To touch or not to touch other diver's gear

[rob.mwpropane]

Here are some fancy stickers for this thread, courtesy of "The Great Dive Podcast"!

 

[rick00001967]

There are times when for safety reasons it can not be avoided, like the people who can't or don't know how to secure their dive cylinders on a diver charter boat.
If you have ever ran a dive boat you will know what it is like, here I [or a DM or deck hand] would check every cylinder was secure before we were underway, not making way, before leaving the dock/wharf [made fast to the shore] , in between dives and before leaving the dive site, most times we put the cylinders in the racks for them and other insist they do it [the don't touch my gear type], I don't care , it is checked by the boats crew, and if it is not right we handle it, get over it.

For those that don't know: The word "underway" means a vessel is not at anchor, or made fast to the shore, or aground. "Making way" means the vessel is making way through water. If the vessel is drifting and moving with current, she is underway but not making way.

i cannot speak for others but i did not take the question as referring to what you are describing. i think most people understand that anything to do with the boat, crew, or passenger safety comes first.

 

[hammet]

Divers ain't the problem.

It's the dope head boat monkeys.

Don't leave your gear unsecured, blocking other diver's access, or in the way of mooring lines and cleats and other boat equipment and 99.999% of the time no one is gonna touch your stuff.

 

[Pavao]

That is exactly their responsibility.
And if they didn't find 5 of them every day, they would likely stop doing it.
I ask before I do it every time. Never had anybody object. They guys that reach back and check their own during their predive, I don't touch them as I watched them open the valves.

Exactly, we that work on boats, check knobs are open, because many have jumped in the water with tanks closed, we don't like dealing with incidents, and I personally dislike working on dive boats more and more, it feels like an accident waiting to happen EVERYTIME.

Often tanks aren't secured at all, improperly secured, bungeed trapped under regulator, cam band lose on tank, cam band not secured at all... the list goes on, these happen on a weekly basis, and can simply be a result of distraction, could happen to anyone of us.

In my eyes, the don't touch my gear thing is more ego than anything, I have seen many times when divers may dislike when you grab the shoulder strap to aid them in donning their gear, they see it as an insinuation they are uncapable of donning their gear themselves, it's mind boggling to me.

 

[MidOH]

Or they're just used to other boats being screwups.

 

[Valgo_]

No touching best touching

 

[iBJanky]

Here are some fancy stickers for this thread, courtesy of "The Great Dive Podcast"!

View attachment 827921

Can I buy one of those stickers from you?

 

[bakodiver391]

Tech boats you should not expect anyone to touch your gear unless specifically asked. There are too many configurations (center post and one tank closed, breathing down by thirds would be one example) for the deck crew to be familiar with every one. However, i recall one incident where an elderly guest jumped in with both tanks closed and no air in the bladder. If not for the "deck monkey" noticing and jumping in to drag the guest up a fortuitously near down line, there would likely have been a fatality. So no system is perfect.
Recreational boats, I think you should expect to have your valve checked. Don't like it? Check it again yourself. If you can't reach your own valve while kitted up you should take up knitting.

 

[MidOH]

Not sure why that is always brought up in every thread.

If you jump in with an empty wing, and your air off, well...........you pretty much don't deserve to live.

Are these people jumping in without their reg in their mouth?

I inflate my wing, and breath off my regs on the deck, every single dive.

 

[SpeedyJ]

Not sure why that is always brought up in every thread.

If you jump in with an empty wing, and your air off, well...........you pretty much don't deserve to live.

Are these people jumping in without their reg in their mouth?

I inflate my wing, and breath off my regs on the deck, every single dive.

I wonder how "In my defense they pretty much didn't deserve to live" would be viewed by a jury?