My first "incident" as a diver

[DevonDiver]

IMHO, the only reason to teach '1/4 turn back' is because ham-fisted customers will over-tighten valves. Over a period of time, this constant over-tightening will damage the valve and reduce its lifespan.

Otherwise, turning the valve into the fully open position is more decisive and less prone to human error subsequently leading to OOA emergencies.

 

[DandyDon]

Cindy's oops happened because she started but didn't finish...

I started opening the valve to turn on my air, but I got distracted and didn't continue opening the valve all the way.

This gave her available air at first, with a premature stop. I've kited up and then remembered that I never turned on, but I did worse once. Not only did I kit up, valve off, fail to check before backrolling, but also found myself under the boat with nothing. I clawed my way out, for the skipper to turn it on, and since learned to reach it myself. Practicing good predive protocols for prevention is best tho, of course.

We've gotton off on the 1/4 turn thing I guess, but it is similar...

IMHO, the only reason to teach '1/4 turn back' is because ham-fisted customers will over-tighten valves. Over a period of time, this constant over-tightening will damage the valve and reduce its lifespan.

Let's see, a new K valve can be bought for $40, less than and boat dive I've done so I'm not sympathetic.

 

[suprane]

They will, unless like me, you tell them to keep their hands off of your gear.

Amen!... I don't want anyone touching my gear except me! Having administered anesthesia for the last 33 yrs. you learn that there are routines that you stick to religiously every time! To do anything less is an invitation to disaster!
I check my valve on before donning my BC. And then I procede to take not a few, but several breaths from both my primary and my octo to assure myself that both are performing as anticipated.

 

[Bogie]

Glad you're OK. Good dive buddy.

 

[mrbeast1414]

They will, unless like me, you tell them to keep their hands off of your gear.

you don't want to be checked?

 

[DevonDiver]

Jim's refering to the dive/boat staff who want to set up your gear for you and/or insist on fiddling with your regulator valve as your prepare to exit the boat.

If you've done a comprehensive pre-dive safety check with your buddy... a lot of divers' won't be happy with an unknown person then adjusting/interfereing with their kit.

 

[TSandM]

mrbeast, the answer is that some buddies check by touching, and others check by performing self-checks at the same time. I would actually be quite unhappy if someone insisted on handling my valves to satisfy themselves that they were open. However, I'm quite happy when someone wants to go through the pre-dive check, which involves ME checking the position of my valve, and doing the breathing and watching the gauge that has been described. In fact, I insist on that.

 

[sskasser]

I know it happens, but it still just blows my mind that a "dive professional" (boat crew, etc) would ever dream of turning any knob clockwise for a diver about to get in the water. Left valve, right valve, quarter turn on, whatever. If he/she is turning it clockwise...ARGH! Go play in traffic and leave divers alone! It really should be a muscle memory thing for those pros.

 

[DandyDon]

I know it happens, but it still just blows my mind that a "dive professional" (boat crew, etc) would ever dream of turning any knob clockwise for a diver about to get in the water. Left valve, right valve, quarter turn on, whatever. If he/she is turning it clockwise...ARGH! Go play in traffic and leave divers alone! It really should be a muscle memory thing for those pros.

It happens. My home buddy is a highly skilled sewing machine and vacuum cleaner repairman among other things, turns screw drivers all day - and he turned mine off as I approached the gate. It helped drive home my requests that we dive all the way open, not 1/4 back, and double check this at 15 ft down in case anyone sneaked up on us - which also happens.

No excuse for me either as I used to build farm plows before air wrenches, and have built & repaired many in many conditions, along with flat tires and everything else that happens on a dirt farm. Last trip, I tried to unscrew the valve from my pony the wrong way, with a wrench. Took a bigger wrench to get it off.

 

[Gombessa]

you don't want to be checked?

I think the answer to this largely depends on how rigorously and regularly you perform your own pre-dive checks. The way I saw most people dive post-resort certification (no dive planning, no buddy check, no equipment check), it's probably a good idea to have the DM/crew do as much double-checking as possible.

But if you always perform a thorough pre-dive check before getting ready to jump (which can include 5+ opportunities to catch a closed valve, such as a primary regulator check, backup regulator check, BC inflation test, drysuit inflation test, SPG confirmation, valve check, and mod-s), the presumably infrequent crew-turns-gas-off becomes much more likely than you having missed it during your own pre-dive check.