wetsuits and pockets

[8buck]

Does anyone know where i can get a wet suit with a pocket down on the thigh???

[Wendy]

I don't know of any wetsuits that come with a posket on them already.

You can buy a dive rite thigh pocket, remove the velcro thigh wrap and the harness attachment and sew it directly to your wetsuit. I sewed mine on my wetsuit or you can go to a seamstress to do it if you don't sew. Halcyon also makes a pocket. Avoid pockets with zippers.

[DFC5343]

a set of cordura "chaps" that cover the legs and have pockets for tools and such. Honestly unless you plan to walk on the bottom, pockets usually dump their contents on the first 2 kicks. Thats why you don't see them anymore. Even the thigh knife pockets went away.

[carebear]

I was going to buy a pocket with a velcro attachment to put my keys, $, etc. in when I go under, but I don't see the point if I can't buy one with a zipper. Why is it wrong to have a zipper Wendy? (Please be patient with the newbie diver ;))

[The Fresh Prince]

I must be lucky. The pockets I installed on my wet suit don't dump anything. Of course , I also swim horizontal, not walking on the bottom. Seriously. Halcyon, Dive Rite , OMS, and others make pockets for wet suits. I have Halcyon or Fifth Dimension bellows pockets on all mine. Get velcro closures, bungied loops inside, not D rings. Have them sewn on instead of glued on. Great for carrying what you need for the dive. Zippers are a failure point. Would hate to have to swim with a pocket I could not open or close.

[Bob3]

For things like car keys, stash them in a pocket in your swimsuit. Have just a door key cut, & hide the rest in your car.
One of those little magnetic key holders can be easily & securely tucked up under the bumper of your car, too.
There is nothing really "wrong" with zippers, folks use them on the front of their wetsuit jackets all the time.
If on a pocket, they need to have the big coarse teeth so getting sand/mud in them doesn't foul them up.
Pockets on wetsuits should really be made out of neoprene so they can stretch along with the suit.
Wetsuits have a way of "shrinking", especially over winter.;)

[Wendy]

carebear once bubbled...
I was going to buy a pocket with a velcro attachment to put my keys, $, etc. in when I go under, but I don't see the point if I can't buy one with a zipper. Why is it wrong to have a zipper Wendy? (Please be patient with the newbie diver ;))

Like some others said, zippers are a failure point and the last thing you want on a dive is get something from your pocket and go to zip it back up to find that the zipper is broke, has unattached, several things like that. It recently happened to a friend of mine. That is why velcro is better, less failure rate. Also like was mentioned, I added a grommet to either side of my pocket and ran a bungee loop thru each. Now I can clip things off to the inside of my pocket and not have to worry about loosing anything. Also you will want to sew the pocket onto the left outside of the hip.

[Wendy]

this pic shows the contents of the pocket clipped off.

[Dr. Jay]

Works great for me.

Here's the link (pocket is all the way at the bottom). (http://www.dive-rite.com/products/bcd/acc_pockets.htm)

They sell them at Leisurepro.

[Wendy]

Dr. Jay once bubbled...
Works great for me.

Here's the link (pocket is all the way at the bottom). (http://www.dive-rite.com/products/bcd/acc_pockets.htm)

They sell them at Leisurepro.

That's the pocket I use too. I just snipped off the harness attachment and the velcro around the leg and just sewed it to my wetsuit.

Dr. Jay, did you sew yours on? If you want I'll do it for you.

[8buck]

I saw on some website rescue wetsuit reason for the name ??? but it was red and all ready had the pocket big enought for like a slate or wet notes like wendy has

[diveski01]

check out this thread... (http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38058&highlight=pocket+shorts)

FifthD X-shorts (http://fifthd.com/cgi-bin/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=5AG&Product_Code=Xshort&Category_Code=01-5DSI)

I got a pair of these just days before a trip to Puerto Rico and I'm VERY glad I had them! We would be diving from a private "live boat" - where the divers are supposed to drag along a surface bouy and the boat follows it around.

That worked just great the first day with dive buddies accustomed to being the bouy person. Well, the next day when another diver joined us and was the designated bouy carrier we had another spectacular dive - until we surfaced and realized that nobody had the bouy!

We were bobbing around in 6ft seas and our boat was about 1/4 mile away upwind - right at the bouy - frantically looking for our bubbles. Luckily, I had a surface marker bouy right in the pocket of my new shorts. We were able to be sighted by the boat in seconds. Without this device we may have been drifting in rough waters for a LONG TIME!

I also was able to provide Sea-Snips to quickly cut away abandoned lobster trap lines that were wrapped around precious corals. Spare masks, wet notes, spools, and other "just in case" gear can be brought along in any exposure suit without creating undue drag.

We dive very streamlined bp/wings and do not have bulky pockets on the bc. Typically we have cargo pockets on our drysuits for "stuff". These shorts can be worn over any type of exposure protection.

