The Continuation of the Lesson learned

[Krafcheck]

The mental or actual checklist is not good enough for getting your gear out of the closet.

Have a detailed checklist at the trunk of the car or back of the truck and check the items off as you place them in the vehicle. Your regulators do you no good sitting outside the closet if you don’t put them in the vehicle.

Luckily it was a quarry dive and my brother and sister n law have the same regulators and wireless transmitter. So during there surface interval and tank fill we just use there regulators. Its very convenient having that many people with the same equipment. But I still felt like I should hurry up the dive so they can get back in so I didn’t enjoy the dives as much as I could have.

Now the continuation of not having the list at the right spot and not properly preparing.
Last night the wife and I had a pool session as part of our AOW or Level II class for those of you that don’t like the word “advanced.” We had some dives under our belt since our last dive in August at the quarry, but it was with rental equipment. So as the instructor is waiting for us to get our gear on I notice the psi was blinking zeros. Looked at the wife’s and hers is the same. I could not figure out why. Did they lose the there data after 6months of storage? Was the transmitter battery dead? No we never put our transmitter code back to our specific transmitter. It was looking for my brother’s signal. So after re-remembering how to check the battery and change the code we were ready. But not after eating away time. Needless to say after that I was embarrassed and frustrated at myself for the rest of the night and today I am tired because we didn’t get home until 11 and the alarm is set for 5.

Because I didn’t use a list last August the mishap still had a negative influence 6 months later. But that was not all. The wife’s primary light did not work. Put the batteries in and nothing, fooled with that for while soaking up more time. They are fresh batteries. Got home last night to see if I was too dumb to put the batteries in the right way due to rushing myself at the pool, it was right, but you can hear a noise of a lose/broken part rattling around near the bulb area.

Don’t be like me check to see that all gear is in the vehicle and that all equipment is in working order before leaving. Oh and another thing if you normally wear glasses don’t forget your contacts that was another thing last night. Oh and I just put in a bunch of weight while setting up the BC’s in my hurry. We were grossly over weighted. Also, even if you have the same brand BC but different type your ditchable weight system may not be the same. If it seems like too tight of a fit then it is.

I guess the old saying is true. “Before you can be old and wise, you must be young stupid first.” Maybe the rest of the year will be smooth going. Side note: for the Level II class – Now in the middle of class I have learned I don’t know as much as I thought I did. Seems the more I learn the more I realize there’s more I don’t know.

[Jim Kerr]

The mental or actual checklist is not good enough for getting your gear out of the closet.

Have a detailed checklist at the trunk of the car or back of the truck and check the items off as you place them in the vehicle. Your regulators do you no good sitting outside the closet if you don’t put them in the vehicle.

Sounds like a awful lot of work to me, carrying all that loose equipment to the car. What do you do if you're missing something, run back in the house every time?

How about when you take the gear out of the closet, you place it in your "dive bag" and mark it off the checklist. Then you can take the dive bag with everything in it and put it in the trunk.

[TSandM]

It seems as though every time I pack for a dive, I am struck anew with the incredible number of individual THINGS I have to make sure are in the car. I don't have a written checklist, except for packing for trips, but I have a routine for packing the car. I know where I put each item, and it makes it fairly easy to do a quick visual check for completeness. It's a vulnerable system, though, because it starts to get dicey if I am hurried, or have to pack extra stuff for someone else, or end up going in someone else's car. So the last thing I do is a head-to-toe equipment check, going over my body piece by piece and confirming that everything's there.

But I still occasionally make a mistake, like the day I forgot I wasn't WEARING my undergarment in the car (which I usually do) and realized halfway to the dive site that it wasn't with me at all

I've also learned that, if anything isn't working or has a problem, I need to deal with it when I get home that day. Putting stuff away unrepaired means it's awfully likely that I'll pull it out to use it the next time, having forgotten it wasn't working properly. That's doubly annoying, one for the malfunction which impacts the dive, and the other for my stupidity in forgetting to fix it!

[Krafcheck]

To each his own.

I found out as stated in paragraph One that it is not the best practice for me. Plus I have my regulators in a separate padded carring case. I dont like the idea of stuffing my regulator in my gear bag. But maybe when I am older and wiser with 300 dives under my belt and my gear is aging I wont care how things are stored and stuff them where they fit. But like anything new most people are more caring of the item at first and they still remember how much it cost. I guess i am still in that group.

You ever put your gear in your trunk then do a second look just to make sure you didnt forget anything? You still have to go all the way back in the house to check. Ever load up after a stay in the hotel and go up one more time before turning in the keys? All I am saying If you see the gear going in the trunk you know you didnt leave anything sitting outside the closet. Sometimes assuming or just being plain lazy catches up with you.

But I am sure your way suits you best. Stick with it.

[JahJahwarrior]

I used to use a checklist....now I just sit there and look at the pile of gear in my truck (ok, so I put most of it in milk crates) and mentally gear myself up. swimsuit, wetsuit, booties, beanie, mask, tanks plate wing light regs weight.....yup, I'm good to go!



Only time I've ever forgotten something, it was myw eightbelt. Fortunately, diving a BC, so I stuffed rocks in the pockets and left off the jacket of my farmer john. Unfortunately, water was 68* and I was shivering uncontrollably and partially numb for most of the dive. Fortunately, I've never forgotten my weight belt ever since!!

[Buoyant1]

When I start the dive season, (or before I pack for a trip) I usually lay everything out on the floor (like a big paper doll) and "dress" my wetsuit...THEN I pack my bag ... During season, everything is going from the hanging spot in my garage and back into the bag...I can usually notice if I forget something before I drive away. Anything that has an "issue" is taken care of directly after the dive when I get home, (or the next day) and not left to wait until the last possible minute. I've been (knocking on the fake wood that is my desk) lucky so far!

[Krafcheck]

In the end being lazy and not preparing properly for the day got me. I would say at some point everyone will forget something. I have learned that I need to change my method to help prevent it in the future.

[all4scuba05]

All my gear is up on or against one wall. I go down the line like grocery shopping and grab every item I will need. Nothing gets forgotten because I'm looking at it and grabbing it right away and placing it into the bin.

[scubaren]

I use a cat litter box for all my smaller stuff. My mask, snorkel, light, knife, knifecase, mask defogger, gloves, hood, booties and bc pockets (minus weights) and fins (on top)
all fit. I use a checklist at the table before I leave. I pack larger stuff into the van separately. So far it has worked for me. It also makes it easier to rinse the smaller items when I get home.