@BlackPawGaming: is soaking in diluted Dettol safe for all dive gears ? #askmark
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Thanks. Good to know.
Due to Coral Disease, our local dive shops are putting disinfectant, including Dettol in their normal rinse tanks.
Gear disinfection is required before and after certain dive sites.
Milton tabs!
thanks for the info!
The key with dettol is weak dilution and rinse in clean water after (dunk tank is great).
Steramine (actual name varies by region) is popular among rebreather divers.
But in general soap – or even just wetsuit wash – will do.
I know Divers Ready recommends Steramine tablets for gear disinfecting. It’s food safe and non-corrosive, but obviously like Mark said, check with your manufacturer.
About the Someone used your regulator… Reminds me of 2020 and 2021 😂 I bet normal dishsoap and if really afraid of catching covid, food grade disinfectants should do the trick.
I Never heard of Dettol.
Same…at least now I know what to avoid
I use Milton fluid to wash my regs and any second hand one’s I purchase, the rinse well in clean water.
Hey..thanks for answering.
#askmark – hey Mark. What are your thoughts on packing regulators in luggage for travel, vs carry on? Our refs have a tank pod for the Eon Core computer, if that matters. Also…doing a liveaboard on the Red Sea in a couple weeks. Our first time there. Any key advice or bits of knowledge we should be prepared for? Thanks, as always!
I haven’t had a bad experience packing my regs in checked luggage yet. I tend to wrap my regs in the middle of my bag so there’s lots of padding. That being said, bags do go missing from time to time and they are treated poorly in transit so if you have the space in your carry on, that’s the safest place for them. I pop my transmitters on a 15cm HP hose to avoid bending and breaking the transmitter and your POD should have come with a hose swivel pin restrictor for a hose.
Bring a water bottle, don’t feel like you need to go on every dive, you may miss something but 3-4 dives a day can be really tiring. Have a pen ready on the plane, it’s been a while since I’ve been there but you need to fill in a bunch of forms on the plane and at the airport so it’s handy to have a pen with you.
I personally take my regulator and computer as carry-on luggage as it’s safer, and my travel insurance only covers €2.5k per lost bag. Make sure you know what you’re insured for!
#askMark I wonder how to clean DSMBs. I have one that can inflate using Octopus air from its bottom, but the opening stays close after it inflated. Obviously environment water gets in at the same time. I can fill up and drain the water (I remove the pressure valve) but the inside wont be dry even if I hang it a couple days..
I usually inflate the SMB and hang it so the drainage valve is the lowest point and any water inside collects at the bottom. It’s tough to get all of the water out so, give it a wash with some detergent to make sure there are no nasties growing inside.
For BCD, regulator, boltsnap etc, I put them in a bucket with warm water and a small amount of dishwaser soap and leave it for 30 mins or so, them rinse them thoroughly, remember to also clean into the mouthpiece and other inside spaces (i.e. the bcd bladder). For wetsuit since there will be sweat sticking into the fabric, I use a little bit of liquid detergent (a spoonfull) plus a small amount of detol so that it wont smell foul after drying and in storage, rinse 2 or 3 times before hanging it dry.
Hi Mark, I have a question. Quick release hose couplings and swivels, good or bad?
As long as you know what you’re doing and you inspect them regularly, they’re good.
They are failure points though, and I’ve seen swivel joints fail on divers underwater. It’s worth paying the extra cost for locking QD couplings so it’s less likely to disconnect unless you intentionally manipulate the mechanism.
It’s also worth practicing some disconnection drills so you know what it feels like and how to reconnect should something happen. Swivel joints just need to be tightened every so often to prevent them from loosening
Thank you for this wonderful content. I was hoping to activate translation into more languages, especially Arabic, so that the content becomes global
#askmark – I struggle with getting water out of my ears after a dive. I’ve used swimmers ear solutions, but sometimes I get some stubborn water that doesn’t seem to want to come out. Any tips?
There are a few things that can help, some better and more practical than others.
Pre-dive care is important, some of the swim-ear treatments will prepare your ears before you get in and coat the inside of your ears. If you avoid using cotton buds for a few weeks leading up to the dive your ear wax will create a natural barrier and aid with drainage.
An extreme option would be something like a Pro-Ear Mask that shield your ears and help to prevent water from entering during the dive.
For post-dive, if you lean over and gently stretch your ear lobe that can help to tease water out. A drop of hydrogen peroxide or an alcohol/acid blend can help make the water inside evaporate, but, you need to be careful if there is any damage inside your ear canal with these drops.
as we say: there are only 2 type of divers. you never know who peed in their wetsuit. Dettol sure kill all the bacterias. other wise wetsuit from DC will smell really bad.
#askmark – Hey Mark, speaking of cleaning, what could I use to clean rust stains from my wing? I’ve been wreck diving and going through tight areas, and my shiny new pink sidemount wing is now… well, not entirely pink 😅
I know the “battle scars” can be cool, but I would like it to remain its original color for a bit longer. Thanks! :)
Acids like lemon juice or white vinegar are quite good for removing rust stains. Give the stain a good splash of lemon juice, leave it to soak in for a few minutes and then flush it with fresh water. If it’s a stubborn stain then you may need to use a little salt and a gentle scrub with an old tooth brush to work the rust out of the fabric.
Otherwise yeah, just embrace the battle scars
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