What items have you actually used from your save-a-dive kit?

[Charlie99]

Spinoff from Save A Dive Kit Contents (http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=94172) thread.

OK, here's another question for everybody:

What items have you actually used from your save-a-dive kit? Which ones are most often used?

I've never used the mask strap or fin strap, but have frequently used tie wraps (or given them to other divers). The only other items I frequently hand out are my spare light and a spare compass (lots of rental gear comes without compass).

[Poseidon8118]

I've handed out quite a few o rings in my day! It seems like every other shore dive I do someone tightens the yoke to tight to the tank valve and POP! I also noticed that most newbies freak out a little when this happens. I just laugh a little and hand them an o ring. I keep my sea drops, 500 psi, silicone grease and a multi tool that I use on almost every dive in my kit. I did break a fin strap once, but just once.

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

I think my save-a-dive kit is huge!! Lot's of junk and I have the customary mask & fin strap, snorkle keeper (who needs that anyway), mouthpiece (have used), mainly used out of my kit o-rings and zip ties...not to mention went with my girlfriend's class for OW check-out dives; almost all my de-fog -=> Gone to the felow students...got to love the newbies!!

[realdiver7]

Fin strap (once), Sea Drops, zip ties, multi-tool, wrenches, 0-rings (many sizes always), sun screen, motion sickness preventative, headache tablets, Tums, lip moisturizer, chewing gum, mouthpiece, small flashlight, gear clips, spear tips, DIN to Yoke adapter, Yoke tank insert, and other things, believe it or not.

When teaching, or when diving with new divers who haven't gotten around to making their own save-a-dive kits, someone always needs something. I like the smiles I get when I actually save someone's dive!

[Mo2vation]

I don't have a "save-a-dive" kit, as I think they're lame and just another useless thing pawned off on Scuba Divers as a must-have accessory.

I do however, have a fully stocked drybox that goes on every dive with me. Some of the most recently used items include:

* two weeks ago, I used my DS Patch kit for wifie's drysuit. After dive #1, patched a pinhole with Aquaseal and Cotol - went to lunch, came back, it was dry and leak free.

* Zip tie - had to re-clip my boltsnap on my 18w HID. No problem - snipped it off with the fingernail clippers I keep in the drybox, re-tied it, and trimmed it. Finger nail cutters are great for zip ties, as they cut curved and don't leave sharp edges.


JUST TODAY

* Viton Orings - another diver blew an Oring on this trip in her O2 clean tank - all the boat had laying around were rubber Orings. I whipped out a Viton, life was good.

* Yoke insert for Tankzilla - a buddy asked me to bring my second e8-130 - I did. What I didn't know was that the guy he wanted to loan it to had a Yoke reg. No worries, whip out the insert and the Allen Key, and he's diving my Waterheater.

* Back up (photo copy) of my ANDI Safeair card - I forgot my Nitrox card, whipped out the copy this weekend and was able to dive Nitrox

* Today I whipped out the wetnotes on dive #2, and there was no pencil! No problem, I keep half-a-dozen in the box. I must have not zipped my pocket all the way. Got back, and for dives 3 & 4 I was fully armed.

* Qtips - I hate wet ears. Used a few today

* Listerine breath strips - gotta breathe friendly. Used them today.

* Dramamine chewable - used them today. Woo hoo.

* Pressure gauge - used it 3 times today to confirm boat fills before re-assembling the rig

* Mask Defog - 4 dives, four trips to the dry box for this.

* lip stuff - Used it 3 or 4 times today. gotta keep the kisser soft for post-dive festivities... ;)

* Mini flashlight - used it in the prohibitively dark bunk last night / this AM so I could find my stuff.

* Aspirin - took a couple after dive four... no-caffine headache, I think

* Scubatool - my dive buddy used it today to thread my 18w buddylight onto his BP/W bungee rig. Another diver on the boat today used it to replace an HP port in her reg (she was diving wet, and removed the DS hose.) I used it to screw back in the rubber knob on my tank. 3 times in one trip!

* Zipper wax & Talc - used talc a few times today for the DS neck seal, and I always finish the day lubing the zipper. Both are in the drybox.

* Quarters in a film can - used them tonight for parking at the restaurant on the way home (drybox yielding benefits AFTER the dive day!!!)


Another name for a Save-a-Dive kit is a SAD kit. If you're just bumping around with that limp Trident mask/fin-strap-in-a-tube nonsense, you need to shake yourself, do a search on ScubaBoard (for the stuff you need to include) and build a real drybox to carry with you. I have an abbreviated version for dayboats, and a Drybox+ I use on multi-day / vacation trps. I won't do a dive without it.

