Where to put all your accessories?

[Nick Steele]

Shears are definitely a must for me see plenty of fishing line accidents at spot I frequent even while freediving. But will probably get strapped onto the left side of the waist buckle as my knife is on my right leg.

 

[Snoweman]

I own/bring all my own equipment, but I understand your dilemma. Bring zip ties with you, so you can connect your equipment to the rental BCD.

• knife - Mini Fog Cutter (google it) attached to my BCD
• light - Usually attached to my wrist
• surface signaling device - Whistle on retractable lanyard attached to a zip tie on a D-ring. DSMB attached to D-ring on DSMB. Nautilus Lifeline Radio attached to weight pocket (back).
• tank banger? - nope, but consider getting a rattler.
• not necessary, I know-- but I'd love to have a tiny slate if for no other reason than to use as a white balance reference for photography - What others have said. I don't use one.

?

 

[RyanT]

@Nick Steele, an important item that every diver should be carrying is an SMB on a finger spool. Recreational or tech diver, doesn't matter. Practice deploying it and be comfortable doing so if you lose the boat or start drifting in current. They can be a little bulky, so it works really well to keep them stowed in a pocket. I see a lot of people clip them off...and I've seen a lot of them come undone, quickly unspooling 100' of line at the start of a dive. Keeping it in the right pocket of your pocket shorts keeps it securely stowed and easily accessible when you need it.

 

[Stoo]

Small knife bolted/zip-tied to the BC shoulder, SMB in one BC pocket, spool in the other. Small light fastened to opposite shoulder d-ring and bungied to strap. Wrist slate works. Add a Zip knife to computer strap.

Everything accessible, nothing dangling. Your photographer-buddy will love you.

Tank banger is the work of Satan. Burn it.

 

[Dan]

I do need to carry my safety gears. That's why I don’t rent BCD & carry my own BCD with big pockets.

Here are my safety gears in case I get blown away by strong current & lost at sea. See Best signaling devices from the searcher’s point of view - update for more detail.

 

[tbone1004]

@Nick Steele so the "why do you need a pocket" isn't necessarily because you need one, but because @M DeM said he was renting a bc.

Here's what I have and where on a "normal" recreational type dive, but much of it hinges on me having my own rig, and that rig being a bp/w

Shears-threaded on the right hip of my BC in lieu of a canister light to hold my long hose
DSMB w/ reel-clipped to my rear d-ring during the dive, left hip when at the surface *this one is a bit annoying to move around, but such is life*
Lights-on the shoulder straps banded in-don't always need them though but I'm too lazy to take them off
Wrist slate-has a benchmade 7 Z-knife on it
Computer-has the other benchmade 7 z-knife on it
Pocket snorkel-if I have it, it stays with my dsmb if I don't have a pocket

If I was doing some harsher condition recreational diving, then I would have to use a pocket to stow another reel, jon line, PLB, pocket snorkel, etc. but those are a bit more "technical" in nature where you'd need or want those.

 

[M DeM]

You need to use the right tool for the job. For getting someone attention, I carry this: DiveAlert by Ideations

It doesn’t need to be put in BCD pocket. It’ll be sandwiched between the power inflator & LP hose. It quacks underwater.

Make sure to lock it when you are above water to avoid accidental loud blast alert. Just use it for emergency when you are on the surface & the dive boat far away & doesn’t see you.

View attachment 453315

I LIKE THIS! Thanks!

 

[M DeM]

You don't need a tank banger, but you might want one, and that's perfectly okay.

But if you're primarily a vacation diver, I'd be leery of the knife-as-banger option. Vacation diving often involves a lot of divers in close proximity, and because your tank is mounted behind you, banging on it with the hilt of your knife basically means blindly waving around the pointy end.

Personally, I keep a stainless-steel double-end snap on my BC. It's useful if I need to clip something off, and it's a good enough tank banger if my wife won't turn around to see the mermaid.

This is why I love this board. I never would have thought about the fact that yeah- I'd be waving the thing behind me, where I can't see.

 

[M DeM]

Wrist slate-has a benchmade 7 Z-knife on it
Computer-has the other benchmade 7 z-knife on it

I was wondering about this combo... I'm assuming you wear the slate on your non-dominant hand so you can write, and and the computer on your dominant hand? (unless you're ambidextrous or it's not a wrist computer, in which case it's moot.)

 

[tbone1004]

I was wondering about this combo... I'm assuming you wear the slate on your non-dominant hand so you can write, and and the computer on your dominant hand? (unless you're ambidextrous or it's not a wrist computer, in which case it's moot.)

I have long arms so I can wear both on the same arm, but they are usually on opposite arms. You can also mount some computers to wrist slates. Edd at Cave Adventurers made that one popular with the Shearwaters being mounted to the top "page" of a wrist slate so it is combined. Rather convenient if you are diving rebreathers