How long does it take you to get ready?

[turnerjd]

brizzolatti once bubbled...
I know we're talking about normal relaxed circumstances here which is fine. I agree, it can be more hurry less speed. But it can be important to be able to gear up quickly if an emergency arises. In the rescue class we were timed gearing up (donning drysuits, assembling kit and donning). Basically, if you can't do it within 4-6 minutes, the unconscious victim in the water is likely to be brain damaged. First time timed, it was 9 minutes - got it down to 4.

In normal circumstances, however, at a more relaxed pace, I take around 10-15 minutes.

Brizolatti has it about right.

For me, IF I am doing a DM job, it takes me literally 3-5 minutes to get into my drysuit, and assemble my kit, and have it down by the water. I will (if necessary) then spend a bit of time familiarising myself with the site - telephone location, potential dangers etc.. otherwise I do the DM thing

If I am staying at the surface in some sort of cover role, I can be ready for a surface rescue in less than 30 secs (throw fins on grab mask (without defogging) and be in the water (no gloves or hood). If I have to descend to rescue somebody then I can be in the water in less than 1 1/2 minutes (sit down, strap on pack, plumb in suit, strap on fins, put on mask and enter water). The key for doing some form of rescue cover, where you might have to get into the water PDQ is having everything ready, and you shouldn't have to (contrary to what brizolatti had to do) waste time getting into suits etc.. and assembling kit, it should be ready, even if you don't plan on using it.

If however I am diving recreationally I will be much slower. Basically, for shore diving, a good 10 minutes to have a look round
and assess everything, 5 or 6 minutes to get into my suit and my kit assembled, then a good dive drief that takes as long as necessary, then 2-3 minutes to get all my kit on and enter the water. In almost all cases I can be in the water in less than 20 minutes from arriving.

Boat diving is the same - My kit will be ready and assembled before the boat leave (unless it is a long journey) My drysuit will equally be on and closed. How long to get in the water? 2-3 minutes to sit down, slip into the gear and put mask and fins on. Providing that the boat crew are organised, I can be in the water less than 10 seconds after we stop, although rarely this quickly.

Jon T

<edited 'cos I can't spell>

 

[LACounty4806]

bwerb once bubbled...
I know that some people seem to take forever to get their gear assembled and be ready to dive. I think I can be one of them on occassion (when diving dry).

How long does it typically take you, once you arrive at a site and have determined it's a good day to dive, from the time you start to don your gear until you hit the water?

Do you find boat diving faster than shore diving?

Anything you have learned to speed-up the process?

Help!

Brian

I don't know about speeding up the process. I think taking your time is the safest way to go. Makes sure you're ready to go. That's prior to your buddy check btw. Anyone that rushes you isn't someone that is safe to dive with. It's like buddying up in the water, you always go as fast as the slowest person in your group.

As for faster diving on a boat, you get your gear set up early and put on your wet or dry, and you shouldn't have to do it again while you're on the boat.

Take the time needed to be safe and ready.

Don't time yourself. Ready yourself instead.

 

[LACounty4806]

brizzolatti once bubbled...
I know we're talking about normal relaxed circumstances here which is fine. I agree, it can be more hurry less speed. But it can be important to be able to gear up quickly if an emergency arises. In the rescue class we were timed gearing up (donning drysuits, assembling kit and donning). Basically, if you can't do it within 4-6 minutes, the unconscious victim in the water is likely to be brain damaged. First time timed, it was 9 minutes - got it down to 4.

In normal circumstances, however, at a more relaxed pace, I take around 10-15 minutes.

I don't know about the value of timing yourself in terms of getting ready. If you're the DM on shore or a boat, you've got fins in hand, mask around the neck, and you're ready to make a surface rescue. Before you get in the water, you tell someone to put on the dive gear in case it slips beyond your reach as a freediver. That's something you work out before you even put divers in the water.

Now as for 4 minutes putting on your gear, how many minutes does it take you to get to the victim? You've pretty much lost the diver at that point. I know that sounds harsh but it's a reality.

The idea is to be ready before hand. Safety divers and Dm's need to be on the spot, not getting ready and responding.

