Double Check Your Gear

[openmindOW]

No I have no connection to XS Scuba or any entity selling anything.

I mentioned this only because I felt it relevant to the discussion. I did not seek these valves out they were installed on tanks I bought.

Fine. I never said you did.

I said "I wonder if," and I genuinely wondered. There are sales people who use forums to generate buzz, and I genuinely wondered if you were involved in the sale of Worthingtons. Indeed, your posting said that your Worthingtons "had just arrived," and that made me think that you might have been working at a dive shop.

Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

 

[belairbrian]

String,

I was being sarcastic. It was meant for those that think every innovation is bad. A look through the forums will find post against just about every innovation in the last ten years.

BTW, I started with lead blocks in SoCal (so we wore quite a bit), and quickly went to soft weights when they came out. Went integrated when I bought a back inflate.

 

[D_B]

I open all the way, then back aboot 1 degree ... just enough that it's not resting on the stop .. like to treat the valve gently ... I am the same way when turning it off, just snug is good enough

OW class, my dive buddy turned his valve off so hard after doing the pre-dive breathing check that when I went to confirm it open during buddy check, I could not turn it further open so it must be open, right? it took the instructor both hands to open it after we got in the water and his reg got progresivly harder to breath (still on surface) ... we both learned something that day

 

[Ayisha]

...in my class I make it very clear if they ever see me do something that is out of their comfort level or training to call me on it and refuse to do it. On OW checkouts today there is a large cabin cruiser sunk in the quarry. It is big enough to hold 3 or 4 divers. But there is only one way in and out, the windows are too small to swim out of. On dive two I purposely went in while they were all gathered on the stern. Depth is maybe 12 feet there. I waved one pair to join me. They moved forward slightly, looked at the cabin, looked at the ceiling, and refused to enter. I signaled "why?". They pointed at the overhead and gave me a no way. They passed.:cool2: I teach that DM's ,Guides, and Instructors (including me) should not be trusted blindly.

That's terrific. I haven't done that, but you have given me something to think about doing.

I got tripped up in a scenario like that. In my Advanced O/W in Tobermory, our instructor said that he would penetrate a shipwreck just to show us but we were absolutely not to follow him. When at depth, he entered a hold in a shipwreck and I was following shortly behind him with my DM buddy. I waited outside with the DM and the instructor motioned for me to enter. I shook my head no because he had told us not to penetrate and I knew I wasn't trained for it. He seemed to still wait for a while. I looked at the DM and he motioned widely to me like, "Well, what are you waiting for, get in there". So I started following the instructor in and as soon as I entered the shipwreck, the DM blocked it with his arm and pushed me away, shaking his head and finger at me. Well, I did refuse at first... I learned something that day... that instructors and DM's can be tricky! Seriously though, I learned to follow my training and make my own decisions, regardless of what the "authority figure" was encouraging me to do.

 

[knowone]

I actually don't know why people use integrated weights, it just seems to make the tank weigh even more when you lift it for donning.

BINGO.

Lead IN belt. Integration for trim, or to spread the load a bit.

To the fortunate ones who are able to neutralise between an AL and S/S plate. Prrrfffft.

Integrated weights: Introduced by who knows who for what, much to the chagrin of boat people and the bane of the herniated everywhere. Unintentionally dumped weights in my part of the ocean certainly when they were introduced was 10 Int to 1 or 2 Blt. Found a lost 2 Int owner once, he was also a dive shop owner.

I have an innovative spirotechnique Red OFF indicating knob valve and some Scubapro valves with contents pin indicators from the 70s. Prrrfffft. Didn't catch on then and won't now.

If the ham fisted ones touch your knobs when they are 1/4 backed off you may be more able to unstick it and if a ham fisted one does touch your knobs when they are a 1/4 backed off, the lack of resistance, hose kick or Psssst may indicate something, and if you have a roll ON with your knob backed off it will be easier to reach and twiddle your knob off if required to shut down right tank rather than hook your gear off and twiiiiiist it forcibly....Only trouble for me rarely is isolator or J knobs in dive shops filling.

Well may you say, check your valves and spg whilst diving.

