One of my favorite issues is to highlight the need for procedures when preparing and diving rebreathers. If you type “checklist” into our search engine, you’ll find links to almost any pre-dive checklist available. Yet, my Megalodon students this week found the list to be cumbersome and the language unfamiliar. My suggestion is to use the manufacturer’s checklist while you are learning your rebreather and the new set of terminology. After completing your class, there is no reason why you can’t customize the checklist so it feels like your own. The important thing is that you use it regularly. After well over a decade of rebreather diving, I still use my check list every time I prep my rig. It guards against complacency, helps me keep good maintenance records and helps protect me from mistakes caused by momentary distractions.
My final checklist is a mental one. Every time I head to the danger zone, either a rocking boat or the top of a set of stairs leading to the water, I recite this simple reminder:
Tanks on. ADV enabled. Safe PO2 in the loop. Manual works. Jill Heinerth
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