---
Ken

[Rick Inman]

Of course the normal stuff like ties, O rings, bolt snaps... But the the thing I enjoyed using the most was the duct tape! Got to tape a guys DS wrist seal. Many dives ago I saw NWGratefulDiver duct tape SnowBear's neck seal, and I'd always wanted to try it.

[Mo2vation]

Of course the normal stuff like ties, O rings, bolt snaps... But the the thing I enjoyed using the most was the duct tape! Got to tape a guys DS wrist seal. Many dives ago I saw NWGratefulDiver duct tape SnowBear's neck seal, and I'd always wanted to try it.

I've heard about this emergency fix - how does it work?

---
Ken

[Rick Inman]

I've heard about this emergency fix - how does it work?

---
Ken
I never said it worked. :eyebrow:
With Snowbear, she still leaked, but it helped (completed the dive).
With the guy who's wrist I taped, he jumped in off the end of the dock and had forgotten to zip up his dry suit. Water temp was 42f, so end of dive and we never found out it the duct tape worked or not.
Anyone else have experience with duct taping DS seals?

[MaxBottomtime]

I ripped a neck seal once and whipped out my trusty duct tape. The repair job held up fine for the next seven dives before replacing the seal.

[crpntr133]

Seen the duct tape trick done a couple of times and yes it worked.
Saved a DB one time with a fin strap. I kept telling him that he needed to look into spring straps but noooo. I just smiled as I handed him a new strap.

[mania]

I also don't have a "save a dive kit" but have a box with different staff. I use frequently some of the tools there - to change the hoses set up, zip ties (if that's what i think about - by zip tie you meant this plastic staff that's used by electricians to keep the wires together?).
Of course O rings and silicon grease.
These are the commonly used things but in the box there are few more
:D
And how to be a lady carrying such box?
Mania

[realdiver7]

It sounds as though there is some confusion as to the definition of "save-a-dive kit." I also don't believe in buying one of the cheap commercially sold save-a-dive kits because they don't have enough in them. However, they can be a good starting point for building your own kit.

A save-a-dive kit can be any kit you make yourself, or it can be one that you buy that is commercially produced. Most divers I know make up their own kits which are designed around the type of diving they do.

If you have a "box" of spare parts, accessories, etc., then you have a save-a-dive kit. I think all divers should have such a kit.

[gkndivebum]

[...]What items have you actually used from your save-a-dive kit? Which ones are most often used? [...]

I most often hand out zip-ties, hair ties (elastic scrunchies), bolt snaps and o-rings. I've occasionally
loaned out the spare SPG.

By far the most common are the hair ties -- both for hair and to replace lost hose/light tiedowns on
BCD webbing. Go figure.

[RP Diver]

I don't have a "save-a-dive" kit, as I think they're lame and just another useless thing pawned off on Scuba Divers as a must-have accessory.

I do however, have a fully stocked drybox that goes on every dive with me. Some of the most recently used items include:

*Another name for a Save-a-Dive kit is a SAD kit. If you're just bumping around with that limp Trident mask/fin-strap-in-a-tube nonsense, you need to shake yourself, do a search on ScubaBoard (for the stuff you need to include) and build a real drybox to carry with you. I have an abbreviated version for dayboats, and a Drybox+ I use on multi-day / vacation trps. I won't do a dive without it.

---
Ken

You say "to-may-to", I say "to-mah-to". Just another name for the same thing, IMO. The type of diving you do will normally dictate what it contains, but it's still the same idea. ;)

I've used oodles of o-rings, tie wraps, spare mouthpiece, Sea Drops, Swim Ear, Lip balm, Multi-tool, dentist's pick, silicone grease and silicone spray, batteries (for my daytime light). I carry spare straps, but haven't used them myself yet... have known others to use them, and once loaned my spare slap strap to a fellow diver to tryout as she'd never heard of them. :11:

[Mo2vation]

You say "to-may-to", I say "to-mah-to". Just another name for the same thing, IMO. The type of diving you do will normally dictate what it contains, but it's still the same idea. ;)

I've used oodles of o-rings, tie wraps, spare mouthpiece, Sea Drops, Swim Ear, Lip balm, Multi-tool, dentist's pick, silicone grease and silicone spray, batteries (for my daytime light). I carry spare straps, but haven't used them myself yet... have known others to use them, and once loaned my spare slap strap to a fellow diver to tryout as she'd never heard of them. :11:

- but my point is simply this: most commercially available, retail packaged, dive-shop hawked SAD kits ill prepare most divers to manage most on-water issues.

---
Ken

[RP Diver]

- but my point is simply this: most commercially available, retail packaged, dive-shop hawked SAD kits ill prepare most divers to manage most on-water issues.

---
Ken

I didn't even know that such a thing existed. I was taught in my OW class back in 1989 to start my own, nobody tried to sell me one. They called it a save-a-dive kit, but we were all strongly encouraged to develop our own. And since I've pretty much always had one, I never was inclined to shop for a ready made one.

