How long can I wait before rinsing?

[fjpatrum]

My experience is limited but I rinse when I can and don't stress over it. Sometimes that means right away, sometimes it means a day or two later. If it's a longer wait I just do a good "rinse and swish" for a bit longer (and in warmer water) than I normally would. So far so good... I inspect my gear before my dives and I test my regs. If they feel stiff I service them or adjust them. If not, dive happy.

 

[drbill]

I rarely rinse my gear (fresh water is scarce here as we are in a drought)... but then I usually diver frequently enough that I have no problem with salt crystal build up and my beach dives do not involve sand. Interestingly, I rarely have any problem with my gear. However, I do try to rinse gear when I've done a sandy beach dive.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Appropos of this subject, I was once on a live aboard with limited fresh water supply, and we ran dangerously low as some people insisted on rinsing their gear after every dive or day of diving. They were admonished repeatedly, and still persisted. I was not happy. We los half a day diving to motor to an island to fill the water tanks. There was a fresh water bucket to place regs in and after a week everyone rinsed everything thoroughly at the dock. After a trip I always sok everything for at least 4 hours with an appropriate gentl cleaner (Sink the Stink ) Cameras of couirse get my attention every day when the diving is done as far as a thorough rinsing drying cleaning and checking of all o rings .
DivemasterDennis

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

A large garbage bag will prevent the saltwater from evaporating and any salt crystal formation for days or longer. It also keeps you car smelling better if you peed in your w/s. I would rather wait and clean it properly, with warm water than do a have baked job on the boat or in a rinse tank at the dock. Just my 2 cents.

 

[L.S.U. Dolphin 82]

It all depends on how "A.Retentive" you are about your gear. I bring one of those big plastic storage containers with me on every dive. (Can get them at Wal-Mart) If there is no rinse tank where I'm at, I just pull out the container and fill it up from the water hose that's usually present on every dock. I let everything soak for about 15-20 minutes. After the soak you can then use the container as a drip bucket in your car. I hang the wetsuit up on one of those travel rods that hangs in the back seat of the car and all the water drips right down into the container with all the gear. Of course you have to be willing to spend a little extra time doing this, but this technique will keep your gear in good condition for a long time. From what I've seen over the years, there is a wide variety of attitudes that divers have concerning their gear. Many different degrees of how much they care about taking care of their investment. Some care and some don't.

 

[Karlath]

I try to rinse the gear as soon as I can, but it's not always possible. Sometimes I take some water in a container with me and do it on the spot. Sometimes it's a lot later on when I get home that I rinse the gear. It just depends, but I always try and take good care of it.

 

[ComputerX]

I'm a new diver, and don't know enough to offer a meaningful opinon, bot I saw someone do this and it made sense.

He has a covered plastic tub in the back of his pickup. When he leaves home he fills it with water. When he is done diving everything goes in the tub for the drive home. Once home it is a quick rinse then hang to dry until next week.

That makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe a second little bucket for the delicate stuff would be a good addition.

I wonder if a solar shower would work better than bottles...

 

[tracydr]

How long can I wait after finishing dives for the day before rinsing my gear?

I live a two hour drive from where we dive. We usually drop off tanks on the way home, and maybe they would let us rinse there, but then I would be using a communal rinse pail (ewwwww...) and I would be putting soaking wet gear back in the car.

When we get home I usually rinse the same day. Sometimes we've both been too tired and we manage to "justify" waiting until the next day. We soak our regs and wings and computers (not just rinse). The rest of the stuff we just rinse.

I just read a post where someone's inflator stuck open, and it reminded me just how many problems could occur. We really don't want to have gear failures if we can help it!

Thanks,

Bill

If it stays wet its fine. We often go the whole dive trip before rinsing, just keeping everything in its bag. When we get home from the trip we soak in warm water and pressurize the regs with tanks. If we can, we will soak everything in the hotel room before driving or flying home but we often do it at home in the tub instead.

 

[MWilliamson]

I don't have the experience that most have here, but I am pretty careful with my gear. I take a large bin from Home Depot (<$20) and two five gallon pails. The wet gear (wetsuit, BCD, fins, mask, etc.) goes into the bin, the weights go into one of the buckets, and any small/fragile items go into the last bucket. The vehicle stays dry, the gear stays wet, and everything is protected.

When I get home I fill two 55 gallon trash cans with water and soak everything. First in one to get the salt off, then in the other for a final rinse. After that, everything goes into the shower with me for a good rinse and then allowed to dry in or hanging above the tub.

The small stuff gets soaked and rinsed in the buckets with the water exchanged two or three times during which all movable parts are manipulated several times to work out the salt. The regs get attached to a tank which is put into one of the trash cans for a soak and several good purges before it joins the party in the shower for a good rinse.

The whole process only takes an hour and at the end my gear and myself are squeaky clean. So far, it seems to work well.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
When I get home I fill two 55 gallon trash cans with water and soak everything. First in one to get the salt off, then in the other for a final rinse. . . . .

That seems like wasteful use of water for rinsing one person's gear. And in dry SoCal no less. Methinks it is overkill.