What do you carry in your BCD pockets?

[Mike Boswell]

How exactly does the gear I carry increase the probability of equipment failure?!

Hello StreetDoctor,

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I don't mean that carrying a whistle will make your regulator break.

However, every item of equipment or gear you carry has some probability of failure. Snaps, straps, batteries, bulbs, cords, buckles, hoses, O-rings, moving parts, filters, seals, and so forth, each has a probability of failure. The more stuff you have, the more likely it is that something will fail.

Also, the more complex your gear is, the harder it is to maintain it all in peak condition. And the probability of failure rises dramatically with lack of maintenance.

Put another way, the simpler it is, the easier it is to maintain and the more reliable it is.

 

[carrielsal]

In my left thigh pocket, spare mask, finger spool and lift bag.
In my right thigh pocket, wetnotes, shears, and extra bungee. (My spare lights are attached to my harness.)
In my drysuit pocket, car keys and stopper ends for my p-valve.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Most stuff I need is worth clipping on as I am a klutz and I drop things. For me I carry an SMB/spool attached directly to to my BP. Lights and cutting tools attached to my BP webbing. That leaves a spare mask in a small pocket on my belt with a signal mirror and a small slate tethered to a loop inside the pocket.

 

[Chris12day]

Clip camara - lost one that was only around my wrist.
Clip analog guages
Clip dive computer
Clip SMB
Clip whistle
Clip small flashlight
Knife strapped on leg
DAN card in pocket

No mask in pocket.....

 

[Chugwhump]

I wear a Sherwood Avid. I believe the technical term for this BC is "Poodle Jacket" by those in the know. It has two large pockets and a small little flap pocket for a folding snorkle that I never bought. I carry a bunch of stuff sometimes, I go light sometimes. In one of the pockets
I carry a small otter box for cash, id, fishing license (Yes, I HAVE been checked in the water on two occasions by the Grouper Toopers), and a large otter box for my prescription glasses. In the other pocket I usually carry a mesh trash bag/collection bag, a slate, and a couple of Capri Suns. I have clipped off to a D ring on the PV a large DAN Safety Sausage with a mirror, whistle, defog, 2 cyalume sticks, and a couple of cable ties in the storage pocket.
When night diving, a main and a spare light always.
I also have clipped to me a whistle and a set of keys to my truck, my wife's car, my front door, and two keys to private gates at oceanfront condos where I am premitted to dive. I also have a titanium stiletto type knife which rarely gets used.
I of course being ADD, I will often carry a camera, an occasionally a speargun, but never a camera or gun when night diving.
During bug season I carry all of this stuff and add a tickle stick, net, snare, and lobster hotel.
When they made up the term Christmas Tree, they were looking at me 32 years ago.

Chug
Underwater Equipment Specialist

 

[Crush]

Great idea .... How did you attach the "loop" to the inside of the pocket??

You heat up a screwdriver you don't like in a flame and burn/melt two holes near the bottom of the pocket, about 2 inches apart. You can then thread a short length of bungee cord through the holes and sew the ends together (preferred), or cable-tie them (which is more likely to give, but easier). Heck - even soak the sewn ends in epoxy glue to seal the deal. The semi-rigid loop can be drawn into your pocket, and you can clip off things you don't want to lose. The only thing that I don't clip off is my mask - the way I see it, if I need the mask, I need it NOW (and I am therefore very careful with that pocket when retrieving anything else).

 

[northern sole]

knife, rattle and pocket mask, other bits clipped onto BCD.

 

[=C=]

Seems like people carry alot of stuff...

I have a spare mask in my pocket and sausage/spool st in the other.

 

[Interceptor121]

I don't like things clipped to my BCD because you will eventually lose them.
Right pocket: small torch, foldable knife, both clipped inside the pocket so I don't loose them. Some times emergency resuscitation mask
Left Pocket: SMB and Reel

When I teach I clip my slates but usually keep them in the pockets and take them out just as a check list

When I take pictures I have a white slate clipped to one of the D rings

Dry suit configuration is different as most of things are in the drysuit pockets and the BCD is pretty much empty

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I don't like things clipped to my BCD because you will eventually lose them.

How to you loose a clipped off item, in or outside your pocket?

Your post highlight how location can effect gear configuration. I.E. I almost always am in 50-60F water with thick gloves, so I have no feel and pockets are hard to use. The spare mask needs the protection of the pocket and frankly the slate fits nice and is rarely used (I not an DM or instructor). So I limit the pocket use. Clipping allows me better access to the item with thick gloves. Using bolt snaps pretty much insures nothing is going to float off. I might feel different if I was diving warm water.