How do you mark your gear?

[rivers]

i use a white paint pen, with either my full name or initials somewhere on it.

 

[fnfalman]

Paint markers on some items, and rubberized goop on other items.

uni Paint Markers, Medium Point, PX-20, 12 Color Set
Scuba Goop: at JoeDiverAmerica.com

 

[Capt.Ed]

I too used either a silver or black sharpie for anything that would hold the paint. I marked everything in areas that were easy for me to see if someone else was wearing my gear and I also marked it in areas that would be easy to see if I was picking it up. For things like dive knife, mask, and fins I used a grinder type engraving pen (the kind that runs on a AA battery) to write my name on all the gear that a sharpie wouldn't work on and then used the sharpie to "darken" or "lighten" up the grooves. My weight belt clasp, tanks, and BCD are marked so that other divers can read my name while I'm diving so they can easily figure out who I am...funny enough, most people learn my name really quickly.
On the mask I just put three little vertical lines at the bottom corner of each lense with the engraver so that I could identify my mask from someone elses if I looked very closely...you can't see the marks when wearing the mask, only when you look really closely.

I think the biggest problem is not somebody purposefully stealing your gear but getting it mixed up with thiers either before or after a dive or during the surface interval.

 

[OceanLover91]

Thanks for all the responses! I love the "Look Ma, no snorkel!"

I'm not really concerned with my stuff being stolen, I mean I know it could happen but I was more concerned with our stuff getting mixed up, it would really stink to come back and realize you have two left booties or someone else's BC that is a size to small...

 

[FireInMyBones]

Paint Pen for tanks and wing.

Sharpie for anything else.

Mostly, everything is either set up before someone else could mess with it or it is in my Tupperware box where it doesn't need to be marked anyways.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Another idea is the use of white out office correction fluid. Kinda going out of style now but it is water proof and will last a long time. Works great for writing on dark colored tanks

 

[fnfalman]

I'm not really concerned with my stuff being stolen, I mean I know it could happen but I was more concerned with our stuff getting mixed up, it would really stink to come back and realize you have two left booties or someone else's BC that is a size to small...

That's why I marked my stuff. Separate them from others more than worrying about lost or stolen gears. And just to add some color to the whole shebang.

My weight belt is red, so when water gets to about 20-ft or so, the red color is muted to black. So I painted my initials and other things onto the weight pouches with the yellow rubberized goop. During my Rescue class, I dropped my weight belt and later on saw where it was, then went to retrieve it. My buddy had a black weight belt, dropped it and it was lost. Nobody could find where the heck that thing went.

 

[knowone]

Buy second hand. Get rid of manufactuers markings and badges and use it so nobody can mistake it or wants it. Strip paint off tanks so nobody can mistake them or want them.

 

[scubajacque]

Ocean Lover 91: Any Dive shop should have a waterproof "sharpie", yellow in color, that will identify your scuba gear. works for me, especially on a boat. scubajacque.

 

[vladimir]

It would bother me if people knew I couldn't spell "snorkel" wherever I dived, but I guess that's my neurosis.