Dumbest Thing You Have Done...

[Diver0001]

I've never broken anything but I've lost lights, knives, fins and just about anything else you could possibly drop.

As for dumb things. I jumped overboard with my buddy in Mexico and finally got around to turning on my air on the way down :stupid: .

And I cut myself with a weightbelt once too :bonk: . I was fiddling around with a new drysuit at the pool. I didn't know how much weight I needed so I just grabbed a 25lb weightbelt. I slung it around my middle and it slipped out of my hand just as I grabbed the clasp. With so much weight on the belt the clasp slammed shut and it took 1/2 the fingerprint off of the ring finger on my right hand. I still have a scar but the fingerprint grew back.

R..

 

[mddolson]

The most stupid things I've done :

Funny how when you do something so stupid, it's usually with an audience, to properly embarass you and imprint the incident in your mind forever.

Here are some lessons learned I'd like to share!

1) Time and place, Nov 1980,The Grenadines, Tobago Cayes, weekend dive trip on a 40 ft sloop. We were in a 16 ft boston whaler, had just finished a short dive inside a sheltered reef. Our gear was in the bottom of the boat, and I hadn't blocked the tanks properly. So when we hit a wave, the tanks rolled onto my wife's prescription mask (in her bag) and broke the face plate.

2) Time and Place , Summer 1992, Prescott docks, St Lawrence River , Prescott Ontario, during open water training dives with student. I had just rigged my bc, tank and regulator, on the tail gate of my pick up, and I had frogotten to loop the bungy over it, so as I turned to walk away, it toppled over , and kranged the regulator as it hit the ashphalt. The first stage was garbage,

3) Less of problem, no broken gear,
Summer 2000, Tobermory, Forrest City shipwreck, 145 feet depth, water temp 42°F. I hadn't checked the pressure in my argon bottle. I "figured" there was enough for one more dive, "WRONG". Argon emptied at about 120 feet, on the way down. Not a big deal, I was able to switch to my main suit LP hose on my primary 1st stage and finish the dive.

Mike D
:blfish:

 

[Popeye]

syruss32 once bubbled...
Well now we have covered almost everything other than the dumbest thing you have done that you should have known better than doing...

While I've done much more profoundly stupid things while diving, as far as gear goes, don't slam the tailgate on your plastic quick releases. The tailgate wins every time.

Once, while on the platform of the Minnow, we were about to drop. Packed 4 across in a space for 3 divers, we hit a good swell, and I got ejected off the right side like a croquet ball. My new USD mask came off, and deep sixed. Luckily, I had a spare, and the boat crew found mine two weeks later.

 

[bug]

so for christmas my father and I get new computers. We are flying down to the caribbean to get on the cruise ship. On the way there my father kept bugging me to read the manual for the dive computer.

So the ship gets to Aruba and we get on the dive boat. We are on our way to the Antilla and I am setting up my gear. Everything is connected and I turn on my air. Let me also say my computer is hoseless air intergrated. When I turn on the air I get no tank data. My father asks, "did you read your manual?" I reply with, "no, but did you?" He says he did and he saw there was a way to re-pair the transmitter and the computer. So I ask how, "I don't remember"

After farting around and nobody else on the boat knew how I threw the thing in my bag. some present ;-0

Well since I don't have gauges because the computer is supposed to do that. I have to rent a regulator. Well the inflator hose on their reg does not fit my AIR II connector. So I am now with a rented BCD and reg.

I got back to the cruise ship and read the damn manual, fixed it and got to use it two days later

-Matt

 

[mddolson]

This one didn't break any gear, but I needed two stitches at the emergency office.

A couple of seasons ago, my buddy and I were just finishing a dusk dive.
We were both using our cannister lights.
These are home built lights, and the aluminum light wands are shall we say DURABLE" (see attached jpg).
So as we surface there are a couple of observers, who ask us about diving , what we saw, how deep, how dark, etc.

Trying to be polite I pulled my mask down around my neck, with one hand and as I was speaking, I reached up to push my hood back, (I forgot my light wand was still looped around my wrist) and clobbered myself in the eyebrow with the aluminum wand.
It didn't hurt too bad so I just brushed it off, pulled my hood down and continued telling the folks what a great wonderful sport diving was. After a few seconds, I feel this warm stream running down face. Yep it was blood. Seems I'd cut a 3/4 inch verticle gash at the out 1/3 of my eyebrow.

So my buddy reaches up applies pressure to the cut. I clip off the light, and she places my finger over the cut, we exit, do the first aid and butter fly bandage thing.

