Equip. redundancy

[flots am]

Is there such a thing as too much redundancy when it comes to gear? As a new diver i want to be as safe and ready for any possible emergency that could arise, but can we be over thinking it a bit? i see newer divers hit the water with 3 dive lights,two safety sausages,spare air etc,etc, for a 50ft dive. Or are these just examples of overzealous sales people at the lds? in the Marines we were taught to have backups for essentials but not backups for the backups, we gotta carry that stuff, ya know!

The only thing that you absolutely need backup for underwater is air. Everything else is optional.

This means that as long as you and your buddy have an alternate second stage, follow your training and maintain proper gas reserves, there is no failure that any single diver can have that would be fatal or even dangerous.

No matter what "bad thing" happens, you can always grab your buddy, share air to the surface and establish positive buoyancy.

You don't need a spare mask, and even though it will start a flame war, you don't need a pony bottle.

On the surface, it's a little different. You do need a safety sausage and although you don't need two of the same one, many people carry two different sizes.

For example, I carry a little 3' red "here I am come pick me up" sausage that inflates with less than one breath and is used to get the attention of the boat.

However I also carry a 9' yellow monster that is a huge pain in the ass to inflate, but can be seen from miles away. This is the "Oh sh**! What happened to the boat?" model. They're not redundant in the sense that they're replacements for each other, but there are two. Everything fits into a couple of pockets, so nobody except me would ever know it's there.

I also carry a strobe and a flashlight even on 50' daytime dives because you just never know when the brown stuff is going to hit the fan. I've actually been on a boat that sank, and know that if you wait long enough, a daytime dive will eventually turn into a night dive and a big SMB, strobe and flashlight can be the difference between spending the night in your hotel room and spending it drifting up the coast and out to sea.

flots.

 

[nolatom]

You don't need a backup to a sausage, though on a day dive, a signalling mirror is good. And a whistle is useful to have anytime.

And EMT shears are a good "backup" to a knife, esp. since they actually do different stuff.

You don't need a third light at night, nor a backup light by day. but on a late afternoon or evening dive, a strobe is good to have just in case. And a tank light, if you're diving in a group and want to know where in the crowd your buddy is.

And a writing slate. And if you don't wear one (most don't after a few dozen dives), a pocket snorkel may be useful.

I'm afraid I haven't lightened your load oveall. this is the stuff I usually bring.

 

[RonFrank]

Is there such a thing as too much redundancy when it comes to gear? As a new diver i want to be as safe and ready for any possible emergency that could arise, but can we be over thinking it a bit? i see newer divers hit the water with 3 dive lights,two safety sausages,spare air etc,etc, for a 50ft dive. Or are these just examples of overzealous sales people at the lds? in the Marines we were taught to have backups for essentials but not backups for the backups, we gotta carry that stuff, ya know!

Ironically very few have any redundancy for the ONE thing that is essential... air.

If I am diving solo or in current, I carry a 20lbs tank for redundancy.

Unless you are training, or in the ocean there is no need for even ONE safety sausage.

Unless it is twilight/night a light is not necessary. Useful, but not necessary.

I sometimes carry an extra mask in current.

I carry two lights if I carry one.

In general agencies have spent a good amount of time and effort determining what gear is essential. Overall the recommendations are sound.

I can say that lights generally fail UW more than any other gear by a factor of a least 10X. So IMO if you want to carry a backup, that is smart.

 

[dmcutter]

Former Marine as well and an engineer, so I'm all about system redundancy...after a boat dive where another diver discovered her computer battery was dead just before we got to the dive site, I started thinking a back up computer on my wrist would be a good backup for my console mounted AI unit. Then I thought, well, if my AI unit craps out, it would be good to have a back up compact SPG...my instructor said the computer was an okay idea, although his wife uses a Cobra and had never had a malfunction in 7 years. He also said the SPG could stay in my dive bag and if my AI unit quit working I should thumb the dive and swap out units. He said you don't stick around to see what fails next.

 

[TSandM]

There are a lot of factors that go into deciding how much gear to take with you, and how much to take into the water. Some of it has to do with the specific dive conditions, and some of it has to do with how easily you would be able to abort a dive, and how devastated you would be if you had to do so.

If I'm doing a simple shore dive at a familiar local site, for example, I won't take a spare regulator with me to the dive site. If my reg decides to do something awful when I get there, I go home. I can dive there tomorrow. On the other hand, we went out on our boat today, and although we had checked regulators at home, when we got to the dive site, Peter's decided to leak in a serious way. Thus one of us had to sit out each dive, and that's a real disappointment, when you have gone to the effort to drag the boat out (or paid for a charter fee).

