Theft or gear mix-up on liveaboards?

[AdivingBel]

We use this for fins... Brite Mark Permanent Underwater Marking Pen . My wife (artist) does palm trees on my fins. She has parrots on hers. Nice for finding each other in the water. As far as liveaboards, there is usually a space or bin set aside for each diver. Other than that I just clip things off. We've never had any mix-ups let alone thefts (God forbid since it's kind of a captive audience and things like that would get pretty ugly pretty fast). Nope, one of the nice things about that kind of trip is you can lay back and enjoy the diving and camaraderie without that kind of thing getting in the way. YMMV.

 

[KeithG]

Theft happens everywhere. Leave your fancy jewelry at home (I recall a thread a long time ago about a passenger making the boat captain search every room?)

No issues with gear confusion as you have your own spot and you are in control of all of your gear (except for maybe fins).

Don't leave camera gear or computers out unattended while in port.

 

[Aviyes]

Mark your wetsuit for sure, but that's only in case of mixup, as you never know if someone else will have the same brand, model and size. Be careful if you have a dive light similar in style to the boats. Mine got stowed with the rental gear by accident at the end, but easy to sort out as it was a different brand/model. Other than that enjoy the trip and getting hooked on an amazing style of vacation diving!!

 

[Wingy]

Never worried about it - Im too small for anyone to fit my gear. Never heard of it happening on any LOB ive been on.

 

[Centrals]

Anything is possible.
I had lost a big dive light on a liveaboard and everyone denied to have any knowledge about it!!! Ask the captain to search the boat? Travel insurance came handy.
Equipment mix up is quite easy to fix and I never mark my equipment.

 

[Damselfish]

No issues with gear confusion as you have your own spot and you are in control of all of your gear (except for maybe fins).

Fins (which seem to get moved around a lot by everyone but you) - and wetsuits. Pretty much all liveaboards I've been on have a couple common racks for hanging wetsuits, so I think those are the more likely items to get messed up. But usually not for long.

I had a friend who wound up wearing the last diveskin on the rack (on land) once, a couple sizes too small. It's good Lycra stretches well. Not sure he ever got his back.

 

[Stoo]

After several liveaboards, I have never had nor heard of this happening. Well, I lost my mind on the Belle Amie, but that was due to the insanely good diving!

Agreed. I've done a bunch of liveaboards and never gave this a second thought. Obviously mark your gear so it doesn't get mixed up. I generally take my computer to my cabin but primarily to download dives. Otherwise, I clip it to by BCD.

I also agree that on the last night, in port, I don't think I'd leave stuff lying around, but even then, most boats are in secure marinas and the crew will be maintaining a watch.

And, I'm typically the most broke passenger with the crapiest old gear, so there's that.

 

[Dogbowl]

I’m a little worried cause my gear is mostly brand spanking new. But I’m sure I’ll no longer be concerned on my 2nd liveaboard trip.

 

[hroark2112]

I was the only guy on the liveaboard with an 18# purple Oxycheq wing, a pair of yellow Force Fins, and a Freedom Plate.

I was totally not worried about gear confusion!!

 

[KathyV]

Great info, tips and advice. I’ve purchased some stickers, oil-based Sharpies and puffy paint. Not much of an artist but I’ll see what I can do!

I have a strange story about our experience with using paint to mark our gear. I am sure that the paints and materials available now for marking gear are much superior to the old days, but years ago I picked up a small bottle of blue, water-proof, paint at the dive shop. It was glass and similar to a bottle of nail polish, with a small brush inside.

We used it to mark a few items and for some reason I stuck the bottle in with our gear and took it with me on a trip to Bonaire. At the end of our trip, we were flying ALM back home and we hadn't been in the air long when the pilot suddenly announced that the plane was being diverted and we would be landing in Venezuela shortly.

We were on the ground in the airport in Venezuela for just a few minutes and wondering what was going on, when suddenly the doors opened and armed guards came on board! Imagine our surprise when they asked for my husband by name! He responded and then they told him to come them and hustled him off the plane without any explanation! We were both shocked and scared and they wouldn't let me go with him.

Some time later they brought him back and let him re-board and said that the plane would be taking off soon. He was looking scared and sheepish and everyone was starring at him. I was just glad to see him safely back in his seat!

It seems that the little bottle of paint had broken inside the gear bag and set off some kind of (chemical?) alarm. The authorities kept asking him what was in the bag and the poor guy had no idea what could be causing the alarm. They x-rayed the bag and didn't see anything dangerous. Finally they let him open the bag and they all saw the broken bottle, the glass, and blue paint all over our stuff - what a mess. They were satisfied and released him. I can assure you that he wasn't very thrilled with me or my little jar of paint at that moment, but mostly he was just relieved!

Anyway, I am sure that today's products are better but I would advise you NOT to pack a bottle of paint with your gear!