What Min. xtra equip? Safety/Emergency equip?

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie - so when I go out diving for the first time - what mininum extra safety equipment would ya'll recommend? For instance: knife vs. scissors, safety sausage, slate, whistle, mirror, extra light, water?

I'm an Eagle Scout - so I make sure to preach the motto to my scouts - Be Prepared.

Thanks,

PC

Go out where?

A quarry?

Or 65 miles offshore to dive wrecks with one of the charter outfits running out of Morehead City or Beaufort, NC?

Enquiring minds and all...

And welcome to ScubaBoard

PC,

What's "right" to carry for safety gear depends on where you are diving. It is like scouting in that you need to be prepared for whatever "difficulty" is reasonable where & how you are diving.

That said, there are some generalities for beginning recreational divers: Knife, safety sausage, and whistle while there is a plethora of safety equipment that is prudent based on when, where & how you are diving. Unless tec diving, I have a air-horn on my LP inflator. I normally carry a Jon-line when boat-diving. A dive-flag is manditory everywhere but dive-parks. (If you are on a dive-boat, they will have one.)

When you go out for the first time, I HOPE you are with an instructor and in a class. If that's the case, ask the instructor what's appropriate. If you meant you were going out on a charter for the first time, as opposed to diving the first time, feel free to call the dive operator and ask what they consider appropriate within their operations.

Hope this helps!

Ron

Well,

My first dive (checkout) will hopefully be in Jenny (sp?) Springs/Blue Grotto with our instructor. After that, my next several dives will be in a quarry near Charlotte.

I suppose my question is geared to mostly thinking of the blue water caribean(ish) boat dive.

I'd like to get wreck certified and take advantage of being in NC and going over to the outerbanks (although it is about a 6 hour drive).

Thanks!

For the OBX wrecks, keep in mind you can be pretty far from shore and there are tough currents. A free ascent off a wreck can really ruin your day (life). I carry the standard stuff, whistle, mirror, rescue sausage... But additionally I carry a large SMB and reel, water bottle, and sometimes an epirb. Even if the water is warm enough, I'll usually have a hood on, just maybe pulled down around my neck just in case. I've been on the rescuer side of obx diving and have unfortunatly seen the results of free ascents up there.

I recommend one of those big six footer markers. Size matters.

There are no-frills ones...
http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FM36

And some that have bolt snaps and dump valves so you can deploy them from depth. If you get a finger spool and learn to use it, anyway.
http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=LargeSafety

I got the second kind, so I can hang from it if I want to during a blue-water safety stop. You can send it up ahead of you if there is danger from boats, too. It's much more versatile, though more expensive and you have to carry a spool.

FWIW I chose EMT shears instead of a knife. I got a Storm Whistle instead of one of those tank-powered things. Maybe it isn't as loud, but it will work without air pressure and I don't want to put more fittings in an air line than I have to. I'm also cheap.

Slate--it can be very useful. I carried one, but stopped because in practice it never was useful. Obviously, that is a calculated risk. I also hated the way it dangled.

Anyway, as was mentioned, it depends on what you are doing.

For my easy local shore dives, I carry shears and a whistle. There is basically zero chance of being swept away out to sea so I don't take the marker, and I already explained I don't like the slate.

If I am doing a shore dive at night, or a boat dive of any kind--even a boat dive right off a beach--I add the safety sausage.

If I was out in the deep blue sea on vacation, I'd add a mirror and a bottle of water.

I would only take the slate if I knew I needed it for something ahead of time. (shrimp census?)

Personally, I wouldn't take any of that stuff on my checkout dives. Or at least, I wouldn't take any more than what my instructor recommends. I have a bunch of stuff now, SMB with mirror, light-stick, and whistle, thumb spool, light, compass, knife, line cutter. But I added each piece of gear one at a time and took my time checking each piece out. I'd think if you're on a check-out dive, you'll be under supervision, you'll be in a not-too-demanding location, and you'll be busy doing your check-out skill tests. All that other stuff would be a distraction. Once you've been certified, start adding gear a piece at a time, and get comfortable using each piece before you add another one.

Oh, I just read your original post again. Yeah, for an ocean dive I'd take a safety sausage, or SMB, and a whistle at least. I carry a small knife, but other than that stuff, I'd still try to minimize at first and add things one at a time.

Thanks guys - very interesting and informative.

BTW, is there a post ya'll can link to that covers common acronymns? Like, what is SMB?

Thanks again.

Hi cyber, welcome to the Board

boat dives ... a SMB-Surface Marker Buoy + small backup light + Rescue mirror (has aiming hole) + whistle + cutting device (small BC knife)

Good stuff to read ..

Surface Survival Primer ... http://www.tabula-international.com/DIV/SMB3.html

Real world tests done in real world conditions off The Scapa Flow ... http://www.jeanelaine.co.uk/diveraids/theory.htm a long read, but worth your time

Equipped To Survive - Signaling Group ... http://www.equipped.com/signal.htm
... and the rest of the site is a tresure trove of info .. Equipped.org ... http://www.equipped.org/
some of the things found on the left side of page include .. Gear & Equipment .. http://www.equipped.org/toc.htm ...
Survival Stories ... http://www.equipped.org/srvstoriestoc.htm