Who do you trust with your gear?

[Meng_Tze]

Bottom line:

If you want to do it yourself (for whatever reason) tell them: 'thank you but I like doing it myself. I enjoy it.' (always worked for me)

If you don't mind: hang back and loose, enjoy the scenery.

either way no one gets offended.

 

[Blitz]

Most people truly on "life support" probably can't. Personally I can't even watch when they stick an IV in my arm.

But scuba gear ain't life support unless it's tech diving (i.e. an overhead, real or imaginary). Until then, there's always the surface.

Not to split hairs, but last I checked no one can breath underwater without a reg, hardhat, rebreather or similiar device..... I call that life support. Many recreational divers have died just fine without correctly checked gear........

 

[Mossman]

As for "trusting" everyone as stated earlier, I trust no-one. I don't trust the other drivers on the road. I constantly watch and expect them to try to kill me. I'm not entirely trusting of the airline industry, so I fly as little as possible. I trust the boat capt to have a clue what he's doing, but the deck monkeys aren't the capt. If a boat breaks down, another can pick you up. If the boat sinks, at least I have my thermal protection and my BC to keep me from drowning until rescue arrives.

At that point, do you trust the sharks not to eat you, or do you have that under control as well?

I sleep far better, at least on a dive vacation, by adopting a more Eastern view on life and realizing that if it's my time, it's my time. On a liveaboard in Thailand once, I made a DM lose face by refusing to dive with him, after he had merely almost gotten my wife killed by trying to get her to follow him well below her MOD. I grabbed her, to save her life, she got pissed at me, and when I made my point clear and loud back on the boat to the guy in charge, the poor now faceless DM was almost in tears. I felt horrible.

But my pangs of guilt weren't enough. The gods further punished me by inflicting a tsunami upon our boat, making us miss an entire day of diving at the end of our trip and killing hundreds of thousands of people. How do you think I felt then?

So nowadays, if they do something wrong, I'll silently fix it, or let them know in a friendlier manner. After all, even if I have everything under control and trust no one, there's no guarantee something won't get me.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I also know that there is now one more person I would not dive with. I used to trust only my instructor to set up my gear if I was busy with a student and he said he would do it. I now dive BPW and long hose and he does not. Therefore no one touches my gear but me. If you cannot or will not (unless you are physically unable to) set up your own gear stay out of the water. Or stick to the cattle boats and away from me. As a DM I will help someone set up their gear if they ask but I will not do it for them unless I'm getting paid to. I prefer to stay away from vacation divers that can't or won't do it themselves.

 

[Mossman]

Not to split hairs, but last I checked no one can breath underwater without a reg, hardhat, rebreather or similiar device..... I call that life support. Many recreational divers have died just fine without correctly checked gear........

Maybe no one can breathe underwater without all those fancy devices, but you don't necessarily need to breathe underwater to stay alive, at least for enough time to make it back to the surface. Last I checked, free divers were making dives a lot deeper than I'll ever go on scuba.

 

[Blitz]

Maybe no one can breathe underwater without all those fancy devices, but you don't necessarily need to breathe underwater to stay alive, at least for enough time to make it back to the surface. Last I checked, free divers were making dives a lot deeper than I'll ever go on scuba.

Yes, but do you know many free divers that put their lungs and throats together before a dive?

 

[Mossman]

I also know that there is now one more person I would not dive with. I used to trust only my instructor to set up my gear if I was busy with a student and he said he would do it. I now dive BPW and long hose and he does not. Therefore no one touches my gear but me. If you cannot or will not (unless you are physically unable to) set up your own gear stay out of the water. Or stick to the cattle boats and away from me. As a DM I will help someone set up their gear if they ask but I will not do it for them unless I'm getting paid to. I prefer to stay away from vacation divers that can't or won't do it themselves.

Actually, there have been plenty of mornings I've been physically unable to. Hangovers in a hot tropical morning sun can be murder.

 

[Meng_Tze]

..Eastern view on life and realizing that if it's my time, it's my time.

The gods further punished me by inflicting a tsunami upon our boat,..How do you think I felt then?

It's called karma and the Tao of 10,000 things............... In western words: you got some Ju-Ju man!

 

[ScubaMilo]

Maybe no one can breathe underwater without all those fancy devices, but you don't necessarily need to breathe underwater to stay alive, at least for enough time to make it back to the surface. Last I checked, free divers were making dives a lot deeper than I'll ever go on scuba.

True the depth can be impressive, but I'd like to see a free diver do even a 20min dive at any depth.
I would be seriously impressed!!

Milo

 

[Cacia]

The gods further punished me by inflicting a tsunami upon our boat, making us miss an entire day of diving at the end of our trip and killing hundreds of thousands of people.

wow...did you post about that?

yea, those freedivers at 140 ft, sure put things in perspective for me.