Budget-minded gear

[O2BBubbleFree]

The other budget diver thread, along with Guba's prompting forced me to start a thread, so here it is.

Post your cheap gear suggestions here.

Here's a couple:

My 'dive' gloves are 3mm fishing gloves from WalMart. $6.00. Watch out for the ones that don't have glued seams, though.

My BC was $30 (eBay, 1970's era 'new old stock'), plus $25 for a cam band.

I remember a post on SB a long time ago (sorry, can't give proper credit to the poster), from a diver who bought an insulated bag designed for carrying casserole dishes at a thrift store for a buck, and said it made a fine padded regulator bag.

Anyone else?

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

C'mon, Guba, you promised!

 

[jpsexton]

I had a pair of brown neoprene hunting gloves untill one of them tore during my last dive.

I also use baby shampoo for mask defog.

 

[anth]

The fish tote is my favorite - at commercial fishing supply stores, they go for ~$10, with covers a few dollars more. They're rugged enough to drag when full of gear and make a great rinse tank. I've often stood on the lid while suiting up and used the inverted tote as a seat when donning equipment for a shore dive.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

I also use baby shampoo for mask defog.

That's a good one. I use toothpaste myself. I keep one of those travel-size tubes in my mask box.

 

[jwalko]

I use baby shampoo for mask defog, as already mentioned.

My daughter has trouble getting her wetsuit on (no zippers at the ankles or wrists). We bought some really cheap hair conditioner. She puts some on her legs before donning the suit and it makes it really easy to get the suit on.

My dive knife is an inexpensive, composite body locking folder w/ a stainless blade...cost all of about $6.00. Doesn't rust and little chance of binding, since the body is basically plastic.

Those cheap store bought foam noodles make great tank holders to keep the tanks from rolling around. My next idea is to string some rope between a couple of sections so they snug against the tank when it is laying down (keeps it from rolling). Just cut them to the right length.

John

 

[spectrum]

My 'dive' gloves are 3mm fishing gloves from WalMart. $6.00. Watch out for the ones that don't have glued seams, though.

Here in Maine Wal-Mart has some (2mm?) neoprene gloves sold as ice fishing gloves. I picked up a pair for handling gear after the dive.

Pete

 

[spectrum]

For something like $2.99 I picked up some round (pan cake) heavy twill bags made for holding a 50 foot compressed air hose. They make nice regulator bags.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

My next idea is to string some rope between a couple of sections so they snug against the tank when it is laying down (keeps it from rolling). Just cut them to the right length.

John

Hate to break it to you, but I and many others have already done the rope and pool noodle thing. Several pictures have been posted on SB over the last few years. Put some stainless fender washers between the knots and the noodles to keep the knots from pulling through.

 

[Guba]

My "dive watch" is a $14 Armitron, purchased at Wal-mart. It functions perfectly past 110 feet (the deepest I've had it), and all modes are accessible with the buttons. Of course, I have a computer, but the watch is a great "hang timer".

I wear a pair of "compression shorts" under my wetsuit. They're knee length and let the suit slide on easily. I think they are about 7 dollars.

My dive slate is a "Magnedoodle" (one of those eraseable magnetic versions) that I got for $3 at...you guessed it...Walmart. I epoxied a square of plastic cutting board to the back and attached a pencil. Works great.

(already printed before...) My backup knife is an inexpensive stainless folder that I keep in a pouch on the strap of my BC.

I haul my gear in a pickup. Well, I hate to have to watch it every second when I stop for meals, etc..., so I built a drop-in bed cover that has two "wings" that open from either side. Okay, so I know it's been done before, but I'm proud of it.

Well, this goes in a different forum, but I built my own video camera housing from PVC, plexiglass, and some odds and ends. Cost--about 80 bucks. (pictures in my gallery)

I added pouches for my safety sausage, whistle, and reflector (one pouch) and my (cheap) backup knife (in the other) to my bc harness. They're small camera cases with zippers. I won't even tell you where those came from, but they were about $4 each.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there are more...I'm pretty cheap!