Where/how do you carry your "stuff"?

[Artimas]

Mostly interested in non-tech diving...

How do you set yourself up to carry your " accessories"? What do you bring on your dive?

Where do you like to carry your knife, sausage, reel, lift bag, light, etc.?

Just wondering, and looking for ideas.

 

[Dich]

A very good question. I am looking forward to reading some of the answers.

I don't like having a bunch of junk hanging off me. I did not like the knife on my leg so I fixed to the BCD shoulder strap. I keep a sausage with a weight clipped in a pocket.

If I get a light, I am not sure where I will carry it. I don't know where to keep a mirror; I would like to have a runaway line on it, because it would be easy to drop if I ever had to use it.

 

[joystershell]

I clip my light off to a D-ring on my shoulder. Knife is attached to my gauges. Reel and sausage is kept in a pouch attached to the back of my backplate, positioned so that it is accessible, even out of sight and behind me. I also have a zipper pocket threaded onto my webbing, for carrying any additional tools, such as whistle or signaling device.

 

[SlowRain]

For whatever it is worth....

Main Reel - clipped off to right side waist D ring.
Liftbag - I have one of the diverite velcro ended pockets that is attached to the bottom of my backplate (2 sexbolts) and holds the lift bag...to access I reach down on the right side and pull the small metal ring at the end of the pocket...out comes the bag.
Main Light - On right side on waiststrap of rig. Has it's own pocket. (DiveRite)
Knife/EMT shears - On rightside harness strap...accessible by either hand.
Whistle is on my harness.

I also bought one of the thigh-pocket systems so the pocket is below my BP/W on the right side (diverite daisy chain). It is large enough to stick in a backup LED light, pair of strobes, dye marker, cylume stick, signal mirror, waterproof notebook, whatever tables I need, and a 150' finger reel. Can also cram a safety sausage in there or clip it off to the harness. It has a built in bungee so things can be clipped to it and stored in the pocket and they won't get lost if they get pulled out reaching for something else.

Seems to work for me.

 

[Geezer]

For recreational dives, no reel, no lift bag, no light (unless it's a night dive, then main light in my hand, and backup bungeed to my BC shoulder strap). Sausage, small knife, shears, and whistle secured to my shoulder straps. Computer on my wrist, and SPG bolt-snapped to my left hip d-ring.

 

[Clammy]

BC Knife - On my computer hose
Main Knife - If I carry it, on the inside of my right leg
EMT Shears - If I carry it, attached to my right shoulder strap, handles down.
Sausage with emergency glow stick, mirror, dye, and whistle - If I carry it, clipped on bottom left D ring OR shoved into my thigh pocket.
Primary light - If I carry it, attached to the right shoulder strap D ring (EMT shears would get removed).
Backup light - If I carry it, attached to a strap on my right shoulder or shoved into my thigh pocket.
Whistle - Attached to my air 2/bc power inflator
Reel - If I carry it, Various places at the moment.

 

[Charlie99]

Everything gets put into the pockets of my SeaQuest ProQD BCD. Nothing dangling. Streamlined.

The left pocket already had a strap for clipping off a key. I put a loop of bungee cord about 4" in diameter onto that strap. The right pocket didn't have a connection point, so I put in a pin-mounted D-ring inside the pocket and then put a bungee cord loop on that. For night dives, a small backup light will be clipped to the D-rig just above the pocket with lanyard leading to the light which is inside the pocket.

Knife and mirror with waterproof paper wrapped on it (function as both mirror and notebook/slate) are in the left pocket. Other items often stored in the left pocket is a Capri Sun foil juice pouch, and a pair of gloves.

EMT shears and a light are clipped off in the right pocket. I also have in the right pocket a DSMB with 30' of cord, and a much larger plastic surface signalling tube and whistle (complements my LPI air-powered Dive Alert which is on my BCD inflator).

Sometimes I'll clip off the light to a D-ring on the outside of the pocket, while still having the light itself inside the pocket.

My camera is in my hand 99% of the time, although I put a boltsnap onto the lanyard so that I do have the option of clipping it off.

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All of the above items permanently reside in the pockets. Once in a while, I'll take stuff out and rinse it off and dry it before restowing, but much more often I'll just rinse the BCD and everything together while leaving everything in the pockets. Gear doesn't do you any good if it isn't available when you need it.

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One downside to my gear arrangement is that I must open a zipper pocket to access a cutting tool. For my normal diving environment, that's an acceptable tradeoff but it may not work for all.

 

[nereas]

Mostly interested in non-tech diving...

How do you set yourself up to carry your " accessories"? What do you bring on your dive?

Where do you like to carry your knife, sausage, reel, lift bag, light, etc.?

Just wondering, and looking for ideas.

Hopefully you have 4 D-rings on your B/C, somewhere. Normally, if any, there will be 1 on each of your shoulder straps, and 1 on each lower side near your waist. If none, then you have a really cheap B/C (we call those BCDs if they are really cheaply made).

I like to wear my knife inverted (handle downwards) on my upper left shoulder strap. The D-ring on that strap holds the knife in place, like a weight belt keeper. The D-ring there is still available for other things, besides holding the knife in place attached above it, with nylon ties. You should always have quick easy access to your knife. The main issue is getting caught in fishing line or rope.

I like to wear my sausage and reel connnected to each other, and clipped to my lower right D-ring, the one by my hip. On my BPW it is actually on my belt. This D-ring rarely gets used for anything else, and is thus available for the sausage & reel, or any other temporary and quick usage.

If I am bringing a lift bag, such as on beach clean-up day, I clip this (rolled up) to my lower left D-ring, which on my BPW is on the left side of my belt, together with a canvass goodie bag to hold things. You won't need a lift bag unless you plan to lift things that are heavy. A sausage will do, for all other purposes.

I only bring lights on night dives. When I do, this is a cannister light. There are mounts for these which attach either to your weight belt or else to a backplate. The backup light attaches nicely with cut bicycle innertubing to your SPG hose.

You can also order cargo pockets (from DSS in So Calif USA) and have them glued onto your wetsuit(s) by your local dive shop. This gives you extra carrying space when you are diving either a 1/2 mm or a 3 mm wetsuit, in warm waters. Drysuits normally have 2 cargo pockets attached to them already.

Cargo pockets solve the problem of having "danglies" hanging from your B/C. You can tuck away the sausage and reel in either of your cargo pockets.

In my left cargo pocket, I normally carry several spares clipped together on a large caribiner clip. In the right, I keep my spare mask.

 

[mike the brit]

knife worn on right wing inflator, with another knife attached to my weight belt or shoved into my thigh pocket.
SMB (sousage) attached via bungee to the bottom of my back plate.
Torch attached to right shoulder D ring
Reel clipped to right waist D ring to secure my long hose
spare finger reel and back up torch in my waist pouch.
goody bags or camera in my right leg pouch

trust this helps
Mike

 

[Vie]

Where do you like to carry your knife, sausage, reel, lift bag, light, etc.?

Knife on my waist strap.

Spool(s), small SMB, whistle, wetnotes, spare mask, Gloo-toob in my X-shorts (thin neoprene shorts with a pocket on each side, worn over wetsuit).

Large SMB (or lift bag) in a storage pack behind my back (between my back and BC).

Spare light (s) clipped on BCD, secured with small rubber band/inner tube section.

If I have to carry a reel, it's usually clipped to the waist D-ring on my left.

Camera is usually clipped to left chest D-ring - I use a small Canon housing attached to a short length of bungie and it floats nicely behind my left shoulder.