What would you do??

[dmaziuk]

Got a pinch-flat in May (2015) in Fiji ... the dive boat crew insisted on putting my gear together even after I'd told them repeatedly to just let me do it. Before I could even board the boat they'd put a tank on my rig and slammed it into a metal tank holder, putting a nice hole in the wing when it got trapped between the holder and the tank. I was pretty pissed about it, especially because I was in a place where there was precious little resource to fix it.

I hope you got them to lend you a free BCD for the day and buy you a new wing fedexed overnight. So they'd Learn A Valuable Lesson.

I have a tube of aquaseal in my dive bag, and tenacious tape patches are coming on a slow boat from amazon.

 

[boulderjohn]

I have had students tell me that their friends who are already certified told them that the last time they will ever set up their own gear or plan a dive is in their OW class, because after that the DMs do all of that for you. My own early dive experiences were similar. After I was certified, my first few dive trips were to Cozumel, where the DMs set up everything for me. When I finally went to someplace where I had to do it myself, I admit to being a little mystified.

There are many people who do a lot of diving in a specific resort (like Cozumel) where that sort of thing is done for them every time. I would be willing to bet there are people with hundreds of dives and pretty good skills in the water who have not set up their own gear in many years. I would therefor not make too many assumptions about the diver's in-water abilities.

In the situation that prompted this thread, I would help the person set up, being as nice about it as I could be. As i did so, I might ask questions like "Where do you normally go that they set it all up for you?" "Go there much?" "What kind of diving do you do there?" After a while I would have a pretty fair idea of the overall diving experience I am dealing with.

 

[TMHeimer]

As someone who primarily dives with instabuddies I pretty much treat every dive as a "solo with buddy" dive. That's not to say I avoid my buddy or disappear, quite the contrary, I just don't expect them to be of any help to me if/when the **** hits the fan.

In my experience, luckily, this hasn't happened. If/when it does, I'll offer to help, offer to be their buddy (if not already so assigned) and adjust my dive plans accordingly. Any dive is a good dive, in my opinion, so expectations and goals can change on a whim for me. I'd rather make a new friend and ensure we both come back home safely than be a hard-nose about my own dive expectations and possibly ruin everyone's day (any accident/incident can potentially do so).

I'm new. I keep as active as I can but the reality is we all fall on times where we aren't prepared for the task at hand. If it's woefully unsafe for the diver to do the dive, then we call it and enjoy the day on the surface. If not, we adjust our expectations and have a fun dive.

We're going around in circles on this. I don't really disagree with anything here. Other than I'm still kinda in agreement with not touching anyone else's gear to help. When I do this in a DM capacity I'm insured (how that works in reality should the buddy have an incident underwater I'm not sure and hope not to find out--but I know if I follow PADI standards, local protocol and use good judgement PADI will probably back me and the insurance will probably cover anything that may happen). As a buddy on vacation, the insurance probably doesn't kick in. Either way, the DM/crew on board are the one's who should be helping with gear, or doing it for them, etc.--and they need to know--they are insured for that trip. So we're looking at a legal thing, a being nice and helpful thing, and above all a safety thing, for both buddies underwater. Let's just say you attach the reg for them and something related (or not) happens during the dive--not likely, but who knows, you could stand a chance of being legally responsible. It's a little different being on a boat than my example of assembling problems she had at a shore site. I stand by those who agree that not being able to assemble it on a boat meaning other inwater skills are very poor is quite possible. There's the safety aspect.

 

[boulderjohn]

I had an interesting reverse situation like this years ago. I signed up for a dive in South Florida, and the shop owner did the paperwork. I showed my instructor card, and we had a pleasant chat. I went to the boat the next day and got on board. They had a requirement that everyone have a buddy, and I didn't. Without asking me a thing about my diving, the DM went over to two people who were gearing up and asked if I could dive with them. Without turning around, one growled, "I don't know. Does he have any idea what he's doing." The DM said, "I don't know," and he turned to me and said, "So you have any idea what you're doing?" I said, "I've got a clue."

