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