Hi. Any divers out there using a pump? I was wondering your logistics when doing boat dives and shore dives. Where do you leave your pump? Do you wear a drysuit? All that kind of stuff. Thanks, Mike.
Hi. I take my pump off when i dive. I don’t think any of the pumps are made to deal with pressure. I disconnect for the period of the dive and then reconnect in between dives. I have a waterproof pump.
I dive both wetsuit & drysuit.
What do you usually do during dives? What is your plan? How does your BG react?
Ioana
Hi Ioana: For a shore dive in a drysuit, I usually just remove the pump, cap the infusion set and I’m off. Depending on the length of the dive and the type of dive (some of the dives I do are a little more “agressive” than others), I’ll keep my BG a little high to account for the energy to be expended. If I’m doing a leisurely dive, I’ll keep it just above normal (maybe up to 120 or so). I’m usually in the water for at least an hour. On return, I unsuit, reattach the pump and check my BG. My BG has been in the low 90’s to 130 or so after these kind of dives. Not perfect, but not too bad.
For boat dives, using a drysuit, I may be out all day. So I kinda follow the same routine, adjusting my BG depending on the number of dives I’ll be doing.
I’ve found most boat captains accept me diving with them, but I’ve run into a couple that don’t want me on their boats. Even though I am probably more experienced then them in the water, and have been diving longer than they have (with no problems- I’ve been diving for 20 years, have a couple thousand dives under my belt). My dive buddies know I’m diabetic, and we stick together pretty well. So if the captain looses me, he looses at least one and maybe three or four other paying divers.
Where I have logistical problems is doing multiple westsuit dives, either from shore or on a boat. I usually follow the same general routine but will insert a new infusion set after a dive (per the recommendation of Medtronic of not using a set after immersion in salt water). If I’m doing multiple dives, I’m not sure how to handle it-change sets after every dive? That’s where it gets to be a pain. I haven’t been in the water too often over the last couple years (crazy schedules, my regular dive buddy getting ill) so I’ve limited dives to my drysuit. Which is o.k. here in New England where it doesn’t get all that warm in the water until Sept. I guess I shouldn’t whine too much water temp-wise with you being from the northwest. I am thinking of maybe reverting to multiple shots if I’m gonna be doing multiple dives using a wetsuit I’m also thinking about getting a tropical style drysuit that’ll keep my infusion set dry while in the water. I don’t know if I can justify speding a grand for a suit that’ll be used only a week or two a year for a warm water vacation. Maybe I need to take up a sport with less gear. Nahhh.
I’m from CT, and have been diving through the Bahamas, Grand Turk, a bunch of Caribbean islands, and 45 of the 50 states. Though, most of my dives have been in RI.
I just saw the goup you set up. Good one!
Hope to see you in the water some time,
Mike