Dumb Things I've Done

[mello-yellow]

...on the second dive, forgot to have buddy zip up the dry suit zipper.

I did that several times, but only with a wetsuit. Which is not as bad.

Dumbest thing I ever did was also lucky. I was supposed to assist an OW class as part of my Divemaster certification. We arrived on the beach, the instructor looked at the waves and said "Sorry, this is not good. We have to reschedule the dives." Everyone went home... unaware that I brought all my gear except BC.

---------- Post added March 24th, 2014 at 03:52 PM ----------

-Forgot to turn on the students air before she got into the water (How they hell did I forget to turn on the air!?)

Wasn't she supposed to turn on her own air?

 

[optimistprime]

About 2 weeks ago I was 20 ft. down the descent line when I noticed I forgot my fins. A combination of dog paddle and whip kicking got me through the dive.

 

[mizzie]

I've really enjoyed this thread, although I can't think of anything I've done to add to it. I only have 8 dives, so any dumb things I've done I'm too new to realize it.

 

[mmadiver]

I have to point out that a gear checklist would of solved 90% of the mistakes in this thread. It's no secret that small boneheaded mistakes can turn into big problems as soon as you step of the boat.

Make checklists! A laminator costs 30 bucks and will save your life...

Don't mean to be preachy, but hate to see divers get hurt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Diver0001]

So.... Michael,

Just looking at the big picture here, has any of this convinced you that your instructor was probably *right* about the need to do buddy checks?

And if so, have you started doing them?

Actually, that was said partly tongue in cheek. I think you touch on something that many divers experience. I think most of us have forgotten gear or done something like forgotten to attach and inflator hose at some point. The take home message really needs to be to clear your head before the dive and visualize all the things you need to do to get ready (like filling tanks, charging lights etc) and to keep doing those buddy checks no matter how long you've been diving.

R..

Thought I'd list all the dumb things I've done in relation to diving, just for kicks .

- Forgot to hook up drysuit inflator.
- Forgot to hook up wing inflator.
- Forgot to get tanks filled.
- Forgot to bring regulators.
- Forgot to change batteries in light.
- Forgot to put batteries in light.
- Forgot to take gear out of car over the weekend (stinky).
- Forgot to turn on my air.
- Forgot to take my fins with me on the hike down to the lake.
- Forgot to bring enough weight when shore diving in SoCal (6hr drive).
- Forgot that I'm not wreck pen certified (oops .
- Forgot that my pony only works if it's with me and not on the boat.
- Forgot to talk about turnaround time/pressure with buddy.

That's about all I can think of at the moment, though I'm sure there are a dozen more.

 

[Shasta_man]

Apparently we all need to "Boogie Woogie With the Rich and Famous" (gear checks) before we ever leave the house.

I'm sure I've done more dumb things but the main thing coming to mind is having the dive time change back and forth on the liveaboard while I prepared to use new video lights in ocean for first time. Dive is off black sand beach in Indo. Suddenly they say we're going, so I rushed to go. Realized on the skiff that I had the 2 big video dive lights but not my own dive lights. OK, I rely on video lights. As I ascend 6 feet away from dive buddy I realize viz is so bad I can barely see my buddy. Turn on one video light. I'm descending @ ~25 feet. I'm looking at the bottom judging coming down to it, when I run into right into it because I couldn't tell distance. I'm able to make out other divers and join the group. I leave my video lights off to keep from messing up others photos, then turn them on for video. I chivalrously go to the end of the group to allow everyone to shoot photos before I do video. Turning lights on again and one doesn't work. Instead of aborting, I shoot with one light. Now I look up in the direction of the group and can't see anyone. Circle, circle, then head toward inshore rather than swept away from island. Still no one. Rather than waiting for total darkness, I must ascend through the murk. A school of tigersharks could have been next to me and I wouldn't have been able to see them. Spent a scary few moments on safety stop watching the nonfunctioning light let out a stream of bubbles as it completely flooded. $300 video light was crossthreaded at the factory and we could not open it even with tools. Left it on liveaboard when I left.

I've gotten close to getting the water with only sunglasses on too. I've done a few dives after leaving my dive computer in the gear basket on the boat. Friend forgot hood on dive boat in Monterey Bay. He admirably, or stupidly, did one dive without a hood before giving up due to popsicle head.

Note to self: watch out for the guy who uses anchors as weights.