Why, when & where do we do a checkout dive?

[chillyinCanada]

It appears that we are all pretty much in agreement regarding the shakedown/shake out/check out dive. Though I don't need to remove my mask as part of that checkout . . .IMNSHO, of course.

 

[Dan]

It appears that we are all pretty much in agreement regarding the shakedown/shake out/check out dive. Though I don't need to remove my mask as part of that checkout . . .IMNSHO, of course.

Do you wear contact lenses?

 

[TMHeimer]

I agree with DevonD's points about checkouts for using new equipment, layoffs from a particular level, medical concerns, etc. I like his post because to me it just seems logical. I good example is that I usually only do one charter yearly, with most of my shore diving being very shallow. I review exactly what I need to do diving to say 100' from a boat. I am cautious. I play around with my computer, which is rarely used, and plan what I may be doing on the RDP as well. There is no real way to do a shakedown first unless I did another boat day to say 60' --which costs $. Though I'm Deep certified, it is not my norm. But preparing for this or getting used to new equipment (I haven't really ever gotten any seriously different stuff) needn't include practising mask skills, reg retrieval or ascent with a buddy, etc.

 

[Neilwood]

I understand the need for shakedown dives, having read about them for years on SB. Interesting that local dive ops in the US (& the one I patronized in Canada) have never done them in my experiences. Of course this I assume is because tropical ops encounter many who haven't dived in a while. If I were in that category I would do a refresher, or at least a dive or two before starting up again on a trip. Then you'd not have to have the shakedown. Going to a new environment should just mean getting a good orientation, which would not include mask skills. People going diving without basic skills...well, guess that's just the way it is. But that's just me.

I suspect that is because those sites don't tend to be the ones with infrequent divers. Occasional divers tend to be warm water only imho.

Personally I don't think checkout dives should require skills checks unless that diver admits to a lack of recent diving (to the point that a refresher would normally be advised). To me, they are more for checking gear function and getting weighting dialled in.

 

[Dish]

FWIW, IMHO and YMMV...
I'm strictly a destination diver, owing to where I live. Consequently, my diving is less frequent than I would like and I'm well aware that my proficiency wanes quite a bit in between trips.

While I've never had a dive op request a check-out dive, I will try to get a simple shore dive logged before I climb into a boat with other divers. This allows myself and my wife buddy to kit up on our own timeline (no pressure to splash), triple check our equipment and rigs, get our weighting locked in and, of course, simply get comfortable UW. Reg swaps, mask games and air share is practiced. After that, we feel pretty comfortable loading up on a boat.

I don't want to be that guy that puts his tank in backwards, fumbles around for gear, takes forever to kit up or has to come back to the boat for more weight, while others are hovering at the pin waiting depart on a guided dive.

So to answer the OP question; "Why, when & where do we do a checkout dive?"
Why? Regain lost proficiency due episodic and infrequent dive trips and not be "that guy" on the boat
When? First dive of the trip
Where? Shore dive (if possible) with no time pressure

 

[chillyinCanada]

In my way back days, when I felt I'd been out of the water too long and was about to go on another trip, I'd book an instructor for pool time and a refresher. As I grew more experienced, I'd grab a tank and some pool time and refresh on my own. Nowadays, I'm happy enough to do a shakeout dive on a liveaboard and if land-based, I don't complain if the first day's dives are the boring ones.

I've already checked my gear from top to bottom, listened for leaks, ensured inflator is working, nothing sticking, all deflation working correctly, etc. Ad nauseum.

Still going to be very resentful of being told I have to do mask removal etc. Irked.

At this point, I'll tell you that even after all that, I've jumped without my reg in my mouth and finning head down equalized to around 15' before noticing something was a bit different . . . Heehee but hey, swept for retrieval, put reg in my mouth, purged it, breathed it and caught up with everyone else without missing a beat. Guess it's a good thing my mask didn't fall off at the same time.

 

[billt4sf]

It's always amazing to me that so many people seem to just take the equipment, be it rental or something that they have transported a long distance, let the staff put it together, then put it on and jump in without the least check (besides maybe tapping the purge button), let alone a checkout dive.

One hopes that the first dive in that case is not a negative entry dive!

- Bill

 

[Dan]

In my way back days, when I felt I'd been out of the water too long and was about to go on another trip, I'd book an instructor for pool time and a refresher. As I grew more experienced, I'd grab a tank and some pool time and refresh on my own. Nowadays, I'm happy enough to do a shakeout dive on a liveaboard and if land-based, I don't complain if the first day's dives are the boring ones.

I've already checked my gear from top to bottom, listened for leaks, ensured inflator is working, nothing sticking, all deflation working correctly, etc. Ad nauseum.

Still going to be very resentful of being told I have to do mask removal etc. Irked.

At this point, I'll tell you that even after all that, I've jumped without my reg in my mouth and finning head down equalized to around 15' before noticing something was a bit different . . . Heehee but hey, swept for retrieval, put reg in my mouth, purged it, breathed it and caught up with everyone else without missing a beat. Guess it's a good thing my mask didn't fall off at the same time.

