Tampering with other divers' gear

[scubadude79]

In general, I tend to live by the "you dont touch mine, I wont touch yours philosophy." This is especially true when the owner of gear isn't present and/or aware of someone messing with gear.

In that case you cited, I wouldn't consider that "messing with gear," rather "helping a diver." As such I wouldnt take issue with it, but I'm sure there are some that would.

Very true, some may think that this is tampering; but generally most would be appreciative of your willingness to help. Good Job!

 

[Jupiter31]

The title of this thread is misleading - "tampering" denotes some sort of "bad" act, and what the OP is describing was kind assistance

In the spirit of the title of this thread, I am surprised that some post (on other threads) a willingness to even consider touching someones gear for whatever reason; one person suggested putting hot sauce on a reg as a "practical joke" : (

I just wonder how some peoples minds work

 

[boulderjohn]

If I am not mistaken Jim is referring to someone arbitrarily adjusting his gear. . . .

You are probably right. I was reading it in the context of the OP.

John

 

[diver 85]

IMO, you did right--if she didn't like it(& she did) tell her go jump in the ocean....


To me, tampering with someone's equipment is(for example) turning their air off right before hitting the water...

 

[gypsyjim]

So if you wre having some kind of equipment-related problem you could not correct that was putting you in danger, you would resent it if someone came over and helped?

Of course not.

Assisting a diver in difficulty is totally different from taking it upon oneself to "adjust", or "correct" their gear with neither that diver's knowledge nor their permission.

The actions described in the beginning of this thread fall well within the realm of assisting a diver in difficulty. OP was wondering if this was the same as "tampering" with another's gear. It certainly was not, in my opinion, and were it me in the situation he described he would have been thanked.

 

[Teamcasa]

Assisting a diver in difficulty is totally different from taking it upon oneself to "adjust", or "correct" their gear with neither that diver's knowledge nor their permission.

I'm curious about this.
I've been diving a long time and can not recall a single instance where another diver took it upon themself to adjust or attempt to correct my gear.
Just how prevalent is this?

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I'm curious about this.
I've been diving a long time and can not recall a single instance where another diver took it upon themself to adjust or attempt to correct my gear.
Just how prevalent is this?

I'd say pretty darned rare. I've never seen it. I have seen other divers politely suggest or question a gear configuration to be helpful.

I my opinion, it would take a near-pathologic personality to take it upon themselves to alter another divers gear without permission, even if they thought they were helping, and a true sociopath to actually "tamper" with the gear.

Best wishes.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Just to kick this discussion sideways:

What if the diver in the original post had been finning furiously toward the surface? Would you try to stop or slow her/him down? My initial gut reaction is "Gosh, I've gotta slow that diver down or it's an AGE for sure!"

But, maybe they are hell-bent for the surface because they are OOA and their buddy was out of reach.... and if I slow them down I might be drowning them.

Just curious what others would do (I've never been in this position, but have thought about how I'd respond).

Best wishes.

 

[Hoomi]

Is it an acceptable practical joke to tape a sign that says, "Eat Me" to someone's tank right before a shark dive?

 

[bleeb]

I'm curious about this.
I've been diving a long time and can not recall a single instance where another diver took it upon themself to adjust or attempt to correct my gear.
Just how prevalent is this?

For the sake of a useful discussion, if we expand the definition of 'gear', 'adjust' and 'another diver' to include tanks and boat crews, then I can see a couple of not uncommon scenarios that people should maybe be aware of, so as not to be surprised and to be able to better deal with any resulting potential annoyances or hazards.

One is the crewmember that turns on or checks your tank valve, particularly as you're about to get in the water. As is mentioned occasionally here on SB (including within the last few days), sometimes they do get it wrong and turn the valve almost closed while your standing at the edge of the platform.

The other scenario is where they change your tank for you between dives, sometimes as they've helped you out of the water by taking your BC off and the new tank has been attached by the time they carry the assembly back to your seat (more common in vacation areas). Tank height or hose routing might not be what you originally had set up or prefer.

Granted these are not the original premise of other diver arbitrarily changing things, and are more in the way of services being provided, but they are gear configuration changes and might not always be completely expected.