Before a dive trip do you take your equipment and make a check out dive?

Question

So many divers wait until their on a trip to find out the equipment has a problem.

Answer 1

I am a Dive master for a local dive shop so my gear is in the water a lot. My wife's and son's on the other hand is not. Before they go diving if they havent been in a few months I take theirs and get in the dive shop pool and make sure everything works properly. I service or have all of our gear serviced atleast annually if not more often.

Answer 2

This year, we had service performed on our regulators prior to a dive trip outside the US. We took our gear to a pool and tried it out to make sure there were no issues.

Also, last year we had new back-wing BCDs that were much different than our old ones. We also were able to use them in a pool to get a feel for the inflators, how to assemble with a new integrated inflator and octo.

This gave us some confidence for the trip rather than trying to learn this on the boat in an unfamiliar place.

Our local dive shop was great to let us go to the local pool during a Discover Scuba session. Greatly appreciated.

 I recommend it if at all possible. There are some things that can be repaired or corrected on a dive trip or it could ruin the trip.

Comments

Glad you check your equipment out before a trip out of the country. Stay safe and have fun

Answer 3

no, i'm pretty bad at doing that. in fact i don't think i've had my reg serviced since i bought it. But i keep it in very good condition, it still looks brand new... obviously i don't dive enough.

Comments

Pull your hose protectors back and let me know what you find. If it's clean then your properly doing good. But I expect you'll find corrosion rust. Keep diving and stay safe.

Answer 4

My local dive store has encouraged divers to bring their regs to the shop and test them on a full tank prior to a trip, and have even said it's okay if we want to take our gear in the pool next door* (*the pool isn't run by the store but by a health club they have an arrangement with). I currently don't have a reg of my own yet, so right now I just inspect and test my BCD before a trip by orally inflating it full and checking for leaks, checking that the dump cords function & show no wear, and that the integrated weight pockets securely fasten into place. However, when I do buy a reg, I plan to bring both it and my BCD to the store for testing prior to a trip. I know from past experience that not all foreign locations have rental gear available if something goes wrong, so I'd prefer to know about any potential problems while I can still get them fixed. I'm paranoid like that!

Answer 5

I have gear serviced before a trip then I check it out in the pool.

Answer 6

In the pool if it's been over a few months since the last dive.