 

[fgray1]

A candle that burns at both ends burns twice as bright but only half as long.
I didn't know getting ready to dive was a race. I'm not sure against who. I do a verity of differant dives types and setting up the gear is differant for each. I don't know what the benefit of going fast would be. I'm not sure if I would want to dive with someone obsessed with rushing to get in the water. I usualy tell whom ever I'm diving with ahead I don't rush and if they can't wait to go without me. I have a set routine I stick to and thats that. To me setting up your gear is just as important as sticking to your dive plan. From everthing I've read 2 kinds of divers end up on trouble. The one that become complacent and the one that are trying to dive beyond there skill level.

Just one mans opinion.
Fred

 

[voop]

fgray1 once bubbled...
A candle that burns at both ends burns twice as bright but only half as long.
I didn't know getting ready to dive was a race. I'm not sure against who. I do a verity of differant dives types and setting up the gear is differant for each. I don't know what the benefit of going fast would be. I'm not sure if I would want to dive with someone obsessed with rushing to get in the water. I usualy tell whom ever I'm diving with ahead I don't rush and if they can't wait to go without me. I have a set routine I stick to and thats that. To me setting up your gear is just as important as sticking to your dive plan. From everthing I've read 2 kinds of divers end up on trouble. The one that become complacent and the one that are trying to dive beyond there skill level.

Just one mans opinion.
Fred

Fred, I agree with much of what you say here. I am not really sure, though, that anyone made a race out of "kitting up" -- the only situation where time might matter is in rescue scenarios (where preparation is key anyways).

In my opinion, it's important to take as long time setting up you gear as is necessary for you, the diver, to feel confident in the setup

With that in mind, it's interresting to see how long time people spend.

Real example 1: I was doing some shore-diving with a group of divers I didn't know in advance. I showed up, we introduced ourself and went "well, let's kit up". 5 min later I was in the drysuit and ready (just needed to don BC), 45min later, the group was ready.

Real example 2: I was on a boat with some people I knew well and had dived with quite a few times, and a group of people I'd never seen before. We started assembeling our kits on the boat the moment we took off. I and the people I knew were done before we cleared the port, whereas we had to wait once at the site for some of the new people to finish off preparing their gear.

What does this really tell? Well, it tells me that there are divers who're either unfamiliar with their gear, the gear operation or how it goes together, or who're "over-carefull" and quadrupple-check everything, typically originating from some sort of anxiety for the dive to come. In other words, reason to be extra careful and/or alter the dive plan to be more conservative

In example 1, we were diving at night in cold (and I mean COLD) water, which upon questioning was a double-new experience for most of the group. In example 2, the group of "slow kitters" turned out to be rusty (despite claiming otherwise before boarding), and thus not have the rutine in kitting up -- as well as being a little nervous about getting wet again.

In both cases, the approach was to fit the dive plan to the divers -- which worked out just fine.

It's interresting to see what people respond here. Using one self to measure "how fast" other people kit up doesn't make much sense: if one does 4 dives a day for 200 days a year, one is bound to just "snap ones fingers" and the gear is all assembled. Someone diving regularly, but less frequently, will take a bit longer. It seems to me that the average or normal time indicated on this board is about 20min or so. Someone taking substantially longer or substantially shorter (unless I knew them) would attract my attention (rusty? or skipping on safety?).

I'm not sure I even have a point here.....

 

[turnerjd]

voop once bubbled...

It's interresting to see what people respond here. Using one self to measure "how fast" other people kit up doesn't make much sense: if one does 4 dives a day for 200 days a year, one is bound to just "snap ones fingers" and the gear is all assembled. Someone diving regularly, but less frequently, will take a bit longer. It seems to me that the average or normal time indicated on this board is about 20min or so. Someone taking substantially longer or substantially shorter (unless I knew them) would attract my attention (rusty? or skipping on safety?).

When I was DMing regularly, I would make sure that my kit was ready ASAP. I would then be available to do other things.

I used to take the 'faff' factor as a reasonable indicator of how relaxed and confident people were. People that were happy and confident would get their gear together without problems, I always found that those that prevaricated and 'faffed around' taking longer than average were the divers to watch.