I'm never diving in a wetsuit in open water without my pocket shorts ever again!! First time out they proved their worth and saved the day

[richies]

I think that is an excellent idea. Doesn't anyone else?
Especially if you use your wetsuit for other things like surfing - then you don't have attached pockets to get in the way.

cheers

r

[gentlegiant]

I am in the process of switching to a BP/Wing setup and was looking at the X-shorts as a replacement for my Dive-Rite pocket. I have not been able to purchase a dry suit yet and will have to wait another few months until I can ( I am losing weight at a pretty good clip and want to stabilize before I purchase the dry suit so I can make it a 1 time purchase) so I need some sort of pockets. I also alternate between several different wetsuits when ocean diving so a removable option is attractive to me. I am not trying to fan any flames, but what would the DIR stance be on these shorts?

[d33ps1x]

Any good closeup pics of these pants?

I'd like a pair but the pic on 5thd is horrible.

[Bob3]

$90 for a pair of shorts/pockets, kind of steep.

Northern Diver makes a weight harness that has a pair of removable thigh pockets on the critter, you get the weight harness AND 2 pockets for less than that: http://www.diveshop.co.uk/pages/accessories/buoyancy.html

see "weight and trim" harness.

[richies]

Wouldn't you have to pay import tax seeing as that comes from the UK? That would work out about the same price I think.

Also, $90 seems like a lot, but you can use the shorts on a drysuit and a wetsuit. I think it would work out cheaper than buying a set of pockets for each suit, certainly if you have more than two suits.

But anyway I haven't tried them yet - they could be terrible!

:D

r

[Paco]

Does anyone know where i can get a wet suit with a pocket down on the thigh???


I bought a two piece 3 mil suit on ebay with nice neoprene pockets (one on each thigh) with velcro closure flaps. It was made by Sea Elite. Don't know if they still make them.

[Texass]

The Dive Rite & X pockets are great if you change suits a lot. I use the Dive Rite because it works with everything from my shorty to my drysuit. A few of my buddies use the X shorts and like them, but they don't have drysuits. The Dive Rite requires a BC that has a 2" webbing for the strap where the X shorts will work with any style BC.

If you're able to stay with a single suit, I'd recommend getting a pocket you can sew on.

As already stated velcro closures are better. Aside from the failure point argument, zippers can be a PITA and usually require both hands to open/close. Velcro allows you to simply reach down and pull the flap open.

[Vie]

Guys, this thread is from 2003!

[Texass]

So what?

[Vie]

So the original question, (“Does anyone know where i can get a wet suit with a pocket down on the thigh???”) has probably been answered...

[Quero]

$90 for a pair of shorts/pockets, kind of steep.

Northern Diver makes a weight harness that has a pair of removable thigh pockets on the critter, you get the weight harness AND 2 pockets for less than that: http://www.diveshop.co.uk/pages/accessories/buoyancy.html

see "weight and trim" harness.


The "weight and trim II" item I saw at that link costs £60 (British pounds), which is actually more than $90 (US dollars). But back to the thread, I've dived with people who have those X-shorts, and the pockets are really substantial--big enough to hold a reel, a lift bag, wet notes, cutting device, and so on. If my BC didn't have nice big pockets (I have a SeaQuest Diva LX), I'd consider those shorts before sewing pockets on my wetsuits. For one thing, a diver can own different wetsuits for different dive conditions and simply slip the shorts (and the pockets) on with any of them.

And I don't think it matters that the original poster may not need the info any more. These ideas will remain here for some future search. Hasn't each of us, at one time or another, responded to a fairly old thread while crawling through the catacombs of SB with nothing more pressing to do with our time? ;)

[Vie]

The "weight and trim II" item I saw at that link costs £60 (British pounds), which is actually more than $90 (US dollars). But back to the thread, I've dived with people who have those X-shorts, and the pockets are really substantial--big enough to hold a reel, a lift bag, wet notes, cutting device, and so on. If my BC didn't have nice big pockets (I have a SeaQuest Diva LX), I'd consider those shorts before sewing pockets on my wetsuits. For one thing, a diver can own different wetsuits for different dive conditions and simply slip the shorts (and the pockets) on with any of them.

I’m a fan of the X-shorts myself.


And I don't think it matters that the original poster may not need the info any more. These ideas will remain here for some future search. Hasn't each of us, at one time or another, responded to a fairly old thread while crawling through the catacombs of SB with nothing more pressing to do with our time? ;)

Yes, the “ideas will remain here for some future search” and there are MANY threads on SB concerning wetsuit pockets—and guess what, they all contain the same sets of “ideas.”

Anyway, I apologize for pointing out the seemingly obvious (that this thread dated from 2003). Since I have some spare time, I think I’ll go post in a “I want to see a tank explode” thread.