Are you free diver too?

 

[Dan]

It's always amazing to me that so many people seem to just take the equipment, be it rental or something that they have transported a long distance, let the staff put it together, then put it on and jump in without the least check (besides maybe tapping the purge button), let alone a checkout dive.

One hopes that the first dive in that case is not a negative entry dive!

- Bill

When I went to Utila, back in 2008, the DM there put my reg on the tank for me and stupid me let him do it. Big mistake. He installed my reg upside down, in doing so, the port for my primary 2nd stage reg facing to my left side. The hose had to loop around to the right side. So I had a hard time reaching to my primary 2nd stage. Once I got a hold of it, the hose also became too short to use. Whenever I look to my left during diving, I had to pull the primary 2nd stage reg with my mouth by biting on its mouthbit. Soon I bit off the mouthbit after pulling the reg hose too many times with my mouth. I didn't understand why the hose became too short until I finished the dive & noticed the 1st stage reg was mounted upside down. Lesson learnt. From then on I installed my gear myself & always make sure the valve turned to fully open (turn it counter-clockwise all the way until dead stop) before jumping into the water.

 

[KeithG]

After reading this incident; Canadian woman presumed dead - Roatan, Honduras, she was an experienced diver, who went down to the abyss on her 1st dive, I have a greater appreciation on the importance of checkout dive. So, I post the question above to everyone and hoping the discussion would bring attention of the importance of checkout dive, no matter how experienced diver we are, help answer why we do it, when we should do it, where we can safely do it, and what things / actions to checkout.

Here are what comes to my mind as I'm writing this post:

Why we should do it
To me, it is a good refresher of my diving skills. Especially after a few months of not diving, my diving skill can get rusty. Also making sure all parts of my diving gears are working properly, no leaks, etc.

When we should do it
Definitely it should be done on the first dive of the diving trip. I prefer to do it in the morning after a good night sleep. Especially after a long flight half around the world, I'll be tired, muscle stiff, jetlag and dehydrated. A nice dinner & good night sleep before the checkout dive have served me well in the last 12 years of diving.

Where we should do it
All of the dive resorts and liveaboards where I have been in, conduct the checkout dives in their shallow (15-30' or 5-10m deep) house reef or similar sites, where there are no current, fairly good visibility with DM and crew ready to help me if anything goes wrong. My last checkout dive with Galapagos Master was in 20' (7m) deep San Cristobal harbor. After back rolling into the water from their Zodiac, I was floating like a cork with my new thick wetsuit, no air in BCD and what I thought the proper weight in my BCD (14 lbs). I had to swim back to the Zodiac to ask the crew for more weight before I can descend.

What things / actions to checkout
I think the most often thing to checkout is buoyancy, to make sure I have enough weight or not too much. I also check if my dive computer is working properly, no leaks or bubbles coming out of the fittings, PLB case, SPG or hoses, etc. DMs, in general, brief us on sign for thumbing the dive, tank half full, tank empty etc. Tank empty means when you are at 750 psig (50 barg) in an easy dive or 1000 psig (70 barg) in a hard (deep / current) dive. One liveaboard (Mermaid I) DM have asked me to demonstrate how to launch the DSMB. Another liveaboard (Pearl of Papua) DM have asked me to perform mask removal and installation.

What else should we be doing during the checkout dive?

"we" do a checkout /shakedown dive anytime we have new bits AND as the first dive of every vacation diver trip. "they" ask us to perform a checkout dive for the first dive of every vacation trip. These mostly match, they do not always align, but no real issues. We are on vacation. Relax!

All of the vacation dive ops we use stress that the first dive is a checkout dive. This does not mean the dive site is crap, in general it is as good as any other site we see all week. The "checkout" reminder seems to be more of a mental flag to pay attention (which you should always be doing). But they only seem to stress weights. No basic kneel on the bottom skills demo (thank you!). This attitude makes sense as lots of divers seem to require some weight tuning (different wetsuit, more bioprene, forgot my weight from last trip a year ago,...)

I now believe that competent dive ops treat the check out dive as an informal test of diver competency. On a recent trip we had a certified rescue diver panic in 35 feet of clear caribbean water on the checkout dive.

I treat the first dive of every trip as a checkout dive and always leave the camera behind. If we have a new piece of gear we try to not employ it until a few dives in, if possible.

A few years ago my divebuddy purchased a new prescription mask. She used her old mask for the first day and we planned a specific dive on the second day to test out the new mask. We did a buddy pair shore dive and I left my camera behind. This dive was to test out the new mask (strange bifocal mess) to make sure it was comfortable, did not leak and allowed her to see things. Pre-dive we discussed what issues may cause an abort - leaking was yes, uncomfortable was a no and i can't see squat was a maybe...)

P.S. IMHO a checkout dive had nothing to do with the other thread...