I'm not much of a gear hound, I guess. I'm still using my original mask and regulator (also from 1989), only my second BC and my 3rd pair of fins in 16 years of diving.

[mossym]

have used spare mask, orings, fin straps, zip ties, spare depthguage..and was glad i had them all...

[tedwhiteva]

I think my save-a-dive kit is huge!! Lot's of junk and I have the customary mask & fin strap, snorkle keeper (who needs that anyway), mouthpiece (have used), mainly used out of my kit o-rings and zip ties...not to mention went with my girlfriend's class for OW check-out dives; almost all my de-fog -=> Gone to the felow students...got to love the newbies!!

Oh, you mean my gear bag

[sailingking]

I carry a full toolbox now ( we estimated that there is over $2000 worth of stuff in it)

The allen keys and wrenches are the most common thing used, however I have used spare hoses, masks, regs, loads of zip ties and surgical tubing.

The IP guage and the inline adjustment tool are used every now and then.

[awap]

Items used (# of times), usually by someone other than me:

Spare regulator (2)
Spare computer (2)
mask (1)
Fin straps (3)
tank valve o-ring (1)
tank neck o-ring (1)
LP hose o-rings
HP hose o-rings
HP spool o-rings
Scuba multi tool
Duct tape
Christolube

[OE2X]

Wrenches
Pliers
Allen Wrenches
Wire Clipper
O-Ring Remover
Cave Line
Lighter
Spare Buckle
O-Rings
Crysto Lube
Zipper Wax
B/U Hoses

I'm sure there are a bunch of things that don't come to mind that I've used as well.

[NWGratefulDiver]

My save-a-dive kit now comes in two boxes. One contains tools and disposable items such as O-rings, zip ties, bungee cord, zipper wax, mask defogger, and the like. The other contains spare gear that a dive buddy or student is likely to forget. Yesterday I loaned a dive buddy my spare drysuit hood. I've at times also loaned out a Light Cannon, wet gloves, mask, inflator hoses, SPG, and first or second stage. The most often-used item in there is my O2 analyzer ... because I usually like to analyze my cylinder just before I dive it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[FreeFloat]

I've loaned/given out a hood, gloves, lights (many times), bolt snaps including double-enders, bits of cave line, zip-ties (cable wraps) and O-rings to buddies. I've also used the mouthpiece and snorkel keepers that came in the plastic-tube "SAD" kit. I go through so many snorkel keepers (the silicone "dog bones") because I show buddies how to use them to secure their octo regs when their clips etc fail! because the snorkel keepers are relatively cheap I sometimes let the buddies just keep them, too.

[ScubaFreak]

I've used a few bits and bobs!
O rings, fin straps, and even a whole mask!
Batteries for strobes and torches.
Always handy to have the multi-tool aswell!

SF ;)

[ScubaSarus]

O-rings
PLugs
Fin Swivel
FIn strap and mask strap
Pliers and wrenches
First aide kit
Decongestants
Hoses

[Warthog]

I have a 'save-a-dive' kit that goes on the boat/dive site with me. I also have a Mares tool kit that stays in truck. Nobody touches my tools :jaws:

Most common used save-a-dive stuff: O-rings, zip-ties, mouthpieces, etc.

Most common used tools: #14 wrench (for hose changes), big allen wrench and/or reg adjustment tool to stop free-flowing regs.


-Warthog

[RonDawg]

- but my point is simply this: most commercially available, retail packaged, dive-shop hawked SAD kits ill prepare most divers to manage most on-water issues.

Not just that, but they also cost MORE than if you had purchased the parts individually, including a drybox to keep them all.

I simply bought a drybox and filled it with the same stuff, plus some additional items of my own like contact lenses (I wear disposables).

One thing from my save-a-dive kit really lived up to its name. It was a couple of weeks ago at Molokini, and a fin strap (actually, the buckle) on one of my fins had broken upon exiting the water after my first dive. Thank goodness I had the foresight to buy an extra fin strap kit, with buckles. Without it, my $109 2-tank Molokini dive trip would have turned into a $109 1-tank Molokini dive trip.

[dbg40]

ZIPS crap loads of zips! can never have enough, fin strap once or twice, o rings same as zips, have plenty with you. I keep a whole list of other stuff in a tackle box, but never seem to use it, but you know Murphy the first time I leave it behind....

[Al Mialkovsky]

O-rings are number one but I've used the visa card the most.

[David P]

I now have a spare mask in my kit (cant believe how many divers do...) last trip out suiting up for the first dive when someone threw their fins on my new mask and then someone else sat on the fins. Luckily someone on the boat had a spare mask.

