While on Vacation, Why don't u like other people changin your tank?

[Jupiter31]

Big difference between carrying gear (please...have at it ) and setting up gear.

I know I'm going to do it correctly; can't be 100% sure the DM, who has to worry about 5, 6, 8, 10, etc other divers tanks & equipment is - plus I know how I like my gear set up - and unless the DM took and passed "mind reading" the day it was taught in school, I can't be sure.

You will find almost all divers who consider themselves experienced will feel the same way And all divers "should" - its that important.

 

[Sloth]

You kidding me? I love it! I rarely get to be a tourist diver but when I can I do absolutely as little as possible. Let those young DMs lift those tanks for me, sounds great!

Of course I am going to check everything once they are done

 

[Just another Cinderella]

Sure let them set it up.
Just don't let your family blame the dive shop when you don't come back to the boat.
Might as well let them set up the cameras too.

Seriously, setting your gear up is part of your training and the more you do it under all conditions
the better you will be when there are those little added stress factors. As everybody has posted, the more routine the better.

 

[Blackwood]

I object to the concept that they are "letting you" set up your own gear. It's your gear, it's not up to them to "let you" do anything with it. It's completely your choice.

It's your gear, but it's their boat.

 

[ivobj]

On my first Ocean dive! we dove with Del Mar aquatics in Cozumel....on another post, I read that some people don't like deck hands touching their tanks or hookin up regulator ...basicly no touching.. But it seem like this Del Mar deck hand was workin hard on a rockin and picthing boat... Now, I do set my own equipment up ..for shore dives.. But, I totally let this guy set me up! Is this a bad thing? I mean later I did check the fittings ...Plus, I'm on Vacation and want to relax and not lift the heavy stuff! Is this bad? Kinda like if I were super rich, and I rode horses....I would have the horse ready to mount with all tack secured by the stable master!! and they brought the horse to me "Here is your horse MaDam":blinking:

I understand the safety of your Life support and all ....but do most divers on vacation set there own gear up on a boat???

Let`s go step by step...

lifting weights, basically moving the tanks before setup? ok, other than that, definetly I always do all the setup, first because it is my life down there, I don't feel confortable just checking afterwards, because it is not only if everything is placed correctly, while you setup your equipment you may notice something that might be an issue underwater and correct it. Second reason is because it is not exactly cheap stuff, small things like letting a drop of salt water inside the HP chamber of the reg, bending too much a hose, and many other things can compromise your equipment if not in this dive in following ones, as those careless moves go pilling up, the least would be reducing the life of your gear.

You might think I am exagerating, but I never regretted doing that in 14 years diving and honestly, even carrying the tanks never bothered me, so surely didn't bother setting up my gear and even after setup, I don't like people, except those in my team, to touch my gear. May sound kind of radical, but as someone already posted, I might also be a little obsessive on that.

 

[Teamcasa]

For me, it's not a big deal but it does mean I double check everything after they are done.

On our local SoCal boats, most of them fill your tank but you have to remove your regulator and place a fill tag/ring on it. On the boats without compressors most deck hands don't change the tanks over.

 

[Sloth]

You people are funny Things like "Sure let them set it up. Just don't let your family blame the dive shop when you don't come back to the boat." makes me laugh.

There is nothing that anyone can do to your gear while it is being set up (outside of breaking out tools and taking stuff apart) that you wont catch when you do your head to toe check before entering the water..... Everyone is doing a proper head to toe right?

But if someone touches my valves after I do a head to toe.... ok, that's serious business... knives come out then.

 

[Sas]

I talked with the DM before hand (after he saw my gear and kinda suspected I'd be the kind of person who'd want to set it up myself) and he said he was perfectly happy to let me do that.

Hmm I'd be wary of DMs that think they are the ones that need to give you permission to set up your own gear. That's really quite odd... I think it would be more a case of letting them setup your gear not them deciding to let you touch your own gear.

Ladyvalea, I like to set up my gear for a number of reasons:
-I can position the tank correctly
-If it is not setup right I only have myself to blame - I am a bit of a control freak so basically don't trust others to do these type of things for me
-I have a process I go through when setting up my gear. If that gets interfered with, it can throw me out. I remember on one trip the DMs were very helpful and the first dive put everything on me including my fins. I got off the boat with a few things not set up right and had not taken my SMB. Now I am not blaming them for this as I should have gone over it myself but it really threw me out and I forgot a bunch of things.

I don't mind people lifting my gear onto a boat or handing me over a tank for changing if they are so inclined but that is about the extent of how much I want help from others on a boat. On one trip I let them change over tanks for me but I was not comfortable with this so next time I would speak up and tell them not to bother. Locally the DMs do not set up gear for you on the charter (but will help people if they can't reach a hose or something, but you have to ask) and I prefer it that way. They insist on checking everyone's air pressure, they watch you breath from your regs and inflate/deflate wing and drysuit though, and I have no problem with this either.

 

[Rhone Man]

If someone doesn't understand your gear, it is way to easy too break something. Two things that make me paranoid:

- some idiot trying to lift my tank whilst grasping the wireless transmitter on my regulator (seen it happen, not to me by the grace of God)
- someone turning on my air without putting their thumb on the top of the 1st stage to give resistance to the piston (they have a tendency to blow on my reg).

It doesn't keep me awake at night, but I also worry about some newbie not being able to work out the correct way to clip in the straps around the tank.

For the 2 minutes that it takes me, I'd rather do it myself.

 

[KidK9]

I dont trust another person I don't know to hold my wallet, much less handle life support equipment.