Catch Bag Care

Catch bag maintenance and helpful hints

If you look after your catch bag properly it will provide you with many years of reliable service. Maintenance is really quite simple:

1. Fully rinse with fresh, soapy water after every dive (along with all your other gear).
2. Lube with CRC or WD 40 on all metal to metal contact points of frame and springs. A quick burst on either side should do.
3. Hang up and let it drip dry (in the shade). Keep your catch bag out of direct sunlight for any length of time so as to not fade the material. You will be amazed at how fast the cloth materials will colour fade in direct sunlight.

Helpful Hints

1. Should you find that your bag creaks a little when squeezing the handle, sometimes it helps to grab the bag by both sides of the frame and push the looped ends towards each other with gentle force. This quite often helps. Then lube.
2. Crayfish or lobster will float in and around the mouth of your catch bag when you are hunting. If you are about to add another to your catch bag, always give your bag a sharp jerk to get the catch to the back of the bag before opening. This will prevent any escapees from leaving your bag without your permission.
3. We suggest a 250 mm long nylon rope attached to your catch bag handle with a over sized brass bull clip that you can attach to a ring on your BCD as the way of carrying your bag while hunting.
4. Be sensible about how much catch your are putting in your bag and how far away you are from your boat or the shore. Over filling your bag will affect your bouyancy! Did you check the weather and the tide? Did you bring a float? Are you fit enough to get that bag of catch all the way back to shore? Are you being greedy or taking unnecessary risks because your excited about the hunt? Did you measure and count your scallops under water? Do you have a safety pack in your BCD? We can go on and on with these simple questions and we hate to think about all the divers that have learned the hard way. Just use common sense and be safe.

For great catch bag options from The Scuba Doctor, see Scuba Diving Catch / Goody Bags.

If you have any specific enquiry about how to care for your dive gear, please feel free to contact The Scuba Doctor by email to [email protected] or by a telephone call to 03 5985 1700.