Info Build your own Save a Dive Kit

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Build your own Save a Dive Kit*​


by Dave Hicks
From the Marker Buoy Dive Club October 2021 issue:

What’s that hissing noise??? Where are those bubbles coming from??? My dive computer is dead!!!

We’ve all experienced this situation on a dive excursion. You are all kitted up and ready to go and some piece of gear goes sideways. You have a loose hose on your 1st stage regulator blowing out air. The O-ring has failed or vanished from your tank. Your dry glove was attacked and holed by an urchin or barnacle. These issues can easily range from annoying to showstoppers.

It’s bad enough to have an issue strike on a local shore dive, but if you are on a multi-day trip away from home you could be looking at problems that will ruin your trip or force you to rent or buy replacement gear. And the more people that you dive with, the more likely that an issue will arise in time to spoil somebody’s dive trip. It’s great to be self-sufficient and be able to resolve your own gear issues on the spot, but it’s even better if you save a fellow diver’s problem with a spare part or quick fix. You might even get a free beer or new buddy out of the situation.

The solution is to fall back on the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared”.

This article will show you how to put together a Save-a-Dive Kit and a Spares Kit that will help you prepare to deal with many common problems that you or a buddy are likely to encounter on a dive trip. Many experienced divers have these kits, and there are many ways to assemble effective kits. We learn from our experiences, mistakes, and great tips from other divers. The kits I outline in this article were built over 30 years of diving lessons learned. I encourage you to pick and choose from this article or build a kit just like mine. I’d love to hear feedback and ideas from your experiences as well.

I typically carry and use two different boxes with me on dive trips. The smaller one I will call the Save-a-Dive Kit. The second is my Spares Kit. The two are complementary but separated for use in two general scenarios.
  • The Save-a-Dive Kit is focused on last minute issues. I bring it on every shore dive, day charter boat, or live aboard excursion. It’s small, portable, and waterproof so I can stow it under the bench in any dive boat. This kit contains small tools and simple parts needed for a quick fix to salvage a single dive.
  • The Spares Kit is bigger and contains backup equipment you might not carry for a single dive, but that you may need to save an entire trip. It holds bulkier replacements for things you can’t continue diving without, including gloves, hoses, regulators, etc.

Save a Dive Kit​

Here are the entire contents of my Save-a-Dive kit laid out for display.

You’ll also want to have a few mini ziplock bags to contain some of the smaller bits like Q-tips and zip-ties so they don’t get wet or scattered.

I’ve included prices for most of the items below for reference. You may already have a lot of these items.

Everything on this list can be found from Amazon or Dive Gear Express or your local Dive or Marine stores

IMG_20211004_115353 (Large).jpg


  • Pelican 1120 case {7" x 5"x 3.5")
  • Gerber MultiTool with pliers
  • Keychain Swiss Army knife with scissors
  • Cresent wrench 6"
  • (Upgrade pick) Knipex 5" adjustable wrench
  • Batteries for dive computer (AA, CR2450, CR2032)
  • Small philips/flat screwdriver
  • Dental picks for O-ring removal
  • Allen hex wench set (7 pcs)
  • Electrical tape (waterproof)
  • Velcro strips (6 pcs)
  • Bungie cord (1/8" 6ft)
  • Silver sharpie
  • O-ring kit (LP & HP hose, Din, Yoke)
  • Plugs for 1st stages (LP & HP)
  • Pressure gauge spools (x2)
  • O2 lube
  • Silicone lube
  • Quarter (for Shearwater battery cap)
  • IP gauge
  • LP air nozzlez
  • Pressure gauge (1" button type)
  • Super Glue
  • Double ender clip 3"
  • Quick links & s-biner clips
  • Small zip ties (x20)
  • Q-Tips
  • DIN inserts (x2)
  • Contact lenses
  • Cash
Custom Items
  • Overpressure valve
  • QC6 connector (offboard gas)
  • Mineral oil (small vial)


* I recently wrote an article on this topic for my dive club's newsletter. It's an expanded version of a reply I made in a post early in the year. I'm sharing the article in full here. I hope some people find is useful or educational. I go into some detail about the use for each item.

Continued in the next post

 

Build your own Save a Dive Kit*​


by Dave Hicks
From the Marker Buoy Dive Club October 2021 issue:

What’s that hissing noise??? Where are those bubbles coming from??? My dive computer is dead!!!

We’ve all experienced this situation on a dive excursion. You are all kitted up and ready to go and some piece of gear goes sideways. You have a loose hose on your 1st stage regulator blowing out air. The O-ring has failed or vanished from your tank. Your dry glove was attacked and holed by an urchin or barnacle. These issues can easily range from annoying to showstoppers.

