional and fearful.

Funnily we fear urine like as though its the latest nerve gas, and yet its sterile in the body (generally) and comes from within our body. the instant it leaves our body we fear it, but inside us we don't give it a thought? We expect nurses and doctors to deal with this daily and think nothing of others having to do this but are reluctant to do this ourselves. Many people would not spit onto their sterilised hand and then re-ingest it as they would find it disgusting, yet its illogical as it came from your body and wasn't contaminated in your hand.

Its more a mental mountain to get over rather than a practical problem, which I do understand. The mind tells us its disgusting, however logic would tell us that its not a real issue, which wins, logic or emotion?

There is actually more risk from mould type products growing in the constantly wet gear, the bad mouldy smell is a sign of this yet we don't seem to worry about it. I personally now use Dettol when washing my wetsuit and boots to kill off the mould and the bad smells when overseas as diving daily means the gear slowly smells worse and worse over time (the Dettol would be good for removing pee smells too).

I also agree with the snot filled tissues as well, we drop them without thought and they are probably more risky to people than the pee issue but we seem to accept them more as normal.

---------- Post added September 22nd, 2013 at 08:12 AM ----------

1. - FYI - Jeremy is from Minnesota - he may have inherited a little Mexican accent, but he was born and bred in Minnesota!
2. Where does it say that you are paying a dive op to handle your wetsuit??? What about all of the shops that don't handle any gear at all?
3. You are welcome to choose whichever dive op you like based on what they provide, etc. - but to "badmouth" and claim that handling wetsuits is a STANDARD duty is wrong and just shows your disrespect for other people.
4. AS I said in a much earlier post, the hygiene reason is just part of the reason - but my primary reason is again, a matter of RESPECT. If you want to piss in your wetsuit, fine - it's yours - but it doesn't mean that anyone is obligated or should be expected to handle it for you.
5. Yes, we live in paradise and get to dive all day everyday - HAHAHAHAHA - you're one of those people that has a very false sense of reality where that is concerned.
6. AS far as dripping your wet suit through the lobby - they see that everyday I am sure - I maintain that MOST shops here do not handle wetsuits!

I understand your point regarding respect, and I don't see it as an obligation for anyone to deal with another persons gear or mess. If the locals chose to or wish to so they can make money, fine. It is not and never should be an obligation by the LDS unless mentioned in the "come to our LDS literature".

Having said that, as I said previously I ALWAYS wash all my gear and never expect anyone to wash mine ever and actually prefer it that way. I do however expect to be able to have my gear stored at the LDS while diving, this I do believe is a necessary requirement.

I have dived all over the world but not USA or Mexico yet! In every ( and I would highlight "EVERY" ) dive site to date the option has always been there to be able to wash your own gear at the LDS and also store it there or have arrangements to have it stored in an appropriate place that's doesn't annoy or affect other non divers. Although I understand a LDS having the option to provide or not provide any service they chose as that's their right, I would be rather gob smacked to find that I have to lug my wet gear back to my room each day, what a total inconvenience.

If this is the case, I would love to know which LDS are saying they will not provide any storage facilities for divers using their establishment so I may never go there and so I can recommend that everyone I know never go there on that basis. Perhaps this can be a new post, "LDS that will not store your wet gear while diving with them".

Its all about choices, some in the industry may chose to run their establishment their way (which is their right to run it how they chose), and customers will either chose to or not chose to use them. From now on it will be a question I ask before making future bookings and actually something previously I just assumed was provided. Note here I am saying "provide appropriate storage area for wet gear" and "NOT" have your gear washed by others. If I have to wash it, but can store it I am happy, if I cant store it there I will not use the LDS.

Perhaps its appropriate to reiterate the quote below (When you are busy pissing off a customer just remember; "Good news travels fast, bad news travels faster"). In the old days if you pissed off a customer a few people knew but not a real big deal, now we have the internet a very powerful tool. If a LDS choses to run their business in a manner contrary to the requirements of divers in general, that news can travel very fast and have an adverse effect on said business.

Yes the internet can be used for evil as well as good. For me, regarding comment on LDS or products, I try to give factual details and anything which is my opinion is stated as such so my comment is as fair and truthful as I can make whether complimentary or derogatory comment. That way the comment stands on its own merit. I guess if LDS chose to not service their customers in the way they require, the internet justice system along with customer choices will sort the issue regardless of what the LDS think or believe.

---------- Post added September 22nd, 2013 at 09:19 AM ----------

50% of people admit they pee in their wetsuit, the other half lie about it.

,

50% pee, 49.99% lie, and 0.01% do not pee in their wetsuit. Not that I don't have the urge mind you. I am not sure if its a mental block from my youth and brothers bed wetting or if its a plumbing problem however the facts remain I don't and can't pee in my wetsuit, period.

