What's in Your Pockets

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

For people running lights in your pockets. Are these your 3rd and 4th backups?
Do you have failures enough that you worry about 3 other lights failing? Do you dive solo? I'm just trying to understand why people think it is necessary. With the exception of using relatively new lights I don't feel the need for more than the two strapped to my chest.

I carry a backup primary in case my student has a primary light failure. I carry my own primary light and two backups in case I have to pass the backup primary off to the student.

Frequently I dive caves & wrecks solo. I use the Dive-Rite RX-8 as my primary light. I carry a Finn-Sub as the backup primary.

 

[andrewy]

Michael, standard GUE set up.
1. pockets have bungee loops on each side threaded through pocket's side draining rivets (if you have em) if not install

Left side. Spool and SMB (i carry rigged), extra gauge, life line radio
Right side. Spare mask, wet notes, emt shears.

 

[PfcAJ]

That smb and radio is going to come in real handy on a cave dive

 

[victorzamora]

That smb and radio is going to come in real handy on a cave dive

I've used an smb on a cave dive. It was necessary.

 

[scubastingray]

Only thing I could think of an SMB doing is acting as redundant buoyancy if you are diving wet with a single bladder wing.

 

[decompression]

Ya, a friend of mine was diving the Cenotes and had to prove his skills using an smb as buoyancy, he kept it under his body lengthwise and performed all required tasks.

 

[Dsix36]

I carry a backup primary, my primary, and trauma shears, on my belt.

2 backup lights, 2 double enders, and clip of arrow on my harness d-rings

SMB and lift bag on my stand (butt plate area)

left pocket get lift bag and spare mask

right pocket gets truck keys, wet notes, and MP3 PLAYER

MP3 player is by far the most important safety item that I carry. I helps to prevent me from going all mischevious on my buddies at deco.

 

[tbone1004]

the 3rd backup light is glotoob actually. I've seen a triple light failure once, heard of a few more, don't want it to happen to me, and the glotoob is itty bitty so nbd. Also good if that third backup light is a little laser pointer type light with no corona so you can use it to signal inside of your primary backups if you have to.

SMB's are helpful for redundant buoyancy if diving wet, and they are also good to have if you are cave diving off of rivers and have to do deco, or for whatever reason have to swim across or up/down the river for whatever reason. They're small, no harm in taking it with you. I wouldn't bother in peacock or ginnie or anything, but out in Mariana or on the rivers, absolutely.

Analog depth gauge for me is because I don't always carry a backup computer in open water when I'm diving square profiles so it just lives in there and is small enough not to bother taking it out.

Spools live in there because I've seen them get undone in the water, and again, small enough and not used enough to leave them on the D-rings.

Z-knife stays out, but the trauma shears don't because they tend to be more prone to falling out, so easier to leave them in the pocket.

Compass and small slate are just in case I get turned around and need to verify direction, and the crescent wrench is not always in there, but has come in handy in open water dives more than a few times.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Tropical overseas wreck diver with dive-Xtra neoprene medium size shorts with replacement Halcyon Explorer Pockets glued on; spare mask. lost line contingency spool. spare/redundant EMT shears and small E/O pluggable LED back-up Primary light in the left pocket; wet notes, work spool(s). SMB, in right pocket and leash & line arrows in the zipper flap of the right pocket. Halcyon Life Raft bungied to bottom of BP and lift bag for buoyancy contingency stowed in Halcyon MC pack mounted on BP.

 

[karstdvr]

Or until the lockdown screw loosens a bit and you have a trail of cave line dragging behind you.

Can happen,and have seen it. The one up side I hear so often about "spool lost" or " spool found" on so many forums,which suggests that they really belong in a pocket,and my collection of found double enders back that up too. The one bad thing about having things deployed mostly in pockets is 1) if you get into tight restrictive cave and need something,reaching for that one pocket can be difficult 2)Sidemounting can make getting to pockets difficult 3)Have heard of quite a few drysuits returned for leak repair due to minute punctures from semiblunt items in pockets.