Redundant gas is another thing where a variety of factors have to be considered. If the dive is shallow and a direct ascent is safe at any time, hauling around a secondary gas source is probably wasted energy. On the other hand, if the dive is moderately deep and you are partnered with an instabuddy (someone you never met before and know nothing about), some kind of personal redundancy might be quite reasonable. I will do even fairly deep dives without a redundant gas source, but 90% of the time, I'm diving with people whose training I know, and I know they have practiced air-sharing ascents until they can do them in their sleep.

The concept "if you don't need it, don't take it, and if you need it, take 2" is a good one. But if you dive with reliable, attentive buddies, some non-emergent resources can be spread out over the team. I mean, what is the likelihood that everyone on a team will lose a mask? Or have a light fail?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I generally carry
two knives,
2 smb's (big and little),
one small light,
a pony bottle,
a small marine radio in a canister,
a snorkel on my mask,
a dive alert air horn,
a whistle,
a lobster guage in my pocket,
a catch bag,
a speargun,
sometimes a lobster net,
sometimes a pole spear
and I generally tow a marker bouy for drift dives, so there is a small reef hook attached
and often a reel
and sometimes a scooter
and maybe a fish stringer
and sometimes another reel to send up an SMB
and if it is a really deep dive i may carry an oxygen bottle, but then I usually ditch the lobster net and pole spear and the scooter.

Oh yeah, and a watch and a compass and a computer.

 

[knowone]

If you can snorkel it, take air.

Beyond snorkeling depth, take an understanding of how long air DOESN'T last
and a way to monitor time, depth, and your QUANTITY, not just psi in the tank.

If a redundant air source lessens anxiety, then despite the quantity
providing this redundancy is far safer than having consumed Valium.

An iridescent safety sausage may well provide an alternative method
to a light source, of looking inside those dark almost insurmountable
nookie holes.

 

[TMHeimer]

I have the usual array of safety items. For example, if I know absolutely there is no current at a familiar site I don't bother with the sausage. My mantra is to consider the site, current, depth, who your buddy is, are you solo?, is there boat traffic or laws re a dive flag?, etc. Then I decide what to take.

 

[ajduplessis]

1. Is there such a thing as too much redundancy when it comes to gear? As a new diver i want to be as safe and ready for any possible emergency that could arise, but can we be over thinking it a bit? i see newer divers hit the water with 3 dive lights,two safety sausages,spare air etc,etc, for a 50ft dive. 2. Or are these just examples of overzealous sales people at the lds? in the Marines we were taught to have backups for essentials but not backups for the backups, we gotta carry that stuff, ya know!

1. Yes
2. Yes

Equipment is vital, but take only what you need. There is nothing wrong with trying to be safe, but loads of equipment is not going to keep you safe!!! Understand water skills and drills; practise and master them on every dive. Be aware of what you and the others around you do. Awareness can prevent a lot of problems. Plan, manage and check your gas all the time. Plan your dives and dive you plan!!! Manage you ascent and decent rates.

 

[Subcooled]

You will only need

- redundant air supply

Both you and your buddy should have dual second stages = octopus rig. Then you can share air. Even if you lost your buddy and ran out of air, you could just swim to the surface, given the shallow depth. You only end in trouble if you panic. If that spare air / pony bottle keeps you calm, then it will help you. Otherwise it's just unnecessary stuff to carry. Just thinking "surface is near" could offer the same benefit with less hassle.

- a redundant diver

If your dive light fails and it is night, then the rest of the dive will be pretty dark. You can still follow your dive buddys light, and once he notices your problem, he'll help you return to the starting point. If you are left alone in the dark, use the dive computers back light and make a slow controlled ascent and end the dive. I have done both. It wasn't scary. It was annoying. So, it would be good to carry two lights on a night dive. The backup light can be a small one. On a shallow daylight dive you only need one or none.

If your dive computer fails, show it to your dive buddy, and he will escort you to the surface with safe ascent speed and safety stops. If you are alone, do a slow ascent following the bottom, a wall, visual contact to surface or by monitoring any floating algae/silt/dirt... At least ascend a lot slower than your bubbles Ascending alone, without a dive computer is a real problem, though. I don't want to attempt it. The dive buddy is important.

- optional gear

If you feel that you want to be more self reliant "just in case", then take two dive computers and carry two small cutting devices in different places. A small backup light is recommended for night dives.