[kidspot]

I use a plastic milk crate, and just put things in that I needed on the last dive... so far

I've used:
15 O-rings (all on rental tanks)
1 each xtra LP reg hose, LP BC inflator, & HP hose. Mostly when other parts just didn't fit right, or when a friends hose had a leak.
DIN inserts
DIN to Yoke converter
Assorted Allen wrenches
Screwdriver
2 Crescent wrenches
Dental Picks
LOTS of Zip Ties in assorted sizes
Parachute Cord
Extra Bolt snaps and Double enders
Extra 1st stage reg.
BC to Tire Inflator adaptor
BC to NPT blower attachment
Extra Depth Gauge (gave it away - so no longer part of the kit, but came in handy at times)
Spare Boots, Fins, Masks and wetsuits in assorted sizes (these don't fit in the milk crate though ;) )
Teflon tape
Spare spool and DSMB
Spare car key
snacks (granola bars, etc..)
Batteries for all electronics - C's, AA's AAA's
Sharpie Permanent marker
Wing Nuts, SS bolts and Washers for STA

Items never used (yet) :
Spare Cam band
Fin strap
Mask strap
Most O-rings other than Yoke

Probably a few other things I can't remember too...

Aloha, Tim

[baitedstorm]

You know, I think the only time I haven't had to pull out the ol' faithful kit is when I'm diving with just SB'ers.... Hrmmmmmmm, something to think about. I copied my kit from OrlandoEric, that man has everything in his box-o-tricks. (including, tampons and midol)

[KBeck]

Fin straps, vinegar/alcohol in a non-aerosol spray bottle (they're cheap in the toiletries section of walmart/target), zipties, glow sticks, and LOTS of Bonine.
I have unfortunately been finding most of the items are rusted/salt-encrusted from lack of use. I had to soak my all-in-one tool the other date in WD-40 for hours to get all the crud off. I now put EVERYTHING inside ziplocks.

[david.tolan]

I used a Fin Strap From Someone elses Save A Dive Kit on a liveaboard in the red sea. Saves about 6 dives. (A BIG THANKS AGAIN if you're out there)

Now I carry my own Kit.

Dave

[Hoosier]

O-ring is the most common item. And, spare SPG to cover the wireless transmitter.



BC to NPT blower attachment Aloha, Tim


Tim, where do you use a blow gun? Is it for the Scuba gear?

[Dan Gibson]

It's to scare the crap out of unsuspecting cave students :eyebrow: Instructors use it to simulate manifold and reg failures.



Tim, where do you use a blow gun? Is it for the Scuba gear?

[Hoosier]

LOL~~ So, it is only for the cave instructor. ^--^;

What other usage does it have?

[diver_paula]

snorkle keeper (who needs that anyway), mouthpiece (have used),

What you talkin' about? Snorkel keepers make the best octo holder. One end flips into itself on a D-ring or something on your BC and then the mouthpiece of the reg goes into the other end. :D

[diver_paula]

What have I used / lent out of my save a dive kit?
Mask strap
O-rings
Wrench
Dental pick
Metal barrette - makes a great o-ring picker and isn't as sharp as the dental pick
Fin strap
O ring grease
Pencils
Spare slate
Rubber tubing
Kotol
SCUBA tool
Bonine
Sudafed
Tampon (Sorry guys!)
Spare mask
D-rings, etc.
zip ties
wrist lanyards
zipper wax
Sun lotion
Chap stick
Bandaids

ahhhh my brain's gettin' fuzzy! I know theres more!

[oscar_2424]

Spinoff from Save A Dive Kit Contents (http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=94172) thread.

OK, here's another question for everybody:

What items have you actually used from your save-a-dive kit? Which ones are most often used?

I've never used the mask strap or fin strap, but have frequently used tie wraps (or given them to other divers). The only other items I frequently hand out are my spare light and a spare compass (lots of rental gear comes without compass).
So far only the o rings

[simbrooks]

Pretty much half the stuff already mentioned, mostly tools, spare o-rings for rental tanks and my own regs, lube when i am changing items out that have o-rings. I also have a spare light, mask and computer that occasionally sees use from others forgetting stuff or their's goes downhill and they dont have a spare - unlike Baitedstorm i have had to lend stuff to other SB'ers. I am thinking of expanding my dive bag/box and making it more substantial, throwing out useless stuff, between this thread and the other quoted on the first post i think i can make a better go of it! I have recently done the same with my first aid kit, now fairly competent for most of my adventures i believe.

[Land Locked]

Mostly o-rings, ear drops and I never leave home without my divers multi-tool!!

[Dan Gibson]

No, it's required in all GUE classes above the Fundamentals class ;)

I can and have put one on a stage reg for filling a 250# lift bag. We moved one of the old POS snowmobiles out of the depths once at Blue Springs doing it this way at Rick's request to clean up some of the crap.

LOL~~ So, it is only for the cave instructor. ^--^;

What other usage does it have?