WARNING! No Jewelry Diving AND Secure Your Camera Well - Pass the word....!!

No one likes to lose valuables diving or on trips, and we all hate reading when divers do lose things, so don't - ok?

Jewelry...

I learned a long time ago to not wear a ring on any outdoors activity - farm work, camping, swimming, whatever - so why is this problem so common? Hell, why would anyone want to wear any on a dive? I only have one valuable piece, but my Marine Corp ring doesn't even go on trips with me, yet if you feel the need to wear a wedding ring, Aggie ring, diamond studs, pearl necklace, whatever on a trip - make sure you have a room safe first and leave it all in there for the day. None diving, ok? It's just reasonable to not take the risk don't you think?

Cameras...!

This is mostly a newbie problem, altho not exclusively, but my first reaction to newbies with cameras is don't! Learn to dive first. Yeah, I know that your LDS wants to sell you one ASAP so you won't buy one elsewhere, and they'll be glad to sell you a replacement when you lose the first one, but still - don't! Carrying a camera leads to too much task loading, tunnel vision, conflicts & mistakes, while you need to be learning and drilling on the basics. If you just have to carry one tho, at least dive it in the pool first, local practice pit next, before you take it on a trip. Learn how to operate it in the water, including safe entries & exits, as well as securing it well.

I've been thru several cameras, but all thru upgrades. I refused to carry one for my first hundred dives as I wanted to learn how to dive safely first, and while we could get off debating how I failed at that anyway :silly: I was still right on that one I think. Otherwise, if you insist on carrying one, make damned sure you learn how please, including securing the lanyard well. I think that all dive cameras come with nice lanyards so learn to tighten them well on your wrist and do so.




Can you enter with yours safely? Many boat crews offer to hand it to you after your entry, and that's great if you can get back to the boat safely for the hand off, secure it well to your wrist, all without losing your first responsibility of overseeing your buddy's safety. When I did that, I'd check my buddy first, asking him to come with me as I approached the boat - but it's really seldom necessary. For a back roll, I just make sure it is secure on my wrist then roll with it close to my body. For a low stride, I make sure it is secure on my wrist then hold it up high and inflate my BC so it won't go in deep when I enter. Only for high strides do I bother with the hand off, but remember - buddy safety first, ok.

Can you exit with it safely? This is when I loosen the lanyard as I approach the boat, if I feel I am in good surface control, holding it high for the handoff as my only objective before backing off to approach again to exit.

Quit losing your valuables, ok?

The only way my wedding ring would come off is to cut it or my finger off. Finger has pretty much grown around it. Should I spray my watch black so the 'cuda won't get me? If anyone here has ever had a barracuda act aggressively because of jewelry I'd like to hear the story. I've been close to several and it's always been a stare down contest. One of us usually get bored and swims away. Might be a urban legend.

I have only heard of a barracuda becoming potentially aggressive once. It was a diver who wore alot of gold around his neck and I do mean a lot. He went on a dive and noticed that the barricudas were beginning to gather around him and even started swimming at about eye level with him looking at him. He did immediately tuck his jewelry into his wet suit and they then began to move away from him. I guess he was one of the luckier ones. But I have not heard of a barracuda attack myself where the actually began to attack.

I am sorry, I haven’t seen a barracuda act aggressively in any way. I have to agree with Insta-gator, they get bored and move on.

Ok so I left it open to hijack there. I'll edit the cuda reference out.

Some of my jewelry simply doesn't come out/off. Others I remove or put on a lanyard/carabiner when I do activities. When I was climbing regularly I just wore my wedding ring around my neck. Now with diving I generally wear gloves and that prevents loss.

I keep hoping to find some lost treasures... just not my own.

I remember being warned about wearing shiny jewelry and barracudas when I first started diving, then we put these 3-4" pieces of polished chrome in our mouths.

I was on a snorkel trip once in Hawaii before my scuba days. During the briefing the capatain warned us about rings becoming more likely to slip off in the water. I've removed or secured my wedding ring ever since except when diving with gloves.

I think I'd rather face the barracuda than to tell my wife I lost my wedding ring!

My current wedding ring is a stainless steel band that cost me something like $5 at the Gem Show a couple of years ago. I still have the gold ring that matches my wife's wedding band, that we exchanged on our wedding day back in 1981, but before I could ever wear it again, it'll need to be resized. A cheap ring does just fine, and if I do lose it, it's nothing to worry about. I can get another cheaply enough.