Dive Equipment Prep Checklists?

[Rutger]

Who uses a formal checklist as you prepare your equipment, pre-dive? Some of my gear I share with other activities, and have had a couple times where i have forgotten an item "in another gear bag". Short of duplicate and triplicate items (wasteful IMHO) It would seem a simple printed excel checklist would be in order?
I was thinking of a list, by catagory, of all the gear I would possibly need, and then adjacent columns for "Boat Dive, Night Dive, Shore Dive" etc, so that I could highlight if an item is needed for the type of dive I plan to do that day?

Is this an overly analytical waste of time? Does anyone do something similar? Can you share the methods to your madness?

Thanks.

 

[reefduffer]

Most of my diving is travel; warm, 3mil max. A little bit local, 7mil w/hood, gloves, and weights.

I have a checklist I use for packing and morning-of-dive review that has everything I might take on a dive trip. Two-column text file with cute little checkboxes, not a spreadsheet. Local-only stuff grouped together, and generally organized by which luggage it usually goes in. It's only three pages, using a large font so I can read it without reading glasses, and one of those pages is my save-a-dive kit.

I do what we used to call "shrink to fit" in my engineering process career. Make the list generously inclusive of everything I ever take diving, and cross off, either mentally or literally, stuff that doesn't apply this trip, as I review the list for packing.

The shrink-to-fit idea eliminates excessive/obsessive polishing and organizing and cross-referencing of your list, while still making sure you don't forget stuff you need. It works fine if your list is up to, say, fifty or at most a hundred items, which mine certainly is.

 

[oldschool]

I keep a list posted right inside my dive locker. It's fairly generic since I usually take the same gear all the time, the only difference is which wetsuit, 2 mil shorty or 5 mil full. I have the list written in the order I don the gear which helps visualize everything in my mind. If you ever drive 3 hours to a dive site to find out you've left something at home, i.e. reg set, you will come to appreciate lists. Especially the over 50 folks. Yes, senior moments do happen and I'm proof.

 

[Rutger]

I keep a list posted right inside my dive locker. It's fairly generic since I usually take the same gear all the time, the only difference is which wetsuit, 2 mil shorty or 5 mil full. I have the list written in the order I don the gear which helps visualize everything in my mind. If you ever drive 3 hours to a dive site to find out you've left something at home, i.e. reg set, you will come to appreciate lists. Especially the over 50 folks. Yes, senior moments do happen and I'm proof.

Pre-cisely!

Thanks for the comment.

 

[RJP]

Is this an overly analytical waste of time? Does anyone do something similar? Can you share the methods to your madness?

I have an excel sheet I use when packing for traveling dive trips.

The "master" sheet has ALL of my gear listed, by category (Buoyancy, Exposure, Lights, Camera, etc, etc) and when planning a trip I simply pare the master list down to create a specific packing list of what I need for that particular trip.

Then I use the list to gather the needed items, including shopping for things I need (batteries, spare parts, etc) and then when packing I check things off the list.

I've even included non-dive gear items; everything from passport/documents to clothing, toiletries, medications, etc. Very helpful, as sometimes I will forget that I actually need/want something until I see it on the list. (bug spray usually comes to mind...)

 

[RJP]

If you ever drive 3 hours to a dive site to find out you've left something at home, i.e. reg set, you will come to appreciate lists.

3 hour drive?

Try traveling for 36hrs (Newark to Tokyo, Tokyo to Guam, Guam to Truk, bus to resort, launch to liveaboard) and then realizing you forgot a piece of gear that isn't available anywhere in a 3,000mi radius.

Not that something like that would happen to anyone I know...

:shocked2:

 

[grandizer52]

I had a TAC-AID engraved for the usual stuff...pack it/test it/ refill it
anyone wanna swap em?
have for packing gear
one for travel (one for rebreather)
one for tests

 

[TSandM]

We have a written checklist for dive travel.

For home diving, I have the gear organized on shelves. As the car is packed, the shelves empty. A quick glance suffices to make sure nothing important is left on the shelves.

That system falls apart completely when I am diving multiple days in a row, and stuff never makes it back onto the shelves!

 

[aikiguy]

So can you post your checklist? I would love to see as many of these as possible. Each person focuses a little different, and I would love to broaden my focus by looking at what other people take with them.

Thanks,
Guy

 

[rcs9250]

Here is one example of my checklists. I represent the over 50 remark. I am an instructor so this particular list is for OW checkout weekends. I have one for my fun dives as well. I dive for the Sherrifs office so I have one for that too.
The column with the small boxes to the right of each item is for planning. If I want to take that particular item I put a diagonal line from one corner to the other. Once it's packed or put on the pile it turns into an X then I can just forget about it. The lists generally have extra lines if I want to write something in. The list goes under my keys on the kitchen table for any items that aren't X'ed yet like food in the fridge or batteries on charge in the basement.
It's just to easy to forget stuff.
Randy