You know, on our first day at KBR in Lembeh, the hard-working and earnest and well-meaning staff set up my gear totally wrong. I mean, they had the tank on the "diver" side of the backplate, and I looked at the mess and wondered cheerfully how they expected me to put the rig on.
It was no big deal. I took it apart and put it back together correctly, and they watched. They put it together every subsequent day, and never made an error. That doesn't mean I didn't check the cambands, to make sure they were in the right place, and adequately tightened. It doesn't mean I didn't run my head to toe equipment check before diving. But honestly, how much can somebody screw up your gear, that you wouldn't notice?
With technical diving, things really are different. For one thing, the gas you're diving is expensive, and losing any of it is a big deal. For another thing, the stakes are far higher. But even there -- and knowing that tech divers don't allow ANYONE to touch their stuff except them -- assuming no gas loss, how much damage can somebody do that you won't pick up during a diligent check?
It isn't the assembly that we should be intense and anal about. It's the pre-dive check.
It was no big deal. I took it apart and put it back together correctly, and they watched. They put it together every subsequent day, and never made an error. That doesn't mean I didn't check the cambands, to make sure they were in the right place, and adequately tightened. It doesn't mean I didn't run my head to toe equipment check before diving. But honestly, how much can somebody screw up your gear, that you wouldn't notice?
With technical diving, things really are different. For one thing, the gas you're diving is expensive, and losing any of it is a big deal. For another thing, the stakes are far higher. But even there -- and knowing that tech divers don't allow ANYONE to touch their stuff except them -- assuming no gas loss, how much damage can somebody do that you won't pick up during a diligent check?
It isn't the assembly that we should be intense and anal about. It's the pre-dive check.