Theft or gear mix-up on liveaboards?

[Damselfish]

That's for those who put their regulators on the tank without noticing the bungee securing it, and then try to stand up. I saw at least four tanks set up that way on the run out to Cocos Island a few weeks ago.

They all did that on purpose to make their tank extra secure.

 

[KeithG]

They all did that on purpose to make their tank extra secure.

One of the biggest LOB post dive challenges is to get your basic gear secured, find your fins, remember to remove your reg from your tank, then bungee your tank, dunk your festering wetsuit and have a quick on deck shower and still get your fair share of post dive treats while trying to find your boat towel to dry off with.

LOBs suck. Please avoid them so they have lots of room for us to book.

 

[Fibonacci]

Never had anything go missing on a LOB, but some divers who just cannot seem to locate one boot, one fin or a favourite mask nearly every dive have caused some angst amongst the other fully kitted-up divers waiting in the tropical sun

 

[Hoag]

The worst gear missing/mixed up problem that I have ever had on a LOB occurred on a LOB in the Bahamas. Apparently two of us from the group I was traveling with both had Olympus cameras that used the same battery. At the end of the day, I would pull my battery out of the camera and put it in the charger. The next morning, I would pull my "fresh" battery out of the charger and put it in my camera. Despite being in the charger all night, it was seldom more than a half a charge. I assumed that I was having charger problems and was "a little ticked" that despite having two batteries I couldn't seem to get a full charge on either of them.

Turns out that the other person with the same battery forgot to unpack his charger and thought that my charger was his. He was getting my fully charged battery every morning before I was even out of bed and I was getting the battery that he had put in the charger when he swapped out his battery (about an hour earlier). As soon as he realized that his charger & spare battery were in his backpack (in his cabin) we put our initials on our batteries & chargers and both of us had fully charged batteries the rest of the trip. It was an honest mistake and it was easily corrected, but it does show that it never hurts to identify your gear.

 

[Jane Hunt]

www.divinglabels.com make personalised labels for all diving gear. Very handy!

 

[Kharon]

I’ve heard of people inadvertently picking up other people’s wetsuits and stuff from public storage areas in land-based resorts (eg. Cocoview)

Some of my stuff disappeared at CocoView but I'm not convinced it was guests.

 

[kablooey]

My dad used to write his name on everything.
Being just a kid, I told him that was stupid.

Dad, if they have SB where you are, and you're reading this...
I'm sorry, You were right.

 

[outofofficebrb]

My dad used to write his name on everything.
Being just a kid, I told him that was stupid.

Dad, if they have SB where you are, and you're reading this...
I'm sorry, You were right.

Parents generally have a knack for being right or being able to be thanked later in life, don't they?

 

[FinnMom]

I think the real thieves and vandals are the waves, and the boucing and banging of the boat. Secure your stuff, and use you imagination to realize when something could be lost or damaged by bouncing, banging and even a the occasional large wave. On our last trip a rinse tank broke free and washed overboard on an overnight crossing. Now admittedly one should have left stuff in the tank, it could have bounced out or even stayed in the tank, but banged around enough to get broken. In this case the whole darn thing ripped loose and went overboard. One fellow lost his camera, another diver lost his mask and computer.
Your gear will usually be in a basket under your place on the bench. The basket could spill over in rough seas, or the things in it could bang together, crack the case on your flashlight, maybe even bring your weight belt and computer into unfortunately close contact. I usually secure my mask and computer well away from my weights and take my camera to my room, never leaving anywhere it could fall - think in a drawer not on a table. I also try to make sure my 2nd stages aren’t free to bounce around and bang against the tank/a wall/etc.
Do label your stuff though. I made a dive with the wrong mask once - I and the other diver should have been as blind as bats with each others masks, but by some miracle we both had equally strong corrective lenses. Nice that our dives weren’t ruined, but it’s a mistake worth avoiding.
Having a lot of black gear, I love my white paint pen (sold in automotive stores as a tire marker). I keep one in my toiletries bag so it will never be left at home. Try to label the correct part(s) of your fins so the deck guys can ID your fins at a glance.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I’ll be going on my first liveaboard soon and thinking about marking my gear to prevent mix-ups mainly, but are thefts or gear mix-ups a concern at all on liveaboards, considering there are only about 20 passengers onboard and there’s really no place to escape after a theft?

I’ve heard of people inadvertently picking up other people’s wetsuits and stuff from public storage areas in land-based resorts (eg. Cocoview) but have not heard of such happening on liveaboards. Should I be concerned?

That's a good idea and I think I'll start doing it. I have not done a liveaboard but on one boat that did the courtesy of rinsing all of our gear for us we spent an extra fifteen minutes going through everything to make sure all of our stuff was in our gear bags. Turns out a pair of booties was missing which took another ten minutes to locate. I've not been real pleased with "valet" service a couple of times too, but that's another thread.