BP/W Where do you carry your SMB/reel with out wetsuit pockets

[divad]

Thanks, but I think that one is enough!

I like pockets too. Have a pair of neoprene shorts for when the dry suit stays home.

Thanks, I meant that for the OP, but, YOU ARE TRYING TO TRICK ME.

 

[Ayisha]

You can slide pockets onto your webbing. I have an OMS compact weight pouch on each side of my waist belt and they work really well. Those are fairly small pockets by choice but there are many other types of pockets you can use that have a slot at the back for webbing. I have an SMB and thumb spool in my right pocket and wetnotes in my left pocket, with room for more.

I used to have the SMB across the bottom of the backplate in two bungy loops, and just the reel in a pocket. Some bp's also have storage paks built in.

 

[NAM001]

I use something similar to this Tech Buttplate - Dive Right in Scuba

 

[Patoux01]

SMB + spool goes to my butt d-ring. I dive sidemount, but would most likely do the same in backmount if I can reach there. If it comes loose (which is very UNlikely if done properly), I'll do like a great cave diver told me: "Turn around, be ashamed and reel it up".

 

[AfterDark]

All,
I have read a few topics about it but the threads seemed rather old so im asking where people are carrying there SMB and reel on their backplate these days. I have seen some people clip off to butt D-ring. Some people clip off to backplate holes on one of the sides of the backplate. I do not have a drysuit and my wetsuit does not have pockets to carry things so if that is where you carry them please don't comment. For those of you that do carry it on your backplate somewhere, are your SMB and reel already connect or does each have it's own snaps which hold it on the wing or harness somewhere? Thanks everyone!

My personal preference is not to carry it on my B/P at all. I have a large pocket that I bookscrewed onto the waist strap of my B/P harness. In this pocket I carry a SMB/finger spool, signal mirror, whistle, 50lb lift bag, a small folding knife, if boat diving a Jon -line. All the items except the knife are on a long line attached to the inside of the pocket. I can pull everything out unclip what I need and put it all back without losing anything. These items go on every dive with me and are always close at hand. By the way the SMB has a dive flag sewn onto it a custom job.

 

[Canadave]

+1 for Irikonji dive shorts. I am accustomed to diving with two thigh pockets on my dry suit and wrestled with the same issue when I first headed south to Roatan. For muscle memory, consistency and to avoid looking like a Christmas tree with stuff dangling off my d rings, or backplate, I opted to have a set up for warm water that also allowed for smb and spool as well as a spare mask to be stowed in thigh pockets just like when I'm diving in Vancouver.
The beauty of these, not so cheap, but rugged shorts is that you can wear them either with or without a wetsuit or just as walking around shorts. I usually just dove in them without a wetsuit and a rash guard and didn't have to sacrifice any safety gear or change my usual gear configuration.

 

[WhiteSands]

I went through the same process and tried almost everything, and frankly neoprene pocket shorts are the best solution.
If cost is a problem, you can consider the Diverite thigh pockets, they work.

But if you want to do it without thigh pockets, this is what I did and it worked ok for me.
I tied 2 thick bungee loops on the 2 holes at the bottom of my backplate. These will secure my SMB in place.
I rig up the SMB with reel together as one unit, clip off the double ender to butt D-ring and then secure the SMB itself with the 2 bungees.
The good thing about this method is that it is neat and out of the way till you need it. The disadvantage is you can't see if your string is coming loose, and also you have to push it away from the tank when you sit.

You need to use a special method to tie your SMB so that the string will not come off. If you just clip it the regular way, the string will come loose especially when you do a backroll/giant stride, and it will become a hazard. The reel may also drop below you.

I described the way I tied off my SMB (with photos) so that it has no chance of coming loose some months back, you can do a search of my past posts if you're interested.

 

[Searcaigh]

what D-rings do you clip them to? Hip (left or right side)? Butt? shoulder (left or right side)? thanks!

I usually use the right hand D-ring on the belt of the BP/W, most of the time I have a stage pony on the left

BTW I like these butt pouches that hold the SMBs, a guy I dived with last Friday had this set up with two, one holding a yellow SMB and the other an Orange one. His reel was also clipped off on the RHS.

 

[doctormike]

If you are only carrying one SMB, and don't want to wear pocket shorts, give the backplate pocket a try. Of all the ways of carrying an SMB, this is by far the least obtrusive. It is undetectable when you are wearing it, deploys fairly easily and absolutely cannot accidentally come loose (which can happen with bungeed loops). Clip off your reel (or spool, if you are diving relatively shallow) somewhere and you are good to go.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Have a mask pocket on my webbing where my crack bottle DSMB and metal finger spool live (clipped off to left hip D-ring) I'd a stage is clipped there then it lives on a bungee near the stage. lift bag and spare DSMB on wing back plate and reel on butt - if I sit on that it's be me that would break not the metal reel