I was very much embarased, didn't know what to say, but I think I muttered something like, "and this is another reason why we use the buddy system"!

Mike D
:blfish:

 

[Pez de Diablo]

That darn SPG keeps getting in the way. I have broke the neck of the swivel a couple of times now. You think I would learn to set my regs/console on my BCD and then lay the rig over!

 

[bug]

knock on wood... but I haven't broken anything yet or done anything that was too serious. But I have seen my share of them.


I was diving in Pampano Beach, FL last month with a buddy of mine. First mistake was when he forgot his weight belt (I guess you could say I failed at the buddy check). But when we were 15' down. I couldn't figure out why he couldn't keep up with me. At this point he is kicking like a bastard to tell me that he has no belt. As we surface the DM was like "ok who forgot their belt?"

Then my buddy made the opposite mistake (different day). We get climb back up the ladder and take off our gear. He in this case leaves his weightbelt on (maybe he is attached to this thing now) and is about to jump back in the water, wearing only his 3mm wet suit and 15lbs, to clean his face. As I scream WAIT!!! your belt.

He won't live thoes two down!!!! hahaha

On the same boat, different day, everybody loads their gear on the boat. There are about 4 other divers with us. No soon is some guy on the boat, but now on his cell phone. He talks and talks. Gets off the phone for 5min while he sets up his gear and helps his buddy out. Then back on the phone. At the site he gets off the phone, and the capitan kindly asks him to turn it off because he hates hearing ringing and beeping while everybody is down.

The guy ignores this comment and leaves his phone on. We surface and the capitan ask who's phone kept ringing. Because he was about to start a new (but small) man made reef.

So we are on our way to the next site. The guy now back on his phone. All the tanks/bc's are strapped in. Oh wait, except his. So he is on the phone 15' from his gear and the boat pitches. BOOM. HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I jump over some crap and turn off his tank. There goes an O-ring. Luckly that is all that happened! That could have been somebody's leg, foot, his regulator, hoses, etc.

I joined the capitan in the upper deck, and we just exchange looks.


I finaly got to log 11 dives in my fairly new (on logged 2 since) computer. I get home to download the data and the profiles to the PC. GRRRR I now remember that the computer only stores 200 minutes of profile info. But the external storage hold 66 hours. I guess I forgot the storage device. :upset:

but overall it was 3 amazing days of diving, and 11 GREAT dives.


Happy and safe diving!

-Matt

 

[ZoCrowes255]

The most recent thing was pretty embarassing. I was at the pool doing some training for a leadership position and my tank rolled into the pool when I walked away from it. I usually check the tanks to make sure I grabbed one with a squared off boot but I must have forgot to check and when I walked away from my gear it rolled right in. Thankfully their were no students around but I now owe the Instructor a 6-pack since I did something stupid.

 

[FallenMatt]

.. last weekend.. spending part of the spring break in Panama City Beach went for two tank dive in the gulf. THis is just the begining of the season (i guess) so only 3 divers,me and my buddies, are on the boat.

The dive was fine (although the coldest I've ever did @ 61 degrees... diving in south florida and in the springs makes you forget what "cold" means

After the dive, at the dive shop we are getting our gear packed, my buddies are rushing me because they want to grab some food and drive 6 hours home befroe it gets too late. Anyway, i get to my car to drive to the back of the shop to load my stuff, I put it in reverse and hear some wierd metal scratching noises.. WIERD.. i stop.. i get out of the car.. look around, behind... nothing.. get back into the car .. go in reverse again and here are those wierd noises again!!

i get out again, look under the car and here i see three alu 80 tanks under my car!!! I go forward (more noises), get the tanks and load them into the trunk...

my buddies decided to do me a favor and brought their three tanks to my car and just put them standing upright(!!!) right behind it and didn't tell me... oh well... at least now i know that my plymouth has just enough clearance for the standard 80 alu tank

the funny thing.. i didn't hear those tanks hitting the ground...

also.. ebay is evil!
and is a constant source of bad diving-related decisions
:mean:

 

[dsgobie]

I broke a mask once. I had the mask around the fins to make a neat little bundle like I "USED" to do. Then I kind of tossed the bundle down on some tanks. (Isn't it funny how slow thing move when you know you screw up?)

Second. I just broke the HID bulb in my MR11. It was in the DR Goodman handle clipped to the "D" ring on my harness.. Welp, it came out of the Goodman, swung down from my harness like Tarzan from a vine, and kissed some concrete.. Yep. That happened in slow-mo too.

So far I've been lucky enough to have all my mishaps above water..