Have you ever missed a dive due to equipment malfunctions?

[k ellis]

Just curious as to see how many people have got all their gear together and got on the boat and at the last possible minute had gear problems that prevented a dive?

Examples? Broke mask, computer malfunctions, bcd puncture etc.

 

[ItsBruce]

I had a flat tire once and the outboard would not start once.

 

[Calle Roo]

Just curious as to see how many people have got all their gear together and got on the boat and at the last possible minute had gear problems that prevented a dive?

Examples? Broke mask, computer malfunctions, bcd puncture etc.

Didnt miss the dive, because I stayed really close to my buddy, but I got some rental gear, and asked for 2 computers, 1 as a backup if needed. I head out to the lake, get geared up, drop my gear in the water, and the battery is dead on the computer. Dang it. So I pull it out, and get the other regs ready only to realize theres not a computer, or a depth gauge or compass, just psi gauge. Like I said, stayed close to my buddy and it was a shore dive at Lake Pleasant, so wouldntve gone deeper than 40 ft due to the thermokline.

Come to think of it, I actually missed out on 3 other dives I could've done that weekend because I didnt want to have someone else responsible for me, being my normal buddy wasnt gonna be there.

Thoughts.suggestions.comments...

 

[k ellis]

I had a flat tire once and the outboard would not start once.

I would have to say that would have been a frustrating situation. Did you get a refund since it was beyond your control?

 

[k ellis]

Didnt miss the dive, because I stayed really close to my buddy, but I got some rental gear, and asked for 2 computers, 1 as a backup if needed. I head out to the lake, get geared up, drop my gear in the water, and the battery is dead on the computer. Dang it. So I pull it out, and get the other regs ready only to realize theres not a computer, or a depth gauge or compass, just psi gauge. Like I said, stayed close to my buddy and it was a shore dive at Lake Pleasant, so wouldntve gone deeper than 40 ft due to the thermokline.

Come to think of it, I actually missed out on 3 other dives I could've done that weekend because I didnt want to have someone else responsible for me, being my normal buddy wasnt gonna be there.

Thoughts.suggestions.comments...

Hmmmm That has always been a fear of renting electronics especially ones that your life depends on. I have always preferred to use a computer I was very familiar with

 

[Gombessa]

Buddy's mask broke just as we were about to descend. That's how it goes sometimes.

 

[almitywife]

my very first dive in vanuatu was called off. i had my gear on and as i put my mask on my face the strap broke and there wasnt a spare mask on the boat so i had to sit it out while my hubby to be went for a dive (he would have sat it out but i said go and he didnt need to hear me say it twice)

a few months ago when i was about to get in the water i put my reg in my mouth and the mouthpiece just broke apart (i did check the reg before leaving the car but didnt notice the problem)

years ago i was doing a shore dive and standing in the water when my newly serviced reg started purging and i blew a quarter of the tank before we could stop it

but overall ive had hundreds of hassle free dives

cheers

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

That's the advantage of having your own gear. I know I'm not the only one that can't go more than a few days without breathing compressed gas. Okay, so I look sort of silly sitting in my living room wearing my mask and fins with a regulator stuck in my mouth. I just keep the shades pulled. Besides, I know I'm not the only one. And after all, it's really not my fault.

I told my girlfriend that the gas in my tanks is good for only a short time and must be "rotated" with fresh gas or I could have a "gas event" while diving. I further explained that I couldn't just vent the gas by opening the valve. That would be bad for the valve (the thermodynamics were just to complex to go into). I had to attach the regulator. And, you guessed it, I couldn't just purge the regulator. I had to breathe the gas. This was all in the interest of safety. All this was best done in at least 20 feet of water.

The optimum "rotation" interval was about once a week. Meaning that I had to breathe all my tanks down to 500psi at least once a week. It also wasn't good for the tanks to sit at only 500 psi for very long. The tank was made to hold 3000 psi and the walls of the tank might relax if the pressure inside was to low. It could explode the next time it was filled. Safety dictated that I get the tanks filled within a day or two of being , ehem, "rotated". It may fall on her to keep me alive by schlepping my tanks to the dive shop and back if I couldn't get away to do it myself.

I was feeling rather proud of myself, pretty much assured that I could go diving once a week with the expressed blessing of my beloved. Life was good. For a while. I have four tanks. Not a bad thing in and of itself but one weekend I only got to two of the tanks. My girlfriend was convinced I would die if I didn't get the other two tanks breathed down and rotated. It wasn't possible to get back to the lake for more diving and we don't have a pool. My only option, said she, was to set up my gear in the living room. Oh what I did.

Okay, what the heck. I'll use the time to calculate my SAC rate. This is where it got strange (stranger?). She said that if I just used the regulator, that I could also breathe through my nose. Wouldn't that affect how I used the reg? She insisted that I don my mask. Fine.

She seemed convinced that I had to re-create every aspect of a dive including wearing all the gear. To do anything less might lead to that deadly "gas event" I had so adamantly warned her about. So there I am sitting in the living room in full gear making Darth Vader noises trying to decide where I went wrong.

Steve.

 

[bane51031]

That was funny Steve

 

[catra8104]

Too funny!!!