It’s bad enough to have an issue strike on a local shore dive, but if you are on a multi-day trip away from home you could be looking at problems that will ruin your trip or force you to rent or buy replacement gear. And the more people that you dive with, the more likely that an issue will arise in time to spoil somebody’s dive trip. It’s great to be self-sufficient and be able to resolve your own gear issues on the spot, but it’s even better if you save a fellow diver’s problem with a spare part or quick fix. You might even get a free beer or new buddy out of the situation.

The solution is to fall back on the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared”.

This article will show you how to put together a Save-a-Dive Kit and a Spares Kit that will help you prepare to deal with many common problems that you or a buddy are likely to encounter on a dive trip. Many experienced divers have these kits, and there are many ways to assemble effective kits. We learn from our experiences, mistakes, and great tips from other divers. The kits I outline in this article were built over 30 years of diving lessons learned. I encourage you to pick and choose from this article or build a kit just like mine. I’d love to hear feedback and ideas from your experiences as well.

I typically carry and use two different boxes with me on dive trips. The smaller one I will call the Save-a-Dive Kit. The second is my Spares Kit. The two are complementary but separated for use in two general scenarios.
  • The Save-a-Dive Kit is focused on last minute issues. I bring it on every shore dive, day charter boat, or live aboard excursion. It’s small, portable, and waterproof so I can stow it under the bench in any dive boat. This kit contains small tools and simple parts needed for a quick fix to salvage a single dive.
  • The Spares Kit is bigger and contains backup equipment you might not carry for a single dive, but that you may need to save an entire trip. It holds bulkier replacements for things you can’t continue diving without, including gloves, hoses, regulators, etc.

Save a Dive Kit​

Here are the entire contents of my Save-a-Dive kit laid out for display.

You’ll also want to have a few mini ziplock bags to contain some of the smaller bits like Q-tips and zip-ties so they don’t get wet or scattered.

I’ve included prices for most of the items below for reference. You may already have a lot of these items.

Everything on this list can be found from Amazon or Dive Gear Express or your local Dive or Marine stores

View attachment 685449

  • Pelican 1120 case {7" x 5"x 3.5")
  • Gerber MultiTool with pliers
  • Keychain Swiss Army knife with scissors
  • Cresent wrench 6"
  • (Upgrade pick) Knipex 5" adjustable wrench
  • Batteries for dive computer (AA, CR2450, CR2032)
  • Small philips/flat screwdriver
  • Dental picks for O-ring removal
  • Allen hex wench set (7 pcs)
  • Electrical tape (waterproof)
  • Velcro strips (6 pcs)
  • Bungie cord (1/8" 6ft)
  • Silver sharpie
  • O-ring kit (LP & HP hose, Din, Yoke)
  • Plugs for 1st stages (LP & HP)
  • Pressure gauge spools (x2)
  • O2 lube
  • Silicone lube
  • Quarter (for Shearwater battery cap)
  • IP gauge
  • LP air nozzlez
  • Pressure gauge (1" button type)
  • Super Glue
  • Double ender clip 3"
  • Quick links & s-biner clips
  • Small zip ties (x20)
  • Q-Tips
  • DIN inserts (x2)
  • Contact lenses
  • Cash
Custom Items
  • Overpressure valve
  • QC6 connector (offboard gas)
  • Mineral oil (small vial)


* I recently wrote an article on this topic for my dive club's newsletter. It's an expanded version of a reply I made in a post early in the year. I'm sharing the article in full here. I hope some people find is useful or educational. I go into some detail about the use for each item.

Continued in the next post

This is awesome, if a bit intimidating for an international carry on. Thanks!
 
This is awesome, if a bit intimidating for an international carry on. Thanks!
Please don't do that, you'll get arrested for sure!
 

Build your own Save a Dive Kit*​


by Dave Hicks
From the Marker Buoy Dive Club October 2021 issue:

What’s that hissing noise??? Where are those bubbles coming from??? My dive computer is dead!!!

We’ve all experienced this situation on a dive excursion. You are all kitted up and ready to go and some piece of gear goes sideways. You have a loose hose on your 1st stage regulator blowing out air. The O-ring has failed or vanished from your tank. Your dry glove was attacked and holed by an urchin or barnacle. These issues can easily range from annoying to showstoppers.

It’s bad enough to have an issue strike on a local shore dive, but if you are on a multi-day trip away from home you could be looking at problems that will ruin your trip or force you to rent or buy replacement gear. And the more people that you dive with, the more likely that an issue will arise in time to spoil somebody’s dive trip. It’s great to be self-sufficient and be able to resolve your own gear issues on the spot, but it’s even better if you save a fellow diver’s problem with a spare part or quick fix. You might even get a free beer or new buddy out of the situation.

The solution is to fall back on the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared”.

