What are your thoughts on the following?

[muddiver]

Ebay is your friend when it comes to dive gear. Air hats too, to some extent.

 

[Scott T C]

Ebay is your friend when it comes to dive gear. Air hats too, to some extent.

Yep. Keith (the ex-HH diver/instructor) said he used the KM-17B for many years, he said that I would be highly satisfied with the KM-17C. He also went on to say that if I maintain it well, that I could sell it for like 60-75% of what I paid for it...even after good usage. That was good to hear, since that hat is $7,500 basically.

 

[Bombay High]

It's customary in the United States for a commercial diver to have their own helmet, harness, bail out cylinder, wet suit, dry suit, gloves, boots, fins and miscilanious tool box. Companies pay rental on the personnal equipment when used for work.

Some, but not all companies will have some hats for the employees to used. These are not always in very good condition or repair.

Companies in the United States don't "Nanny" their employees like companies in HSE regulated countries do. You should think globally before you start making statements about equipment, procedures and policy.

My apologies for not thinking globally.
My question is more about compatibility with the systems already in place offshore. Do you fit your own Helium reclaim adaptors on your hat ? In the years that I have dived, neither of the companies (Comex and Stena) allowed us to bring our own gear and rent it to them. Even maintenence of our gear on the rigs was centralised.
It really is not a question of Nannying, that was the policy.
As far as global goes, one of the countries I have not worked in is the United States, so I guess, yes, I did not think globally.

 

[Bombay High]

DT: "idiots" tending...don't you have to be trained to do that? Even after I attend the CDA I know I will be expected to tend for a while before getting to do the diving and build dive time. So, are you insinuating that I too would be one of these "idiots"?

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I think DT is refering to the dropping levels of what is considered to be a trained tender these days.

 

[DCBC]

As the 17 B & C are the only compatible hats to the Ultrajewel Helium Reclaim system (Divex), it's an excellent choice for deepwater applications. It's one that I've used in various forms for over 40 years. It's the standard all other hats are judged by. You can't go wrong!

As to buying your own hat, it depends upon your employer. If you have second thoughts about gear maintenance, get a different employer. A hat is the least of your problems...