How long does it take you to get ready?

[Butch103]

on if I am diving from my boat, shore or charter.......Usually not too much time if I am on my boat, and of course longer if I am doing either of the others. All this said though, I never rush into any dive, I enjoy the pre and post dive BSing, and the company of my fellow divers.

If I am diving any particular day or evening, I am never in a hurry, why would you be????

 

[cyklon_300]

to get into my gear, but invariably, when I'm fully suited up and ready to go, I'm usually several minutes ahead of most people I dive with.

It gets to be a bit of a nuisance when it's 100+ degrees and your boots are filling up with sweat...I'll either go jump in the water and wait there or deliberately stall until they're 3/4 ready and then start putting on my equip.

Diving wet from shore, I can usually gear up inside of 10 min.

 

[Cave Diver]

My gear stays in a state of readiness. If I get a phone call to dive the local lake, I can be in the water in under 45 minutes. That includes the 30 minute drive to the lake and signing in once we get there.

Average time for me to be ready once I park is about 10 minutes from getting out of my truck til the time I get into the water.

Upon exiting the water, there is an outdoor shower and water hose, so I normally stand under that for a few minutes and rinse off before gearing down.

Once I get home, all of my gear is already washed and ready to be put away. Whether it actually gets put away at that point depends on whether or not we are planning to do any more dives the next day.

 

[ivansie]

I dont do a lot of shore diving, but the times I have done it it has taken me much longer than diving from the boat ( I guess you also look around more and are less focus since there is really no timeframe and also you are not in a boat moving and inhaling diesel fumes!!!!!)

Anyhow, diving from the boat it usually takes me 5 minutes from the time we are approaching the dive site to be ready, I usually leave BCD, regulator connected and tested at the dock. I hate the wetsuit part though, thank God sometimes here in FL you can just dive in your trunks, no shirt....

NO SPEEDOS PLEASE =-)

ivan

 

[tinman]

Cave Diver once bubbled...
My gear stays in a state of readiness. If I get a phone call...

..."Batman, we need to take the Batboat on this one, should I call CD? Yes Robin, we can't wait for you to get out of those damn tights into your drysuit..."

CD, you're my hero....

 

[Quest]

When i shore dive i often find myself waiting out in the water for 15 or 20 min while the people im diving with are still gear up.

Some of my observations on why it takes them so long are:

1. I pack my gear in the order i plan to suit up with it. They just stuff the gear anywhere it will fit and dont seem to follow a consistent process for suiting up.

2. I keep all my gear in one big hockey size gear bag. They store their gear in several different compartments and small bags and usually spend time trying to find their gear or defog etc before they begin suiting up.

3. I know what gear i want to use before i arrive at the dive site. They often havent decided what gear they want to use and spend time trying to figure out whether they want to bring their dive knife or camera etc.

4. I have gear i dive with and gear i only use as spare. They are often deciding which dive light they want to bring or which regulator set they want to use, should they use the console that has a compass or should they use the other console that doesnt and then wear their wrist compass etc.

5. I am consistent in how i gear up and configure my equipment. They are trying to figure out how they want to route their guages as if its the first time they have used this gear.

6. I dive daily so over the years i have found ways to decrease the time it takes to suit up. They are season divers who on occasion still setup their tank wrong.

When i boat dive i like to arrive early so that i can setup my gear before the other divers arrive so that i can enjoy the boat ride out to the site.

But, i tend to take alittle longer setting up my gear. Then it only takes a few minutes to suitup and dive.

 

[raybo]

Slow down, and smell the proverbial "flowers"

I'm in a time crunch at work all week, so "hurry up!" gets left at the desk Friday afternoon!

It's become as much a social thing as anything else.

It's my escape from reality so anything I can do to prolong it has become commonplace.

Of course, the minute I don that drysuit, it's time to head for the water.

When it hits 90+ here locally in about another month or so, that will become REAL short!

Push come to shove in an emergency? <5 minutes, not counting the travel (walk) time to go from vehicle to close enough to water to start suiting up.

 

[The Chairman]

Maybe 10 if I am taking my time. The first time I dove with Walter, I was in AGONY. I was ready and got to wait another 15 minutes for the other guys to finish. Sure it was January, but that means it took me a whole 5 minutes to overheat instead of just 2.

 

[FredT]

Warm water in coveralls with no rubber I start to gear up when the boat engine changes pitch at the site. My normal buddy and I usually will have to wait on the mate to yell out that the pool's open. On other boats we went in at the sound of the anchor splash, and checked the anchor set for the captain before starting "our" dive.

Wetsuit adds a couple minutes..

Tank swaps between dives may take a minute, if I have to hunt for my second tank in the "pile".

OTOH Matt and I have been diving together with nearly identical gear for about 15 years so going over each other's gear configuration takes seconds at most.

All it takes to "hurry up" is experience. The more you dive, the less wasted movements you'll have.

Gear clean up in a horse trough is just a couple minutes a gear set.

FT

 

[divemistress]

what's the hurry?

don't worry,

be happy


dm