Diving with pockets

[boulderjohn]

Personally, I dive with pockets. If I am in a wetsuit, I wear shorts with pockets. Since no one from the "no pockets" camp has replied so far, I will try to represent that point of view.

Since I do not know this diver myself and only know his POV second hand, I will not name him. Suffice it to say his name is more renowned than everyone on this thread combined. He has apparently decided to become as streamlined as possible, shedding any equipment he is highly unlikely to need. Some will argue that he is underprepared for emergencies. It is a risk he is willing to take.

When I began cave training, my instructor and I talked about spare masks. He said that in 35 years of cave diving, he had never heard of anyone losing a mask, so it was a risk he was willing to take. Others disagree. Eliminate enough equipment that way, and your pockets are unnecessary.

 

[The Chairman]

I don't use pockets. Never felt a need for them. I clip off to my butt plate.

 

[Colliam7]

Do you have your pockets attached to the suit, attached to your webbing, or wear a pair of dive shorts.

i have installed (sewed and glued) pockets on my drysuit, and on several wetsuits. When I wear a wetsuit without pockets, my preference is to use a Halcyon pocket worn on the right waist strap of my BP. I also intermittently wear a Dive Rite back-up mask pocket on the waist strap.

The standard use of attached pockets for me - I carry my spool, a second back-up light, and a back-up cutting tool in my left exposure suit pocket. I carry my Wetnotes / Halcyon equivalent in the right side pocket.

I've been thinking about buying a pair of dive shorts with pockets like these:Highland Neoprene Pocket Shorts - Dive Gear Express

i have a pair, that I use with wetsuits that I haven't installed pockets on. They are 'OK'. For people like me without a svelte, well-defined waist, they don't fit quite as snugly as I would prefer, although with a BP crotch strap in place, they aren't going anywhere.

I have never lost a mask on a dive. But I don't want to be at 220 feet, with an extended deco in front of me, and have that happen for the first time. (I have also never had an OOA situation, or catastrophic gas supply system failure, but I still wear a pony for single cylinder diving.) I have had my finger spool come 'unspooled' behind me several times, when I clipped it to my BP, instead of putting it in my exposure suit pocket.

I personally prefer to put pockets (I like the Halcyon bellows pockets) on my exposure suits, and put the above-mentioned items in them, rather than clipping them somewhere on my BP, or not carrying them. But, that is my personal preference.

 

[scadreau]

Do you have your pockets attached to the suit, attached to your webbing, or wear a pair of dive shorts. I've recently moved to a backplate and wing and the only thing I miss about my old BC is the pockets. I've been thinking about buying a pair of dive shorts with pockets like these:Highland Neoprene Pocket Shorts - Dive Gear Express

Can anybody give any me feed back on these type of shorts? I'm thinking I could wear them over my wetsuit in cold water and use them with a rash gaurd on top in warm water.

I wear those shorts anytime I am not in my dry suit. They are easy to pack for travel. I don't have to worry about every time I get a new wetsuit having to glue/sew on pockets.

 

[p1p]

Dive Rite has pockets that attach to your waist strap, and cinch around your leg.

 

[ucfdiver]

I like people who don't use pockets...makes for a good source of free jump spools