Neat Little Tricks Are Good to Know

[Splitlip]

If you are sweaty and donning a wetsuit, put a plastic grocery bag on each foot and hand if needed.

Slip right in without soap, shampoo, hair conditioner etc.

 

[olphart]

The trick to that is to only tighten it enough that it doesn't leak when you turn on the air. Takes a little practice but not too hard to get the right pressure

 

[--tom--]

What is this "Don't use the purge button" business all about? What is wrong with using the damn purge button?

Just an option. What if on an OOA the doner has a hand over the reg, blocking the purge button? Will you have the 10 seconds to correct it?

Better yet...it's counter intuitive, hence a "Neat Little Trick".

 

[jwcfbd]

One of the things I really got sick of was tightening the scuba tank with the plastic cam band that has to be dunked in the water and then halfway unthreaded and then the handle has to be rocked back and forth while you pull on the strap, while the boat is careening crazily to and fro, and then the strap has to be re-strung and the lever flopped over and the end of the strap velcroed which never stays put.

Who invented this effing nightmare? It's exhausting, and if the band isn't tight enough you risk your tank slipping out of the BCD. I have also seen these plastic handles break, and when they do you are done diving if you don't carry a spare.

I purchased tank bands Stainless Steel Cam Latch Tank Strap reviews and discounts, Scubamax[/url] with stainless buckles rather than the cam-type handles. Now I just clip the buckles together around the tank and snap them shut: It's easy, never needs adjusting, works perfectly every time, and there is never a danger of the tank slipping out.

Been there done that in about 50 feet of water.
About 18 years ago I took a job diving for sea urchins off the coast of Maine. It had been about 5 years since my last dive and I forgot to get the straps wet. I thought the tank was in tight and I made my dive. I was down for about 30 mins or so when I started to head up. I gave myself a little push off the bottom and that is when the tank slipped. Next thing I knew my head was getting pulled to the side and the tank was hitting me in the back of the legs. Thank God for a tight bite. I grabbed the tank and started to panic. That's when I remembered my training and returned to the bottom. I had to claim myself down a little and then removed my BC (after letting all the air out of it). I was then able to re secure my tank, get the BC back on and head to the surface.

My tip is when you feel something pulling on your fin don't pull back until you know what it is.
There were a few of us diving when I noticed a strange line of seaweed heading up from a brush pile. I really didn't think much of it at the time and kept swimming. That is when I felt a tug on my fin. I gave my leg a quick kick but the snag was still there. I looked back to see what was going on and that is when I saw the seaweed again. I took out my knife and cut the seaweed free. Once we surfaced I found a rusty hook embedded in the bottom of my fin. The line of seaweed was old fishing line that was snagged in the tree we swam by and my fin strap caught it. I'll never dive without a knife and will keep an eye out for strange looking seaweed.

 

[cloudflint]

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One of the things I really got sick of was tightening the scuba tank with the plastic cam band that has to be dunked in the water and then halfway unthreaded and then the handle has to be rocked back and forth while you pull on the strap, while the boat is careening crazily to and fro, and then the strap has to be re-strung and the lever flopped over and the end of the strap velcroed which never stays put.

Who invented this effing nightmare? It's exhausting, and if the band isn't tight enough you risk your tank slipping out of the BCD. I have also seen these plastic handles break, and when they do you are done diving if you don't carry a spare.

I purchased tank bands Stainless Steel Cam Latch Tank Strap reviews and discounts, Scubamax[/url] with stainless buckles rather than the cam-type handles. Now I just clip the buckles together around the tank and snap them shut: It's easy, never needs adjusting, works perfectly every time, and there is never a danger of the tank slipping out.

Ive never heard of dipping the cam band in water before tightening it though mine does have alot of rubber on it so it tends to grip pretty well and i always do it really tight. It probably explains why one of the guys i dive with who also never wets his cam band before tightening it has had his bottle slip out about 4 times since ive known him that i can think of off the top of my head Christ the amount of times ive had to "hump" that damn bottle back up into the band.

