Shore dives setup

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0ctoman

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What's your setup? what you bring with you? when doing shore dives. How do you accommodate your equipment and accessories in boxes (or not). Do you bring your tank, BCD and regulators already setup or you do it onsite? I ask because I noticed I end up bringing a lot small boxes for mask, save-a-dive, extra accessories, dive light, my weights and some extra just in case, etc.

However, I use the back of my truck to setup and don my BCD/tank/regs. Just want to get ideas to make it more productive and in more ordered manner. Thx
 
I think everyone who dives really regularly gets everything organized into a storage container (often wheeled) or two. I am at the point where I have my neoprene, regs, and BCD in a dive bag that I can wear like a backpack, weights in a handled bag, light in a handled bag, and masks in yet a third handled bag. I have a folding cart for the tanks so I can bungee everything on and make a single trip if needed, like onto a ferry or shuttle bus.

In general people don't set up their regulators until they are onsite because you don't want them getting smashed when the tanks roll around. Very easy to do permanent damage with 80 lb. / 35 kg of metal smacking into it.
 
I have a tank rack I built in the back of the truck. The tanks lay down in it, the back of it has a plywood flap that folds down to protect the area between the bed and the tailgate bed protector when the tailgate is open. I use open plastic tubs and put everything in there, except my camera and strobes that ride in my back seat until the first dive. Assemble and tear down and don and doff gear on tailgate.
 
When shore diving locally, I usually get my tank and BP/W setup before and that gets out in the truck bed. All the other gear goes into big white Rubbermaid containers, except electronics/regs (they are usually in dedicated reg bags in the cab when dry then get carefully placed in the Rubbermaid’s when wet). I have a little camp shower thing to rinse off, but I know a lot of people use the hand pump weed sprayer things for the same idea. We have two milk crates with weights that just live in the bed of the truck (but we have a shell on it), with two smaller mesh bags to transport weight if we need.

I have a rolling toolbox for shore dives on Catalina island where I need to take a ferry.
 
My gf and I dive quite a bit. Southern California, mostly shore diving. We usually have a long and steep hike to the dive site from the car. Waters is a bit rough usually.

When diving multiple tanks with a long hike we usually have a foldable cart. Tanks, fins, and a box for regs and box of stuff go in the cart. Most accessories clipped off. Drysuits on at the car. We wear the bcds due to weight and space limits of the cart. We will drop off all the gear in a staging area if there's one where finding parking is hard. Otherwise we haul all of that near the water and make a staging area. We will Don all the gear there, do checks and then walk on in. Smaller lighter tanks are preferred HP80, HP100, etc.

When diving 1 tank, we usually just don everything at the car and do our checks. Then hike to the water. Usually 1 small box for all small gear that will be wet, 1 small box for dry items like tools, 1 for our regs and 1 or two mesh bags for exposure gear. This all stays in the car. The boxes are based on how we store the gear at home. So keeping that roughly the same keeps things organized and makes cleaning easier. We take the boxes of only gear we will need. If we go lobster hunting, we have a small cooler with all the lobster hunting gear. If we go night diving, I have a small box to keep the battery powered lighting for setting up or breaking down in the dark.

Now if I didn't have such a long and steep hike... and the water has no real surf... lake or like Thailand. I'd stage my tanks by the water. Don everything else at the car or resort, then walk in with my tanks until waist deep and clip them in SM. I wish that was the norm.

Tbh most people just have one big box with mostly everything. I prefer multiple box's so can stack since all our gear is for two people. And we do different types of dives. If u setup the bpw onto the tank when transporting that can save some time. You can also elect to have the regs already setup on the tank with most accessories clipped off already. You can partially Don then exposure gear before you start driving.

Hope that helps
 
All my shore diving to date in Hawaii...
Gear in a gear bag sitting on top of tanks, weight belt to limit tank roll in the truck. Gear up in the parking lot and hike to the water. Mask around neck, fins clipped to BC for long hikes or when hands are needed for balance (down rocks).
 
In the van goes everything.
Plus save a dive kit.
I assemble the unit, weights and all but hook up the reg when I get to the site.
I have one of those big Rubbermaid type bins to put stuff in after the dives.
I gear up & down sitting on the trunk, then walk in & out of the water. Never gear up on or near sand if the van is not accessible.
When driving my tank/BCD is secured by the bin, fins and weight belt (pouch belt), as described on the Traveling with Cylinders" thread.
I do have a dolly I have used to drag stuff a ways to the shore, but that was for in the U.S. where parking can be rough & costly. Here everything is pull of the road right at the shore & walk in. Besides, it's not one of those ones with the giant wheels for in sand....
 
I have a little camp shower thing to rinse off, but I know a lot of people use the hand pump weed sprayer things for the same idea.

I really like the idea of the hand pump. Sometime I need to clean the boots of my dry suit, that will do the work. Also, could rinse the BCD right there instead of waiting to get home and get messy in the laundry room. Thanks for the tip
 
Mask around neck, fins clipped to BC for long hikes or when hands are needed for balance (down rocks).

How do you clip fins to BCD? I like that idea
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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