Saving Your Dive

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boulderjohn

Technical Instructor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
31,643
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29,779
Location
Boulder, CO
# of dives
1000 - 2499
I suppose everyone knows that you should have some sort of basic "save-a-dive" kit, but I thought perhaps a thread talking about my most recent experiences with one might help spur some thought on what people will put in their own kits and what they might need to know when it comes to using those items. I am prompted to write this because I recently spent a couple weeks of very nice recreational diving in a remote location with a somewhat unusual situation--the operator was having some problems with its primary location being moved, and we were warned ahead of time that if we had equipment problems, our options would primarily be fix it ourselves or rent gear from them.

Even though I have rarely had to make any repairs during a dive trip, I made sure I had a brought a decent kit with me, even though I had to carry everything in limited luggage space and weight. It turned out that I had more problems on this trip than ever before, and my kit came in handy.

Here is a list of what happened on my trip--nothing advanced in this list. A basic recreational diver should be able to handle any one of them to save a dive or two--can you? (What I brought fit easily inside an old dive mask case.)

1. On my first day of diving, I had more trouble with water in the mask than I am used to, and it got worse as the day went on. It was not until the 3rd dive that I took a good look and realized that the seal on my 20-year old mask was shot. Solution: pull out my backup mask and toss my old one in the trash. (Okay, that is not technically part of the kit, but the idea is the same.)

2. On the second day, we were packing up at the end of the day when I saw a bubble had developed in my primary regulator hose. The DM suggested a place in town where I could get a new one. I went there, and the retail staff of the store (which primarily sold gifts) did not know what a regulator hose was. They could sell me a new complete regulator set, but not a separate hose. A customer overheard the problem, and he took me to another place where I could get one. It was not the length I wanted, but it would work. I used my own wrenches to make the fix.

3. The next day, one of the other divers on the boat lost an o-ring for his DIN valve regulator. I gave him one from my kit, or he would not have been able to dive that day.

4. A few days later, when I set up my gear, the SPG hose was leaking badly where the SPG attaches. That is unusual--a leak there is usually in the form of a fine stream of bubbles that can often be ignored. Opening that connection takes two wrenches, which I had. I saw that the tiny o-ring in the SPG end of the spool had become dislodged. I used the pliers in my kit to take the spool out completely so I could check the other o-ring. The o-rings looked fine, so I just cleaned it up and put on new lubricant rather than replace the spool (which I also could have done). I put it all back together, and it was fine.

5. The battery on my computer showed a low charge. I replaced it and lubricated the o-rings in the battery section.

6. Setting up my gear, I noticed that the DIN shaft of the regulator was loose. A hex wrench twist took care of that.
 
ZIP TIES
Last summer on a trip to Coz I ripped the crotch out of my board shorts, I assume on entry, and didn't realize it until I was getting out of my gear. A little rough sewing with zip ties and shears and I was good to go for the second dive.
 
Primary first stage blew a seal, the top hole was hissing as the tank lost pressure through the HP leak.

I carry a spare first stage regulator and wrenches, and within 5 minutes had everything switched around and didn't miss the dive.

Still don't know what was wrong with it. The reg technician said when he looked it over it wasn't leaking but the IP was a bit on the high side so he fixed that and it's been ok since.

Go figure.
 
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Primary first stage blew a seal, the top hole was hissing as the tank lost pressure through the HP leak.

I carry a spare first stage regulator and wrenches, and within 5 minutes had everything switched around and didn't miss the dive.
If you've got the parts, carry a whole spare regulator (first, second, hose, guage). Then you've got hoses, firsts, seconds, o-rings, a mouthpiece etc. I've saved several folks dives by having that spare reg in a bag. Spare batteries for anything I will be using.

I buy o-ring kits as cheap as I can find them (I've found o rings for under 10c each on amazon) because often operators at resorts don't give a crud about the condition of the o-ring in yoke tanks as long as the o-ring isn't completely busted. I'd wager a good half the tanks I've used have o-rings that I replaced.
 
If you've got the parts, carry a whole spare regulator (first, second, hose, guage). Then you've got hoses, firsts, seconds, o-rings, a mouthpiece etc. I've saved several folks dives by having that spare reg in a bag. Spare batteries for anything I will be using.

I get that and I often contemplate throwing a spare regulator and inflator hose in the bag but our hoses are all newer flex hoses and they show no significant wear; don't really need an extra spg hose because we use AI wrist computers and we only use one regulator hose (BCD mounted reg) so there's that much less chance of failure. But your point is well taken.

As to the rest I do carry a spare 1st and 2nd stage and a variety of O rings and probably way more batteries than I'll ever use during a single trip.
 
I carry backup Regs, PDC and mask. Of course, before I get on a plane, I thoroughly inspect all of my kit to be sure it's gonna last. If I'm going to dive a new mask hopefully, it will be before a trip and not during. I do carry an IP Gauge and two wrenches with one from www.DiveRightInScuba.com

startool.png


Star Tool

best-divers-stainless-steel-multi-wrench_900x.jpg

No idea where to source this one now​
 
I had a bad experience with those multi tools on a boat once. Namely, the things were so bulky that we couldn't unscrew a hose from a first stage. It was super frustrating and I promptly filed the useless tool in a circular filing cabinet.

I switched to carrying cheap junk "normal" tools in a small case. I think for $10ish I got a set of wrenches, a hex tool, and a pair of pliers. I keep the o-rings in the same small box with the tools. The main drawback is that wrenches weigh a little more in my luggage.
 
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I had a bad experience with those multi tools on a boat once.
I like these because they are so thin! They have never let me down except when I can't remember where I left them! :D :D :D They live in the van where I have hundreds of other tools that can do the same job. Those "other tools" stay in the van when I fly to dive and only those three come with me.
 
Great thread. I used to just carry a complete spare regulator set, figuring any problem that comes up when you pressurize your reg on the boat (that's usually the time...) all you do is grab your spare set and go. I can't do that any more on trips where I'm diving doubles and single tanks (like Mexico caves and Coz reefs) without going over baggage weight limits, so now I have sort of a system. I carry one extra 2nd stage, one extra inflator, and one extra SPG spool. That basically means a total of two 1st stages (for doubles; I use the left post 1st stage for single tank and add another 2nd stage/inflator), three 2nd stages (one spare), a 22" hose, 5ft hose, 7ft hose, LP inflator hose, SPG on 24" hose. Then I also have an assortment of o-rings, o-ring pick, port plugs, a small adjustable wrench, and a couple of hex wrenches. It's surprisingly light and compact for travel. Since I'm cave diving on part of the trip, I have a spare mask and computer.

SPG spools and LP inflators are notorious leakers, so I check those really well before leaving. Those 003 o-rings on the spool take a beating and I have on one occasion completed a couple of reef dives with no SPG because of a blown spool o-ring. It was fine, I know the dives and can mostly predict my air consumption. I just used someone else's regulator to check the tank pressure before starting, and stayed very close to a trusted buddy towards the end of the dive. I'm not recommending that anyone do that, but I was comfortable in that specific setting.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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