Jon T

 

[Charlie99]

In Cozumel I generally took about 14 hours to get ready.

After the night dive, I'd rinse gear, then wash and defog my mask.

Early morning before breakfast: pack the almost-dry gear in my standard configuration, more or less last-in, first-out.

On the boat: mount BC and regs to tank shortly after getting on; check regs, BC, air.

Sometime during the long boat ride: put on wetsuit and booties, but leave the top down, put fins under my seat, mask in mask box close at hand, grease up my moustache, load the weight pouches. Look at buddies gear.

Elasped time so far: about 14 hours.

-----

As we near the dive site, it only takes me a minute or two to pull up the wetsuit, put on fins and mask, then slip into the BC. A quick ritual of "My Friends Are Way Cool" (Mask; Fins; primary Air-secondary Air-BC inflator Air-SPG Air while purging; Weights; & Computer) for both me and buddy and it's time to fall off the boat.

----

2 minutes, 40 minutes, or 14 hours. Take your pick. Checklists, habits, mnemonics, or rituals makes it less likely that you've forgotten something.

Leaving the boat, I pack my gear in the same exact way I always bring it onboard --- that's the easiest way to make sure you haven't left something behind.

 

[Freeflyer]

Even though I'm a novice diver (35 dives, AOW) I've seen many different styles of getting ready on the trips I've taken.

Some people have no system and just loiter around doing things in a haphazard fashion, they seem to take the longest, and make the most errors. others have a system, take the shortest time and make the least errors.

My background is mountaineering, flying and skydiving, none of which are tolerant of equipment abuse or mistakes. I applied the same check processes and organisation to my diving. I check everything out the night before, use a checklist to make sure nothing is forgotten in the packing, pack in reverse of the order I'll need things. Safety gear (smb/reel when I get them) goes in the left bc pocket, light/slate/whistle goes in the right, emt shears on the waist belt behind the buckle so it can't get knocked off. The rig is now equipped with most things I need.

Once on the boat, get the regs, bc and tank assembled and put the appropriate weights in the BC. Check both the regs for operation, check the bc inflator and spg. I generally don the wetsuit on the way to the dive site, leaving the top down if it's warm and spend a few minutes getting familiar with the computer if I've rented one (buying my own soon). Most of this is done by the time we leave the dock/harbour.

I normally ask the dm or skipper for a 10 minute warning of arriving at the divesite. Once I get that I finish donning my wetsuit, strap on the computer, defog the mask, lay my fins where I can reach them in front of my bc. Once we get an ok to go, I'm into my bc in under a minute, mask on, fins on, burst of air in the bc, double check the regs and into the water. I'm getting my wife trained in the same manner and we are usually in the water with a couple of other organised divers while everyone else seems to be remembering to put on their wetsuit and visit the heads.

Charlie99, I love your mnemonic, I'll have to start using that.

Cheers,

J.

 

[perpet1]

tropics -----> <10min

5 mil wet ------> <10 min (Try using an old fashon beaver tail as it is a lot easier to get into)

Dry -------> <15 min more time because there is more equipment and I take more time to make sure everything is perfect.


First thing I do when I get out of the car is set up and test the rig. Then I lay out all the accessories I am going to need like mask fins and any other clip on accessory I will need for that dive. This takes about 5 min.

Then I put on my suit except for one glove (usually my left because I put my computer and compass on over my right glove) because I like to have one hand free to clip everything and make the last min adjustments and my hood which I put on just before I hit the water unless it is cold then I put it on right away.

Then clip everything on grab mask and fins in one hand, hood and glove in the other and make my way to the water. Takes a second to put the hood, mask, then glove on then I am in the water.

Yes, there is a buddy check in there someplace

 

[Rick Murchison]

Sometimes in the summer, gear lives on the boat, ready to go. Throw the gear in the water, jump in and put it on on the way down... so, say five seconds?
Other times we start rigging and arranging and planning and rearranging and reconfiguring and planning and going through what seems endless iterations weeks in advance of a dive....
But I guess you mean on a "normal" recreational dive. Summer, 5 to 10 minutes; winter 10-30 minutes.
Technical dive; 15 - 90 minutes.
Rick