The importance of testing new kit.
A dive buddy of mine once described changing his dry suit like taking off a glove and putting on a mitten. Both do the same job but the old kit was a known quantity, it worked, he knew how it felt and new how it worked. Putting on the new suit felt slightly alien and didn’t have the same feel, flexibility and felt more cumbersome. However, after a few dives the suit felt great and he is more than happy with it.
With that in mind, when a friend of mine messaged and said fancy a dive at Eccy to test my new suit? It was an instant yes.
He had a new suit, thermal layer and hood so wanted a comfortable relaxed dive or to get any unknowns out of the way, before a trip to St Abbs.
Arriving at 9am we had the usual chat and gradually got our kit together. There were three of us for the dives. My buddy testing his kit is a veteran of some 2500 dives so we were there to give him the opportunity to adjust to his new kit being confident in his diving ability.
He got dressed into the nice shiny new underlayer, followed by a new suit with front loading zip and telescopic body. Our first issue occurred here and his learning curve began. With him being used to a back zip, it is easy enough to get on and off but does need to follow a routine, left arm, right arm, neck. He had done his crotch strap up so was struggling to lift it over his arm, once we had undone this and showed him the routine it went on easily, but, his words, ‘It feels strange’.
Once he had adjusted the kit we made our way to the entrance point and he put the hood on this was a good fit but the face opening was a lot smaller than his old hood so he struggled to get the mask under it and once again, felt uncomfortable, it was a hot day and by the time we were in the water we needed a rest to just catch our breath. One buoyancy check later and he was back on the surface getting a additional weights and his old hood.
Normally, at this point, we would have been half way round our dive but we were now ready to go. We allowed him to lead the way so that we could support if needed. After 45 minutes we surfaced after a successful dive. Dekitted and went for a coffee with a sausage and egg butty and a debrief.
The dive was successful, buoyancy and trim was good, the kit worked and he adjusted to it as time went on but we will be meeting up to have a couple more tests once the kit is adjusted.
The important factor is that we were able to dive successfully and safely without having to rush. Had that been on a dive trip, it could have been an aborted dive or, what has happened in the past, people ‘risk that all will be ok’ and dive anyway.
Obviously we cant always countenance for failures or breakages but it is worth thinking about the preparation a little further and building a save a dive kit and doubling up on some of the basics such as torches, masks etc. This means that should a problem occur than you might still be able to continue with your dives. Have a look at the post below for some suggstions.