This article will show you how to put together a Save-a-Dive Kit and a Spares Kit that will help you prepare to deal with many common problems that you or a buddy are likely to encounter on a dive trip. Many experienced divers have these kits, and there are many ways to assemble effective kits. We learn from our experiences, mistakes, and great tips from other divers. The kits I outline in this article were built over 30 years of diving lessons learned. I encourage you to pick and choose from this article or build a kit just like mine. I’d love to hear feedback and ideas from your experiences as well.

I typically carry and use two different boxes with me on dive trips. The smaller one I will call the Save-a-Dive Kit. The second is my Spares Kit. The two are complementary but separated for use in two general scenarios.
  • The Save-a-Dive Kit is focused on last minute issues. I bring it on every shore dive, day charter boat, or live aboard excursion. It’s small, portable, and waterproof so I can stow it under the bench in any dive boat. This kit contains small tools and simple parts needed for a quick fix to salvage a single dive.
  • The Spares Kit is bigger and contains backup equipment you might not carry for a single dive, but that you may need to save an entire trip. It holds bulkier replacements for things you can’t continue diving without, including gloves, hoses, regulators, etc.

Save a Dive Kit​

Here are the entire contents of my Save-a-Dive kit laid out for display.

You’ll also want to have a few mini ziplock bags to contain some of the smaller bits like Q-tips and zip-ties so they don’t get wet or scattered.

I’ve included prices for most of the items below for reference. You may already have a lot of these items.

Everything on this list can be found from Amazon or Dive Gear Express or your local Dive or Marine stores

View attachment 685449

  • Pelican 1120 case {7" x 5"x 3.5")
  • Gerber MultiTool with pliers
  • Keychain Swiss Army knife with scissors
  • Cresent wrench 6"
  • (Upgrade pick) Knipex 5" adjustable wrench
  • Batteries for dive computer (AA, CR2450, CR2032)
  • Small philips/flat screwdriver
  • Dental picks for O-ring removal
  • Allen hex wench set (7 pcs)
  • Electrical tape (waterproof)
  • Velcro strips (6 pcs)
  • Bungie cord (1/8" 6ft)
  • Silver sharpie
  • O-ring kit (LP & HP hose, Din, Yoke)
  • Plugs for 1st stages (LP & HP)
  • Pressure gauge spools (x2)
  • O2 lube
  • Silicone lube
  • Quarter (for Shearwater battery cap)
  • IP gauge
  • LP air nozzlez
  • Pressure gauge (1" button type)
  • Super Glue
  • Double ender clip 3"
  • Quick links & s-biner clips
  • Small zip ties (x20)
  • Q-Tips
  • DIN inserts (x2)
  • Contact lenses
  • Cash
Custom Items
  • Overpressure valve
  • QC6 connector (offboard gas)
  • Mineral oil (small vial)


* I recently wrote an article on this topic for my dive club's newsletter. It's an expanded version of a reply I made in a post early in the year. I'm sharing the article in full here. I hope some people find is useful or educational. I go into some detail about the use for each item.

Continued in the next post

I have missing from the above list. super glue, contact lenses, cash, US coin, LP air nozzle and silver sharpie [mine is black].
And I thought mine was extensive.
The one in the photo is for local dive charters only, the extensive one is for trips like I did a month ago [a weeks diving the GBR].
20210712_143321.jpg
 
Plug those holes, fill up that kit. 😉
If you asking about the above kit, it is my 'ready use' kit only.
Come to think of it, this kit has changed, this is an old photo, I will see if can post an updated shot of it.
20210712_143704.jpg
 
Did not notice how much the ready use kit has changed in a year of diving.
New photo.
IMG_20220906_072654.jpg

Oh, and that Mk 2 saved a days diving for one fellow when his diaphragm 1st stage "blew", swapped out hoses and "Bob's your uncle".

Down Under Bob.
 
As fond as I am of working upon my own gear, my ever-shifting "Save a Dive Kit" is generally far more modest than that posted above; and I have more commonly opted for redundant regulators, in recent years, rather than deal with any last-minute issue on some crowded, pitching boat.

Including one mounted on my pony bottle, I often carry three -- the same brand; all completely interchangeable. No chaff.

The IP gauge on that list is only useful in theory -- provided that you're capable of, or even willing to adjust some regulator, on the fly, whose IP is off. Otherwise, it is relatively useless; and it really doesn't take a savant to determine that a fizzing, free-flowing regulator is probably poorly adjusted or its seat is failing. That is something that should have been assessed while at home, not in the field.

Aside from that, I carry a "scuba-tool" sort of thing; an adjustable wrench; some o-rings; blind screws; removable yokes (on the regs); a couple of common-sized Allen keys, always attached to my keychain; and, an alternate SPG, should electronics choose to crap-out, at an inopportune time.

Everything fits comfortably in a small regulator bag and there's no risk of losing expensive regulator tools in check-on baggage . . .
 

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