Here's an issue that I'd like some feedback on

[Toadie]

I just recently completed my OW, AOW, and Nitrox training... I've got a massive 10 dives under my belt, another 5 when I did discover scuba. So maybe this is just a newbie thing but I've always been terribly safety conscience... my other hobbies are fairly dangerous as well.

So here's the deal...

I'm in Cozumel, I'm on a dive boat, and I'm about to do my Nitrox dives... the tanks are listed as 36%, I find that my BCD and reg are already put on the tanks by the boat crew.... I ask to test the tanks and they tell me that they tested them already... I tell them that I"m going to test it just to make sure. So I do... and I find that the tanks read 31.X %. Needless to say, internally I'm a little pissed. Externally, I tell my instructor who tests every tank, apparently mentions it to the shop, but nothing really comes of it and he doesn't seem to be that concerned.

Now we calibrated our dives, and I guess planning for 36% and diving at 32% isn't really a safety issue... but it is to me. I know we were in Mexico, and I know rules are "different" there, but there are some things that I don't think are acceptable.

Maybe I'm nitpicking but other things during the dive rubbed me a little the wrong way.... people tanks were falling out of their BCD's... mine came out as I was decending on a night dive :icon10:, and regulators were put on upside down.

Anyway... am I being an oversensitive newbie?

 

[pilot fish]

I just recently completed my OW, AOW, and Nitrox training... I've got a massive 10 dives under my belt, another 5 when I did discover scuba. So maybe this is just a newbie thing but I've always been terribly safety conscience... my other hobbies are fairly dangerous as well.

So here's the deal...

I'm in Cozumel, I'm on a dive boat, and I'm about to do my Nitrox dives... the tanks are listed as 36%, I find that my BCD and reg are already put on the tanks by the boat crew.... I ask to test the tanks and they tell me that they tested them already... I tell them that I"m going to test it just to make sure. So I do... and I find that the tanks read 31.X %. Needless to say, internally I'm a little pissed. Externally, I tell my instructor who tests every tank, apparently mentions it to the shop, but nothing really comes of it and he doesn't seem to be that concerned.

Now we calibrated our dives, and I guess planning for 36% and diving at 32% isn't really a safety issue... but it is to me. I know we were in Mexico, and I know rules are "different" there, but there are some things that I don't think are acceptable.

Maybe I'm nitpicking but other things during the dive rubbed me a little the wrong way.... people tanks were falling out of their BCD's... mine came out as I was decending on a night dive :icon10:, and regulators were put on upside down.

Anyway... am I being an oversensitive newbie?

I'll be doing that nitrox cert next week in Coz also. That is very dangerous. Was that with Dive Paradise? Besides checking your tanks yourself, glad you did that, did you have to do anything else? I dont care where you are, if they say it's EANX36 it better be within 1%. Was this a PADI operation?

 

[OE2X]

Are you being over sensitive? NO, NO, NO

You are being very aware and that skill will help you stay alive. What would have happened if you when you tested your tank it was 36%, but the tank said 30%. You might have toxed. Good job.

 

[Quarrior]

Good on you for insisting you check your tanks. as for saftey, if your dive was planned for 36% and your tanks had 31.X%, then you were well within the safety margin if you dove your original plan.

 

[herman]

Nope, that's the reason I don't allow anyone to assemble my equipment and I check my buddies as well.
Depending on the dive 32 instead of 36 may or may not be a big deal. What is a big deal is the mistake and the lack of concern....what else are these people missing? No one cares more about your rear end than you.

 

[The Kraken]

No.

 

[munkispank]

this is totally what you should have done- I don't beleive it is possible to be over-sensitive where your safety is concerned. It doens't really matter what anyone else says, it is good for you to follow procedures which ensure that safety is paramount. Irrespective of what the Nitrox mix was, you were right to test it yourself- the 'rules' are usually there for a reason.

I am very similar in my safety-ness. I don;t really care of I get teased by my buddy or 'looks' from other old salty sea- dogs, I prefer to check all my euipment myself and i insist on pre-dive checks with my buddy- every dive. Early in my diving I made a few mistakes due to not being this cautious, nothing serious, but enough to make sure I realised how important it is to be safe.

And I look upon it this way, if I spend an extra few minutes on the boat checking everything is A-OK then I can relax and enjoy my dive more!!!

Sounds like you would be a perfect buddy for me!!!happy diving

 

[Mo2vation]

Anyway... am I being an oversensitive newbie?

You are your own first line of defense. You alone have prime responsibility for your own safety.

Herman is spot-on. Nobody assembles my rig, I always run my (non-DIR / insta-buddy) buddy throgh my DIR set up and I will always inspect my buddy's rig.

The first couple of times out (years ago) I would put together my wife's rig while she got a locker, or got dressed, or whatever. No more. One day it hit me - let her pack her own 'chute. Now she does. Its all good.

You alone have prime responsibility for your own safety.

---
Ken

 

[Uncle Pug]

Good for you.

 

[emtdan]

i had a simular expierence in SVG. I now follow all gear from the start. I go into the back room, and look at the guage and make sure i have the right mix. I take my tank down to the boat, and make sure that it stays my tank. I insist on setting up all my gear. I get up the ladder with my gear, and I take it appart. I pack it, and I take it off the boat. You just need to be persistant, they want to make it look like they are giving u good service.
As for my expierence, they put my reg on upside down, didnt fully latch my tank on to my bc (note, they tightened it, but did not close the latch all the way), and let some1's weights fall on to my mask (cracking it, but not breaking the seal), when I got out, they didnt put my dust cap on tightly, and water leaked in (that was an overhaul), and chinked one of my hoses.

Oh well, and no, you can never be too consious.