Finally, the trilam suit - but what to put in the pockets?

Wohoo, I've finally saved up enough €€€ to get the trilam suit I've wanted for a while now, and I'm getting out of my (not too roomy) neoprene suit. I'm looking forward to not having to do the neoprene dance every time I'm getting suited up, especially in the winter with several layers of thick wool underwear. And learning to cope with more serious air migration...

The suit (Waterproof D7) looks pretty promising, and instead of one narrow thigh pocket, I've got two nice, expandable cargo pockets, one on each thigh. My kludge of an accessory pouch fastened to my BCD is definitely going away, and I'm going to put the stuff I carried in the pouch into the new suit's thigh pockets. But what's going where? So far, I've had my dSMB and spool in my single (right side) DS pocket and my slate and signal whistle in the accessory pouch. I'm thinking of following DIR guidelines and put my rigged dSMB with spool in the left pocket, and the slate and the whistle in the right. I've already fastened a bungee loop to one of the two D-rings inside each pocket and clipped my slate to one of them. The whistle already hangs on a piece of cave line, and I've fastened it to the other D-ring in the right pocket. The dSMB/spool assembly hasn't been clipped to the left pocket bungee loop (yet), since I'm thinking that it'll be a bit complicated to clip it off the bungee loop with thick three-finger gloves and limited visibility along my body due to the mask skirt. The backup light is already hanging from my left shoulder D-ring and is fixed to the shoulder strap with a loop of bungee cord, so it's not going into any pocket.

Anyhow, tips about how to organize stuff and what else I should carry now I've got more cargo space would be appreciated. And FTR, I'm not DIR-religious, and I'm diving a back inflate BCD, not a BP/W.

for open water i use
Right: Mask, Notes, Shears
Left: Spool and SMB, Radio and extra gauge

If you are never going to carry an additional, slung bottle, or use a scooter, it doesn't matter much where you put what. What I do like is to put loops in the front and rear grommets of the pocket, and fasten the things I'm likely to use to the front loop, and the things which are less likely to be used to the rear, which is a little more difficult to pull up.

I use the GUE convention of putting utility items on the left (things you expect to use) and emergency items on the right (things you will only use if there are problems). The theory is that, if you have slung bottles, it's easier to get into the right pocket, and in an emergency, you want things where they are easy to get to. You could use the opposite argument, of putting things you use often where they are easier to reach -- but I think there's some validity to the idea that, when you are stressed, you want to make your life as easy as possible. With no slung bottles, both pockets are just about equally easy to access, so that argument goes away.

What I put in my pockets varies with the dive I'm doing. If I'm teaching, my rolled up snorkel, whistle and mirror are in one of my pockets. If I'm boat diving, I'll always have a pre-rigged SMB and spool in one of my pockets. I carry wet notes all the time; I use them rarely, but when you need them, they relieve a lot of the frustration of trying to convey complex ideas through hand signals. On our recent Socorros trip, where we were WAY offshore, I had my Nautilus Lifeline and my DiveAlert in my pockets, as well.

TSandM:

What I do like is to put loops in the front and rear grommets of the pocket, and fasten the things I'm likely to use to the front loop, and the things which are less likely to be used to the rear, which is a little more difficult to pull up.

Click to expand...

Neat idea. I'm still just using the d-ring. How long is the loop?

left
spare lift bag
spare mask

right
truck keys
slate
jon line
mp3 player

all items are clipped to their own bungee inside the pocket, if dropped they are not lost.

The loops are about 3" long when stretched out. Some people use bungie; I just use a thick nylon cord (about 3/8").

My .02 cents. Whatever that equates to in Euros.

1. Nothing very pokey. Trust me.
2. Whatever you put where; make sure the pockets close well, even if you lanyard stuff down. It's better than being the "helicopter rappel diver"

TSandM:

The loops are about 3" long when stretched out. Some people use bungie; I just use a thick nylon cord (about 3/8").

Click to expand...

So they're at the bottom of the pocket (when one is standing on land)?

The pockets I have have grommets in the front and back at the top of the pocket. I tie the loops so that there is a knot outside, a knot inside, and a big loop inside, about 3" long. I guess they'd probably hang almost to the bottom of the pocket if you were standing up.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. It looks as if I'm pretty mainstream WRT what I'm carrying during my dives, and it doesn't seem as if I need to stuff more gear into those pockets yet. Always nice to have extra storage space :cool2: I have a signal mirror, but the risk of needing it on the type of dives we usually do up here is almost negligible, so I don't think I'll dig it out from my vacation gear. And I have neither a spare mask (I've got enough so far with one with prescription and one without, for diving both with and without contacts) nor a foldable snorkel, so those things aren't relevant for me.

My pockets don't have grommets in the top, only two D-rings in the bottom. I guess I'll have to experiment with the length of the bungee loops to see what's best for me, but so far I've made them just long enough to reach to the top of the pocket.