Was watching a qualified plumber installing water pipes in a wall one day. "Hey vince, hot pipe goes on the left." Vince. "It is on the left." Me. Vince, you're in the loungeroom." See.

Nice Abs ndiboi.

 

[Stoo]

I totally agree with this, in general, I would never let someone else take responsibilty for my life as long as I'm capable of doing it myself.

LOL... Apparently our DM wasn't really taking responsibility for my life either!

I think part of my "problem" is that the vast majority of my diving is "solo" in deep, dark, cold, scary water. I have a tendency to relax a little too much when the water is clear and warm and comparatively shallow. I was very careful to check my wife's gear before we dove on that dive! (So really, it was all HER fault...) I ALWAYS double check everything when I dive, and do down south as well... it was a stupid mistake. Lesson learned.

 

[Ayisha]

Stoo, do you dive mostly in Tobermory? Now come on, that is not dark or scary! Many Toby sites are deep and extremely cold I'll give ya, but not dark unless you're doing a night dive. The viz is so clear they call Tobermory the Caribbean of the North!!
Now if you're diving our surrounding lakes, then your description, with the addition of silty, makes perfect sense...

Sorry, carry on. I think each time we have an issue that we are able to resolve, we can become better divers for the experience. We end up thinking about other things that could go wrong besides the most basic and we can and should set new protocols to avoid them happening again.

 

[RX8Bob]

Could always do what i did one day, show up to a dive site with an empty tank, and I mean empty, bone dry. Got the tank from storage and went to go. Fortunately when I got there I was not feeling 100% something I ate didnt settle with me. So i told the group I was going to sit out this one. Got home and checked my gear anyway and the tank was dry, saved myself a bit of embarassment that day.

 

[fjpatrum]

The color coded valve is cute ... but once again we are seeing an equipment solution to a training problem.

I'm wondering whose training we're talking about here, the DM who touches a diver's gear or the diver?

I can see these as a great way for responsible divers to allow a quick inspection by well-meaning DMs without the DM needing to actually touch anything.

Then again, I'm a newb.

 

[Maladryne]

I can see these as a great way for responsible divers to allow a quick inspection by well-meaning DMs without the DM needing to actually touch anything.

Interesting thread.
When working a boat as a DM, I generally considered accident prevention to be a significant part of my job. With respect to entries, a quick visual once-over as the diver approached the platform (has fins, weights on, buckles buckled, has mask, and yes, a twist of the knob to make sure air is on) generally meant that in the next couple of minutes, I wasn't going to be rescuing some doofus flailing on the surface because they splashed in without all their stuff sorted. I know very confidently that taking those steps did, on numerous occasions, stop someone from jumping off the boat and encountering anything from inconvenience to crisis, depending on what they had messed up. Even though there was the rare occasion (maybe two or three times over several years?) when I was asked "what are you doing, please don't touch my equipment", I feel like regardless of whether what I was doing was just well-intentioned or actually required (ie. standards of care), I was doing something I needed to be doing. I'd offer a steadying arm to someone doing the slip & slide to the back when the deck's rocking and rolling, too, though; there's lots of ways to help make sure folks have a good day without going onto a power trip or making them feel like you're looking down on them. In fact, it's those kinds of DMs that pretty much guarantee everyone is in for a miserable time. Even so, I've worked literally thousands of boat dives; experience has taught me that even the most experienced of divers can do the damndest things, & another pair of eyes helping with a "final ok" can only be a good thing.
Having said all that, I've been diving off of a boat and had a DM shut my air off on me at the platform. I was putting on my fins, felt the tank shaking as the air was "checked", and realized that the knob was being turned, and turned, and turned....
I looked at the DM (who knew I was an experienced diver and thought he'd caught me) and said "what are you doing?"
"Checking your air... ya noob."
I held up my reg, hit the purge valve, and over the dying hiss as the system bled out said "Dude... you just shut my air OFF. This your first day, is it?"
Whether or not he touched my gear was really pretty irrelevant. The valve can have all kinds of pretty colors, bells, whistles, and half the crew and passengers are free to twiddle the knob on my tank as I head for the water. When I step off the boat, though, it's up to me to be satisfied that I'm good to go; final responsibility rests with me.