Drysuit Pockets - Necessary or Not??

[Aquanautchuck]

I have had leg pockets now since I bought my DUI CF200, about 5 years ago. Like most I do not know how I dove without them for years.
When I bought my suit I ordered the bellows pocket seperate and the LDS showed me how to glue it on. You need to have it in the right spot or they become a pain in the rear. I liked it so much I bought another the next year for my other leg. I did go with a zipper DUI on the second time and wished I had gotten another velcro bellows pocket. Love the DUI pockets since they have a SS D ring inside. I keep my spool, extra mask and light in one and sausage, slate and such in the other. They sure keep you nice and clean, nothing hanging down and easy to get to.

 

[do it easy]

If you want to go the DIY route, Kidspot has posted great info on this. Here's a link to his pattern. Drysuit pockets certainly aren't rocket science. You could turn your 3mm into a shorty and have pockets on all your suits! Or maybe just get a hold of some spare neoprene.

Here's another thread with some info.

 

[RPanick]

It all depends on what you have and how you are diving. I don't have them on my suit, but then I dive with a BC that has a couple of good size pockets. My sheers and knife are on my BC, where they are convienent and secure.

One of the guys got them on his suit, he cut them off after just a few dives. Granted they weren't bellows pockets.

So basically think about how you are diving, what you need to take with you, and where you will put it. If you are diving a BP rig, then I can see the logic of it, pockets look clumsy on them. On a BC, its not much of an issue.

 

[jim T.]

Dive-aholic and Tassie Rohan,
Thanks for your responses concerning the strap on pockets. Too bad :-(
Another seemingly good idea gone awry...

 

[kidspot]

I have tried several different styles of pockets on my various suits and think I'm finally satsified with my current ones (the pattern Do It Easy mentioned) - I turned out a pair of them yesterday in about 90 minutes on my sewing machine. The last pair I glued onto my DS, this pair I stitched onto my wetsuit (new 5mil suit - machine sewed one, handstitched the second) I tried D-rings at first, but am much happier with a bungee loop instead (about 12-18" of bungee tied in a loop) the pockets themselves seem huge at first, but I really like the size - 8x10x 4.5" With a velcro closure - when empty they fold down flat (via velcro in the bellows) and are quite small, but when fully open I can fit (in 1 pocket) a mask, collapsible snorkel, dsmb, finger spool and wetnotes...

fwiw I tried neoprene and wasn't real happy with it, my favorite has been heavy nylon (from an old duffel bag or suitcase) and glued onto my DS with good ole' DAP contact cement from the hardware store (3 - 4 coats, rolled down hard with a 1" wooden wallpaper)

Aloha, Tim

http://www.kidspot.org/personal/scuba