People embarrassed to do pre dive buddy check?

[inquis]

If you only deal with standard single tank valves, it is easy to make a mistake.

Perhaps, but that shouldn't be the case, as they're both right-hand threads. It's like they don't know righty-tighty. Sure if they always turn "rearward" (relative to the diver) it'll be wrong for all the uncommon valves. Although, it's still a mystery how they get the single-tank back-mount wrong.

Honestly, simply asking "is your air on?" would be best. It avoids the stealth mistake, and I believe it's more likely to cause the diver to take a few verification breaths.

 

[inquis]

it omitted a key piece of equipment--the computer

The computer gas setting (and implicitly its presence on my arm) gets covered by the "A" for me.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

One thing I always do is after I initially check my air supply during set up, and if there is going to be any loitering before getting in the water, I will shut the air off and drain the system. I always check my SPG right before getting in and if it’s on zero then it’s obvious I didn’t turn my air on. I’m pretty good about making sure it’s on anyway, but that’s a pretty fool proof system.
I NEVER let anyone mess with my gear!

 

[Ayisha]

On some boat dives, the regular DMs are always tasked to check that everybody's tanks have indeed been turned on. They do this everyday. If anyone has an experience of such people who do the same thing everyday and yet still manage to set someone up for death, do share.

Yes, on a liveaboard off Catalina Island, a DM closed my valve and others when we suddenly got called to a dive briefing on the upper deck while setting up our gear.

If I am disturbed in my routine, I start my checks from the beginning and immediately discovered that my valve was closed. I asked who closed my valve and the DM apologized and said he thought he was opening it. People who were ready to jump started checking theirs, and everyone who had their valve fully open like mine had it closed by the DM while we were on the upper deck away from our gear. We all told off the DM and we told him not to adjust our gear without our permission.

I had DM's stealthily turn off my fully open valve as I was about to jump in several locales, but the 3-inhales while watching the gauge/computer or reaching back and checking my valve caught that.

The DM's who check valves as they appear to steady someone while holding their valve probably open a lot more valves than they close, but it certainly happens.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Just back from 3 weeks in Bali. My dive buddy and I did our buddy checks then one of us would check the guide. The guides seem to be like what, a diver is actually checking them. One two occasions the guides had not turned on their air. One time a guide turned my air off. My buddy caught it and corrected it.

At Lombok the diving is like this below. It's a required negative entry, stay on top and get swept into the rocks.
All four divers checked each other before each dive. Two were our hosts and myself and dive buddy. Lombok dives were a blast but not for the inexperienced with currents both up and down and sideways. Funny thing watching manta's go sideways and backwards in the currents as you are filming them doing the same.


Diving the ‘Manta Pot’ can sometimes be pretty gnarly when there’s swell and currents!!!

The briefing could be..”get swept in, avoid everything solid, hide from the torrent (but not in the cave with all the sharks and Jenkins rays )and then get jet washed out again between all the boulders in the washing machine!”
It’s what makes this dive site so special and exciting and it’s definitely worth it.
The mantas do the same (although admittedly much better

),they’re curious and it really is unlike most manta dives you’ll ever do…especially because you’re the only divers there!

Yesterday was a particularly powerful day, but reversing out through 20+ mantas is something you’ll just never ever forget!

 

[pauldw]

How can someone get to be divemaster and not know which way a valve opens?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

How can someone get to be divemaster and not know which way a valve opens?

I don’t know, but apparently it happens.

 

[Fishdip]

How can someone get to be divemaster and not know which way a valve opens?

Just google becoming a DM/instructor and you will find many schools that will take you from never dived to instructor in a few weeks

 

[boulderjohn]

Just google becoming a DM/instructor and you will find many schools that will take you from never dived to instructor in a few weeks

So I gave that a shot and didn't find anything like that. I Googled the phrase "How long does it take to become a scuba instructor?" and here is what popped up on the top of the list:

Now you wonder about becoming a dive instructor and one of your questions is: How long does it take to become a scuba diving instructor? The short answer to that is that it will take you at least six months from the date of your entry-level open water diver certification to get your scuba diving instructor credentials.​

​

Perhaps you will be good enough to give a list of some of the "many schools" that will take you from never dived to instructor in a few weeks.

 

[Fishdip]

You are right I was being more brash with the time line as they require 6months dive time for instructors but let me find a few that let you compleat every thing in as little as 6 weeks and then you test out after the required wait.