So I was assigned to that pair, although they were clearly not happy about it. As I set up next to them, I glanced over and saw they were setting up their gear incorrectly, and they were getting frustrated as they tried to figure out what was wrong. I finally quietly told them what they needed to do.

At that point, the owner of the shop came on board. We started to talk, and he asked me whim I was diving with. I pointed, and his eyes grew wide with horror. He waled to the other end of the boat, talked to some people, and then introduced me to some new dive buddies. We had a great dive.

 

[Centrals]

If you are diving in SE Asia you are more than likely not required to set up your equipment during the whole trip. The crew will even do all the donkey work after the daily dive. I don't like the idea but some divers have no issue with it.

 

[BRT]

We set up our own gear. No exceptions. I'd rather make my own mistakes.

 

[Steve_C]

If they set up my gear, it is a simple thing to check it before diving. We are talking about only three or four things. In one case I found out the crew had only cracked my air on. Reg breathed fine but saw the needle plunge. Nice to find before a hot drop.

 

[KeithG]

You travel to a foreign country for a dive trip. The dive shop you choose is of good repute, and asks about diving history, last dive, and checks a C-card.

On day two on the boat, while checking your gear, the diver next to you says "I dont remember how to check all this. They normally do it for me."

What would you do?



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Nothing? Not my circus. Not my monkey.

The other diver appears to be smart enough to recognize they need a little help. They should also be smart enough to find the proper person to provide that help. I am not qualified to do that as I am just another tourist. On vacation. I would let them approach the DM and get help from the proper source.

On our last trip I helpfully pointed out to a bungee diver that they may need to fix their gear to address the bungee cord holding the tank in place. They snarled at me and acted as if that was normal and started to try to stretch the bungee over their reg. I walked away.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If you are diving in SE Asia you are more than likely not required to set up your equipment during the whole trip. The crew will even do all the donkey work after the daily dive. I don't like the idea but some divers have no issue with it.

True in many parts of the world. In some, the crew is required by their management to set up client equipment ... even if the client asks them not to and wants to set it up themselves. I've had to be quite firm ... repeatedly ... in several places in order to be granted the privilege of setting up my own equipment. And if for any reason you find yourself with a different crew during your stay, you have to start the process all over again. I feel bad for the crew in those situations ... they're caught between a boss who insists they set up your equipment and a client who insists they don't ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added January 9th, 2016 at 08:13 AM ----------

If they set up my gear, it is a simple thing to check it before diving. We are talking about only three or four things. In one case I found out the crew had only cracked my air on. Reg breathed fine but saw the needle plunge. Nice to find before a hot drop.

... sometimes not so simple ... I travel the way I dive at home ... BP/W with a long hose. I don't want to hear arguments about my choices ... this is how I am used to diving, and how I choose to dive. In many parts of the world, a boat crew will have never seen that arrangement, and will find some incredibly creative ways to bollix it up. This is the main reason why I find it easier to just set up my own gear.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[boulderjohn]

... sometimes not so simple ... I travel the way I dive at home ... BP/W with a long hose. I don't want to hear arguments about my choices ... this is how I am used to diving, and how I choose to dive. In many parts of the world, a boat crew will have never seen that arrangement, and will find some incredibly creative ways to bollix it up. This is the main reason why I find it easier to just set up my own gear.

Same here, but in my case I don't care if they set it up for me. I'm going to check it all anyway, so it's no big deal.

As for screwing it up, the last time I did that, on a trip to the Philippines, we were told to just get off the boat at the end of a dive and get back on the boat at the appropriate time for the next dive. Our gear would all be set up for us. It became a standing joke to see how they would screw it up on each dive. Since it was the same people taking it off the boat (after I had done it correctly) as it was putting it back together, we wondered how long it would take them to get it right. They never did. No harm done, though, as long as you are checking it anyway, and it was always good for a chuckle.