How do you get ready for the season?

Question

With the warmer weather coming, what do you do to get ready for the season?

Answer 1

service regs, make sure there is no damage on BCD from previous season, check wear and tear on wetsuit(s), fins, mask, snorkel and if all looks good, then i'm good to go! though in FL, the season never really ends :-P

Answer 2

If we are going on a trip we always make a trip to a local lagoon. That way we know everything is is good working order. But when we put the equipment up for a period where it's short of long. We'll have a tub of fresh water that we always rinse our equipment off in. The regs after we rinse are put them back on a tank to blow the water out of them while shaking the 2nds. Also we always pull back the hose protectors to remove any water trapped. With the BCD after rinsing I have a product called slosh that I add to the BCD inflator, then add water and move it around inside the BCD. I then hang it up to dry upside down.  Later I will move the water with slosh to each dump valve letting the slosh clean anything that maybe trap in that area. We build a special rack out of 2 inch PIC to dry our dive gear on, it works great. Also, before going diving we always check the batteries in the computers and dive lights. But we will stop carry extra batterbatteryibatterbatteryies in our save the five kit.

Answer 3

Physical conditioning (ongoing), equipment review/maintenance/upgrades-purchases, trip planning.

Answer 4

So first, and most important, take a reactivate class, or Padi equivalent. You forget those motor skills quickly and it’s worth the time if you have been out of the water for a while.  Check out Steve Prior, he goes through the 24 teaching steps that instructors need to master, and no, you don’t need to be an instructor to get value out of the videos.  Bring your gear in to be serviced, it’s worth the extra $100 or so. Try your gear on and make sure it fits. Sometimes winter isn’t friendly to our waste lines. And if your gear is snug, bring along a couple extra lbs of lead just in case. Check out the Dan website to see what new methods, techniques, concerns, etc, are happening in your diving areana. And don’t forget to take it easy on your first dive.