Full Service or Self Service

[Laurence Stein DDS]

A question for all, and if I can figure this thread stuff out a quick poll.

I dive with friends on private boats nearly weekly. We go out when we want and return...whenever. Each one of us sets up their own gear. We may ask for help when suiting up in rolling seas but no one sets up another's tank and regulator.

When I travel, I have had commercial dive boat crews do everything for you except put on my bathing suit (won't let them).
They will swap and set-up your second tank while you are getting a snack. I have personally witnessed a dive emergency from just that type of "service". I don't like other people, no matter how professional, to mess with my gear.

I was corresponding with a friend who was going to Australia and had told her my feelings. I was surprised at her response.

I said:

I don't like dive boats "setting up my gear" for me. It's something that I should do and check. It's OK for them to check that your valve is open or your hoses are not tangled before stepping in. While it's nice to have help, if you regularly check your tank pressure after set-up and then vent to take the pressure off the regulator, YOU know that your pressure gauge should read zero. If THEY check, they may pressurize the system, turn off the air and the gauge reads full when it is off. I leave mine off till I start suiting up--then I start my computer and turn on the gas. It's just my way--not necessarily THE right way--but when others change YOUR way, people can get hurt.

And She said:

Also wish I'd had your tip about the tank pressure in May when I went to Belize! That did happen to me and it was a frightening experience. The gauge read full, I had just enough air in the lines to get down to a decent depth, and then ran out! Wasted time switching to the octopus and trying to figure out what was happening before making an emergency ascent.

So the question is: Do you prefer the dive staff to set up or handle your gear or do you prefer to do it yourself?

Larry Stein

 

[ckharlan66]

I want to do it myself. Like you said help is fine but I want to be responsible for my own life.

Chad

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

DO it yourself 100% of the time.

 

[MissAmberDiva]

I definitely want to set my gear up. It's up to you to make sure everything is ok, not someone else.

 

[jbd]

gear set up. I feel exactly the same way as my primary buddy ckharlan66.

 

[kwesler]

and it is part of my pre-dive ritual. Helps me get my concentration together. If I did not do it myself, it is LIKELY I would forget something.

 

[Tavi]

Once in the Bahamas I found my gear all set up on the boat in the morning . I checked and readjusted everything, and politely asked them not to do it again.
Between dives I switch over to a fresh tank right away!! It saves me from haveing to tell them to leave it alone!!......... because it's already done!!
My wife lets them set hers up. Then she checks it and then I check it!!

Haven't dived anywhere else where someone would offer to set up. Lake Erie charters, shore dives, we always do our own set up.

 

[-=>Larry<=-]

I go ahead & let them set up - I just go through everything again to make sure it's right. Sort of a super-sized buddy check.

 

[wetman]

On my trip to north carolina a few weeks ago, half way into my dive my gauge started bouncing from 1400ish to 700ish with every breath. It turns out the boat mate turned my tank off and then a half twist on. I didn't even see them do it. However, my buddy on the next dive watched them do it, so i know it wasn't me (I have never done that before). Had i known they were doing it that would have asked them not to touch it. It was possibly a legit mistake - we were using a detached double set where one valve goes the normal way and the other has the valve on the opposite side and when joined are attached through a manifold. However, this is a perfect reason not to have anyone touch your gear but you - they were obviously not familiar with these valves.

steve

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

wetman,

That's exactly the same thing that happened to another diver on a boat in Curacao with me. He wasn't my buddy, but he chose ME to bring him up. He also "took" my primary and never gave it back.

It turned out that his valve was "cracked" a half turn and half way into an 80 foot dive the first stage couldn't keep up with his air demand.

His buddy later asked me, "What does it mean when your pressure guage goes up and down on each breath"? I told him it means you were luckier than your buddy.

The funny thing is that there seem to be a lot of people on the boats that "want" this attention. I suppose they also get a massage at the end of the day too.

Larry Stein