Planktonic Diver

[DumagueteGuy]

Sounds like one heck of a dive. Glad you both made it out ok.

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

please tell me this is fiction

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Nope!

 

[jaybombs25]

sounds fun... ok bad joke

 

[Stonecrab]

I never thought it was fiction - sounded just like a predicament I'd end up in!

I definitely learned a lot from your experience - I'm really glad you posted it...

 

[kneptoon]

Great thread.I totally endorse the snorkel reference. They are a hassle until you need one, but not as big a hassle when you need one but didn't bring one.

 

[SupSonDiver]

I'd sit on the fence with the snorkel thing.
Some of the scuba equipment, its neccessity can be debatable.
Quite a few "idiot" commercial diver I know, goes solo spearfishing, with a tank and a tank holder (much like that plastic piece of backplate on most BCDs), a weightbelt and no BCD. Yes I know most comm divers do not use BCD and sometime without a tank. So, to him, BCD is not necessary.

SMB, Snorkel, Nautilus, Dive Alert, Reflect mirror, (and some even rarer stuff I will mention later) are the would-be-(important, good, cool, etc <---pick one) to have.
But the guy who wont use all these will tell me in my face that if I had planned and do everything properly, you wont need those things in the first place. Yea, its like insurance right? I tell him. So, I'd say we survey what our dive is gonna be like, and tailor the gear and redundant gear specifically for our dives. If its choppy seas, kelp filled, etc. then I'd say Snorkel would be nice to have. If it is otherwise, I'd leave it in my gear bag to reduce unnecessary task-loading.

Here are some other not-so-common things which you may want to consider as well:
1. Ribena tetrapacks : apparently, I was told that, if you get lost/stranded, you're gonna need hydration.
Well'd I'd say that 99% of the time, it was for fun to bring it along. During 3-minute safety stop, can really use it
to quench the dry mouth. it can be anything other than Ribena. A friend actually said that I should fill it up with
gatorade as it is "better" than Ribena. I told him that we can take a sip of sea water WITH the ribena and it will
taste just like Gatorade.

2. Money! Like maybe a 20dollar or 50dollar note sealed in a plastic bag and tucked away somewhere in your BC,
harness, pockets, wetsuit etc. I am doing this right now after listening to a another diver who ACTUALLY made
good use of it. And it make sense. When you get swept by currents, there is no telling where you may end up.
Even if you get spotted another boat who is willing to give you a lift, they may not be as nice to find your boat for
you. Like here in South East Asia, my friend who was telling me this story of how he got swept out a good distance
away from the dive spot and he ended up having a fishing boat to bring him to shore, but he needed to hitch a cab
all the way back and needless to say, that 20dollar note was put to good use.

Something like the nautillus would've been a better option for the above situation, but at the moment, this Radio device
is illegal and only recently, some dive centers managed to get it licensed here.

 

[fdarden]

Sounds like you should buy a scooter to me, LOL. Glad you are ok. That sounded like a rather nerve racking day.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Sounds like you should buy a scooter to me, LOL. Glad you are ok. That sounded like a rather nerve racking day.

I got three. That wreck is way past the depth rating for them.

 

[uncfnp]

I don't know how this tread was revived but I'm sure glad I got to read your adventure. Thanks for sharing!