Repair Items / Add Ons / Gadgets / Save A Dive Kit?

[troyce1]

What type of small stuff should I get for my travel dive bag?

Stuff like O-Rings? Any wrenches or small tools?

I have a trip coming up the first week of May in St. John and we will be doing alot of shore diving, and this will hopefully be my first trip where I have all my own gear.

I want to make sure I have the simple things I need.
A few weeks ago in Mexico we were snorkeling and my mask strap snapped.
I would've never thought of having a something small like a mask strap could be a life saver.

 

[diveprof]

Some suggested items are:
1. mask strap
2. fin strap
3. spare reg mouth piece
4. cable ties (8" size is fine)
5. orings (one of the prepackaged sets is fine)
6. spare dive computer batteries (maybe dive light and camera batteries too)
7. small tank marker light or cylume stick for night dives
8. one of the scuba multitools and an adjustable wrench
9. bandaids
10. silicone grease/lube
11. spare HP spool (or at least the orings)
12. small bottle of Bonine (or Triptone)

 

[troyce1]

@Diveprof - thanks for the list.

Any small wrenches or tools? I would think to change an o-ring on a SPG you would need some sort of wrench? If I could even figure out how to change it.....

what is an HP spool?

 

[TSandM]

The spool is what goes between the HP hose and the SPG -- it's a small cylinder with a couple of o-rings on it. They are cheaper and easier to replace as a unit than to try to replace the o-rings. You do need to have the right kind of spool for the gauge you have.

A Scubatool is a Swiss Army Knife of dive-type gadgets, including an adjustable wrench, a couple of Allen wrenches in common sizes, a screwdriver, and some other things. Get a stainless steel one if you are going to get one at all, because the cheap ones rust like crazy in a marine environment, even if they don't actually get wet.

I'd get a simple o-ring pick, too, preferably a brass one. The pointy-ended thing on the ScubaTool is really too gross to remove most o-rings very neatly.

You can carry spare mask straps and fin straps, or switch to things that don't break -- I use a slapstrap on my mask (neoprene, with nylon straps) and spring straps on my fins. I do carry zipties and a set of clippers, various o-rings, a spool, Anderson connectors for our lights, and spare batteries for everything.

 

[buddhasummer]

I carry zip ties, bungee cord, cave line, reg mouth piece, spare computer battery and battery compartment cover, spare O rings for lights and tanks and wing, a 1st and 2nd stage service kit, SPG spool, a small tube of silicone grease, inflator tool and requisite O rings. I too use spring straps and a slap strap so do not carry mask or fin spares. I carry all my spares in a small Miflex HP hose pocket, they are waterproof.

 

[Colliam7]

I do carry . . . Anderson connectors for our lights

That is interesting, something that I would not have thought of. Any particular experience that led to including these in you kit?

 

[Cosmographer]

Not to thread jack,but I notice a lot of people mentioning different types of ties for their save-a-dive bag. What's the purpose of these ties? If its just for streamlining/organizing, they would hardly be necessary as emergency items. So what do you use them for?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Not to thread jack,but I notice a lot of people mentioning different types of ties for their save-a-dive bag. What's the purpose of these ties? If its just for streamlining/organizing, they would hardly be necessary as emergency items. So what do you use them for?

Cable/zipties are useful for all sorts of things: securing a reg mouthpiece, creating an octo keeper with surgical tubing, attaching a boltsnap to something, attaching almost anything to anything...

In addition to the items already mentioned by other posters, I would add the following to a save-a-dive kit (stored inside a waterproof container) for my typical local shore diving:

• Emergency contact info for myself and all of my regular dive buddies
• Extra pair of contact lenses
• Sterile saline solution
• Vinegar for jellyfish stings
• Duct tape
• IP gauge
• Special combo tool for servicing the BC power inflater assembly or a tank valve
• Special attachment that fits on the end of an inflater hose and connects to a car/bike tire
• Schrader valves of appropriate size for the distal end of an inflater hose (cost a few cents in the automotive section of your favorite superstore)
• Cone/tappet wrenches of appropriate sizes (these are thin wrenches sized to fit various hose nuts)
• One good quality adjustable stainless steel wrench
• O-rings labeled appropriately in separate small ziploc baggies (only o-rings of the necessary sizes -- not one of those pre-packaged kits sold at scuba shops)

Make sure you know how (and are willing) to use everything in your save-a-dive kit. It makes very little sense to carry a box o' stuff if you don't have a clue how to use any of it.

The contents of a save-a-dive kit may vary with the type of diving. For example, on a dive vacation, I may elect to bring along an extra reg setup rather than a complete set of reg tools. Use your common sense.