Full Service or Self Service

[chepar]

The operator I usually dive with is "full service" with the DMs setting up all the gear for you (if you wish). I let the DMs put my BC onto the tank, but when I get to the boat, I check that it has been done to my satisfaction and attach my first stage/reg myself (which I carry with me to the boat), put in my weights, etc. Before I jump off, I do my buddy check and double check that my tank valve hasn't been "adjusted" by someone else.

 

[caymaniac]

I, for the most part set up my own gear. I have been on dive vacations where this is all done for you. I always check my gear when they do this. A number of times I've had them put the primary on the wrong side or give me a tank with not enough air.
Since one is responsible enough to make a dive, one should be responsible enough to check your own equipment.

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

 

[ScubaStan]

If I catch anyone touching my gear except to help me don/doff it between dives...

On a serious note, I have had conversations with other divers on this topic. A couple have had thier tank valves turned off after pressurizing the system, valves backed off too far, etc only to find out the problem AFTER entering the water. The boats I use for my trips to the Islands do not touch the valves on divers' gear. In fact, they tell us during the briefing we get when we get to the first dive site, is that if we need a fill, THE DIVER is responsible to remove the first stage and replace it. I always make sure that fill was done, my hoses, and if I walk away from my gear, I double check it before donning it for the next dive and of course, do the buddy check as well, and the DM checks just before the giant stride into the water.

The diver is awlays responsible for his/her own gear. If you need someone to set your gear up for you, even if you ar eon a full-service boat...imho, you have no business being a diver.

 

[Zept]

When I first learnt to dive, I was happier if someone else set up my gear. All those hoses! All those straps and things that need to be done up securely! All those opportunities to screw up!

Now I have my own gear and I always set it up myself. Seems like one of those milestones along the route from nervous newbie to self-reliant diver. I trust myself more than I trust other people, because I know my gear and I know how I want it. That said, I check it twice, once on my own and once with my buddy.

One thing that annoys me is divemasters who want to fiddle with the tank valve when I'm on the swim platform, ready to go. Once I've done all my checks, the last thing I want is someone changing things! I've had a DM try to do this as I was leaving the boat... but once my hips are forward of my feet, gravity takes over and there's no turning back. Kind of unnerving to hear someone saying, 'Hang on...' as your fins hit the water!

Zept

 

[BradfordNC]

kinda interesting, from the responses, not many on this board seem to be part of the full service resort crowd.


have always gotten a good laugh whenever full service divers decide they want to dive the graveyard. no resort diving here in NC, gotta set up your own stuff. always get a chuckle when i see the resort divers look at their gear in ways similar to a hog looking at a wristwatch.

dive happy, its all good

 

[BurBunny]

I appreciate it when a boat staff will move and attach my BC to a new tank. Because I use a weight integrated BC, and keep my tank straps very tight, someone else doing that "grunt" work makes my surface interval just that much more relaxing.

However, I don't let them set up my reg. Having initially learned to dive way back when there *were* bad air fills at times, I always want to smell the air in the tank, then set up my own regulator and do my regular checks.

BC setup is convenience, reg setup is safety. Only one do I want someone else handling.

 

[Zept]

BurBunny said...
Because I use a weight integrated BC, and keep my tank straps very tight...

How do you know the strap is tight if you let other people set up your BC? I like to do this myself b/c I am fussy about the tightness and position of my strap (I am a short person, so I have it higher than most people).

Zept

 

[BurBunny]

Zept once bubbled...


How do you know the strap is tight if you let other people set up your BC? I like to do this myself b/c I am fussy about the tightness and position of my strap (I am a short person, so I have it higher than most people).

Zept

Zept,

Because I watch them. The way my strap is threaded, they'd have to do some work to loosen it. Just because I appreciate the help in moving my BC doesn't mean I don't pay attention.

 

[Zept]

For me, it's the amount of effort required to 'turn' the cam buckle on the tank strap that tells me whether it is tight enough, so there's no substitute for doing it myself. I take my integrated weights out before I move my BC, so they aren't a problem.

I will admit, though, that I like dive boats that refill your tanks while they're in the rack, so all you have to do between dives is take off the first stage.

Zept

 

[randyjoy]

Laurence Stein DDS once bubbled...
...I want to see a show of hands of all those (with years of experience) who has NEVER jumped into the water with a tank turned off or forgotten their weight belt. I don't know one person it hasn't happened to for whatever reason. You can blame a failure of buddy checks or excitement to get into the water. As humans we make mistakes.

That's why, in life or death situations, you prepare for the event by using a checklist to assure you don't make a mistake.

I am a helicopter pilot, currently a K9 officer, and have been a SWAT team leader. I can guarantee that I NEVER flew and I NEVER made a tactical entry without verifying that each and every piece of gear was in the correct configuration for the task at hand. Life or Death = make sure it is ready. "Oops" as a pilot or SWAT is generally a real bad thing.

I treat diving in the same fashion. I don't jump in until I am satisified, using a checklist, that I am ready to get in the water. That means I PERSONALLY check my life support gear (while my Buddy watches) and then watch while my Buddy checks his.

I refuse to pack it in from a stupid mistake.