Apparently I am pee dysfunctional. Is there a PADI course to help me with this as I apparently missed the section on this in the OW course :shocked2:

 

[dfx]

I don't know about that. There are definitely some days where the sun is beating on the deck and you can smell that there are too many wetsuit divers on the boat. My guess is their suits actually fit well and trap the urine next to their skin and it runs out on the deck when they get out of the water. Either that or the boats just aren't rinsing their decks after relieving themselves (but I tend to only dive on boats with facilities, so that raises even more questions).

Wetsuits do have a tendency to start smelling after being used a number of times, but I've never come across one that smelled of urine. The problem is that wetsuits of heavy divers rarely get a chance to dry, and as such the bacteria contained within the lake/ocean water starts to grow and produce the smell. Same kinda effect as it happens in a kitchen sponge. And it happens no matter if the wetsuits were peed into or not.

 

[cvchief]

Apparently I am pee dysfunctional. Is there a PADI course to help me with this as I apparently missed the section on this in the OW course :shocked2:

I think it is $100 and you get a new card with a sea cucumber on it. You can do it online.

 

[Peter69_56]

I think it is $100 and you get a new card with a sea cucumber on it. You can do it online.

Is that pee on line??????????? or pee on the sea cucumber ????????? :cool2:

 

[Mossman]

I've smelled pee stinky divers on dive boats before, it's not pleasant, but the remedy is simply to go stand up wind of them. If you pee in you wet suit, remember to flush it out for the courtesy of others and yourself. That 3-5 minute safety stop is a good time to flush the wetsuit a bit.

I used to tuck my wetsuit into my boots, but now I put the wetsuit leg over the boots to help the pee flow out. I also always dump the contents of my boots over the side instead of letting them drain on the boat deck. If I smell on the boat, it's solely because of the dead ocean plankton, not my pee!

 

[dmoore19]

If you tuck your wetsuit legs into your boots, you end up with cankles. I hate cankles.

 

[gopbroek]

I do not rent wetsuits but I also understand that for some it is not a real option to haul equipment for a limited number of dives on vacation. If it ain’t your suit at least give it a few minutes before getting out of the water to dilute your ‘happy finish / warm moment ’ to the dive. If you are going to pee in your suit, yours or a rental, it helps if you stay well hydrated and avoid Asparagus or anything else that makes you reek. Personally I feel anything that comes out of a human body while suspended in saltwater is benign compared to what I see coming out of the various sea life.
At the limited number of dive op’s I have seen handling customer’s wetsuits they always use detergent / disinfectant in the rinse water and there is no residue smell on the gear. What I find to be gross is a person who handles their own gear but does not have a method to sanitize their gear. Whether they peed in it or not the equipment wil Reek
after 4-5 days. An once or two of ‘Stink’ or ‘MiraZyme’ in a sinjhk/ bathtub or even the hotel room trash can will cause your suit to smell like new .

 

[Mossman]

Its all about choices, some in the industry may chose to run their establishment their way (which is their right to run it how they chose), and customers will either chose to or not chose to use them. From now on it will be a question I ask before making future bookings and actually something previously I just assumed was provided. Note here I am saying "provide appropriate storage area for wet gear" and "NOT" have your gear washed by others. If I have to wash it, but can store it I am happy, if I cant store it there I will not use the LDS.

Thing is, many/most divers never set foot in a brick and mortar "shop" in Cozumel, or if they do, it's only to drop off their gear on the first day and retrieve gear and pay for the diving on the last. Except for the few dedicated dive resorts such as Blue Angel or ScubaClub, and the few hotels with onsite dive ops (assuming one wants to use the onsite op), the only interaction with the dive op is by boat or hotel lobby. For instance, on my last trip, I stayed at an AI resort with an onsite dive op. Yet I chose to dive with one of the many small-boat operations on the island instead. On my first dive day, I brought all my dive gear to the boat. Had I decided to dive with an outside dive op that did not store gear, I would have had to bring all my dive gear back to my room with me each day. Instead, I chose a dive op that stores gear (and wetsuit), so after I brought my gear the first day, I didn't have to worry about it until the last day. Instead of having to bring dripping gear back to my room each day, I only had one day that I had to deal with figuring out how best to rinse it in the shower than drag it through the room and onto the balcony to dry instead of having to deal with the hassle on a daily basis.

Honestly, I don't give a whit whether they clean it or not. I've done plenty of liveaboard boats where the gear sits unwashed from the end of the dive day to the beginning of the next. But I don't want to be dragging wet stuff around my hotel, and especially when I'm already carrying a heavy camera setup.