Who do you trust with your gear?

[Mossman]

Well, Mossman, it is like this, the OP asked for opinions--I gave mine--you give yours and leave it at that. Since you have a problem with mine--here is the deal--mind to your own buisness.

If you don't want people to mind what you post, why don't you post it in private? Then it's just between you and you. I have no idea why someone would want to put air in your BC, but I can't understand why you get so "blown up" about it.

No, I don't want them dragging my equipment around, no I don't want them squirting a few blips of air into my BC which I might not notice and unlike you guys that like to hang around on the surface and make feet first crash descents into the reef--I like to roll in and descend immediantly head first. I do it my way and your welcome to do your thing your way--thank you. Mine is not negotiable and I don't care if it is a poor third world country--what I have I got by blood, sweat and tears and I don't want it damaged.

Actually I prefer head-first crash descents into the reef like you. It wakes me up and I save on the fin wear and tear.

 

[Mossman]

On a day like this I would say that the question of having the gear set up by a deck hand/DM is academic. The real question is 'Why are you diving if you are so hung over that you can not set up your own gear and check it, as well as your buddy's before entering the water?'

Buddy? Who said anything about a buddy?

 

[Mossman]

That's not the way to deal with people unless the guy was intentionally trying to kill your wife. You should feel horrible. You lost face, more so than the DM. The difference is, he realized it, you apparently did not.

The difference is that he cared, I did not. I was fortunate that we had buffet-style meals, however. If he spat in my food, he spat in everyone's food.

Perhaps instead of having the DM set up your gear, you should wait to dive until you are no longer hung over. Drinking and diving are a pretty bad combination.

Wait until I'm no longer hungover? That's not until I'm drunk again and surely you don't want me to dive then. I was always taught to wait at least an hour after drinking before diving.

You really don't know much about either sharks or people.

Of course I do. I've been bitten by both.

 

[Walter]

The difference is that he cared, I did not. I was fortunate that we had buffet-style meals, however. If he spat in my food, he spat in everyone's food.


Wait until I'm no longer hungover? That's not until I'm drunk again and surely you don't want me to dive then. I was always taught to wait at least an hour after drinking before diving.


Of course I do. I've been bitten by both.

Thanks for proving my points.

 

[CBulla]

I'm going to try something Laurens taught me...

Ahem......

 

[dmmike]

This is easy to answer: NOBODY!!!!!!!!:no

 

[alcina]

I have to have a little giggle at this question - it crops up a lot and a lot of folks get all het up on it.

I have no problem with anyone setting up my gear. It can be a nice thing to not have to deal with for a variety of reasons.

I can't imagine letting someone set up my gear and then not checking it myself. That's just stupid. I need to make sure that the set up is how/where I want it and that I know everything is working as it should (buddy check maybe?)...but the actually sticking the bits on the tank etc? I'm not that fussy and it's not that hard...

 

[radinator]

I really can't understand what's so difficult about letting someone who presumably knows what they're doing accomplish the oh-so-easy task of assembling gear. It ain't rocket science. Rebreathers, I can understand. The absorbent has to be packed just right, etc. And I can understand new divers wanting to gain the experience and being paranoid that it's done right because they're not really so sure themselves. But it makes me scratch my head to see divers who profess to have thousands of dives insisting that they're the only ones to assemble their own gear, just because.

[...]what are you afraid of?

Let me illustrate.

My first day in Cabo one of the nice tenders set up my gear. In the process he pinched my wing between the bottom of the first stage and my backplate, making a nice 1-inch slice right along the top of the wing in the middle. Thank you very much.

He did this without my permission, and in fact I never imagined they would try to set up my gear. That's the last thing I want. I think he had it all of two minutes before I noticed, but it was too late.

In fact, when I'm on a boat and about to jump off the side and I feel that DM's hand reach for my valve I stop everything and reach back myself to check it before I jump in. I insist that my hand is the last one to touch the valve before I jump in.

Most boat crew have no problem with this and are quite accepting of it once they realize I'm not a rookie. Usually they realize this when they see me reach back and adjust my valve while wearing the rig.

 

[Charlie99]

My first day in Cabo one of the nice tenders set up my gear. In the process he pinched my wing between the bottom of the first stage and my backplate, making a nice 1-inch slice right along the top of the wing in the middle.

Why do you dive with such fragile gear rather than a nice rugged BCD?