 

[mstudley]

she mentioned that she worries about jumping in with her tank turned off.

She could just breathe off the tank while watching her SPG before getting in the water.

Pretty good thing to get in the habit of doing anyway.

 

[Splitlip]

One of the things I really got sick of was tightening the scuba tank with the plastic cam band that has to be dunked in the water and then halfway unthreaded and then the handle has to be rocked back and forth while you pull on the strap, while the boat is careening crazily to and fro, and then the strap has to be re-strung and the lever flopped over and the end of the strap velcroed which never stays put.

Who invented this effing nightmare? It's exhausting, and if the band isn't tight enough you risk your tank slipping out of the BCD. I have also seen these plastic handles break, and when they do you are done diving if you don't carry a spare.

I purchased tank bands Stainless Steel Cam Latch Tank Strap reviews and discounts, Scubamax with stainless buckles rather than the cam-type handles. Now I just clip the buckles together around the tank and snap them shut: It's easy, never needs adjusting, works perfectly every time, and there is never a danger of the tank slipping out.

When you set these up the first time you should do them wet, other wise they can loosen up just like the standard ones. Then what's the point. Can also be stiff thereafter when dry and be finger pinchers.

I use the standard ones (stainless, not plastic). Easier to change between different tank sizes. When I arrive at the boat, there is usually a rinse tank and I drop my BC in or hit the bands with a hose.

My daughter has the ones you prefer, and they are a bitch to do dry (I set the size wet remember) so I encourage her to wet them so they loosen up. She, however, never has a shortage of guys willing to sacrifice some flesh in order to render assistance.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Hi Elmer, While i appreciate your input...You may notice that I am an instructor and I own a dive shop...and average about 700 dives a year. I own eight DIN regs, and not counting my shop stuff 6 yoke regs. I deal with the set up and take apart of about 12 sets of gear a day, ( Very conservative) that`s about 7,000 times a year. So in my experience of roughly 35-40,000 set ups in my diving career. I believe I am aware of any remaining gas in the systems....and usually I do not dive an spg but AI....not a lot of residual gas in that sending unit...Is this a daily problem....no, it has happened four or five times. Have I ever found the cause ? No, have I bled the tanks empty to remove all possible pressure from the system...yes..with that additional information, if any body has a suggestion as to why I would experience this periodic lock up of a din system, it would be useful..
Thanks.

Thank you! I wanted to say something about the third time someone said make sure you purge. Anyone that has done more than a little diving has had a reg get hung up, thought I've been fortunate that I never had to actually get out a wrench. I've also had people ask me to help them break their regs free on the boat. I thought it was fairly common, so I'm a little surprised on the number of comments.

To your point, I notice on my DIN regs (5 of them) sometimes get hard to turn. I've always just figured that there's a lot of threaded surface there and one spec of sand would be all it would take.

 

[SubMariner]

If you are sweaty and donning a wetsuit, put a plastic grocery bag on each foot and hand if needed.

Slip right in without soap, shampoo, hair conditioner etc.

I'll you one better: pantyhose. Or tights.

 

[Mike Boswell]

When you set these up the first time you should do them wet, other wise they can loosen up just like the standard ones. Then what's the point. Can also be stiff thereafter when dry and be finger pinchers.

I use the standard ones (stainless, not plastic). Easier to change between different tank sizes. When I arrive at the boat, there is usually a rinse tank and I drop my BC in or hit the bands with a hose.

My daughter has the ones you prefer, and they are a bitch to do dry (I set the size wet remember) so I encourage her to wet them so they loosen up. She, however, never has a shortage of guys willing to sacrifice some flesh in order to render assistance.

My wife and I both have them (2 on each rig) and what we have done is set them very tight when dry the first time. After the first use they relax a bit and from then on they are perfect, easy to snap over, and just the right fit. If your daughter's are too tight when dry, IMO you need to loosen them just a bit. They should be snug, but not so tight you can't operate the snaps.