Safety Equipment & Signaling - what is needed?

[Coffeyman]

Hey gang - fairly new to the board and I have a few questions concerning safety gear. I am a fairly new diver (9 dives) and my wife and I are heading to Cozumel in 2 weeks to go diving. We do not have a complete equipment setup but we have wetsuits, fins, mask, knives, lights, gloves, etc. My question relates to safety and signaling equipment. On our past dives we carried nothing other than what the dive shop provided, but feel that we should increase our safety equipment to....well be safe! As I said we have knives and lights - but here is what I was planning on getting, and tell me if this is overkill or not enough:

Signal Mirror (2)
Whistle (2)
Yellow SMB (1)

Is one SMB enough for both of us? I am not trying to go crazy (money) with gear, but I want to have enough. Since we are going to be buddies is one SMB enough or do we each need to carry one? Any other gear that we should get? Do we even need this gear at all with a small group in Cozumel?

PS we are diving with Dive Martin in Cozumel

 

[boxcar]

Hey gang - fairly new to the board and I have a few questions concerning safety gear. I am a fairly new diver (9 dives) and my wife and I are heading to Cozumel in 2 weeks to go diving. We do not have a complete equipment setup but we have wetsuits, fins, mask, knives, lights, gloves, etc. My question relates to safety and signaling equipment. On our past dives we carried nothing other than what the dive shop provided, but feel that we should increase our safety equipment to....well be safe! As I said we have knives and lights - but here is what I was planning on getting, and tell me if this is overkill or not enough:

Signal Mirror (2)
Whistle (2)
Yellow SMB (1)

Is one SMB enough for both of us? I am not trying to go crazy (money) with gear, but I want to have enough. Since we are going to be buddies is one SMB enough or do we each need to carry one? Any other gear that we should get? Do we even need this gear at all with a small group in Cozumel?

PS we are diving with Dive Martin in Cozumel

My buddy and I each carry a yellow 'safety sausage' and a separate safety stop anchor...the yellow one for being seen on the surface and the smaller, rounder orange for letting others know we are below on a stop...I'd recommend both of you having a 'sausage' in case you get separated...I don't have a lot of experience with mirrors though...perhaps others can comment on the sausage vs. mirrors for visibility.

Have a good trip

 

[Poseidon8118]

I carry a safety sausage, 3"x5" signal mirror (with hole in center), and a dive alert. The dive alert is much louder than a whistle. A whistle can't be heard over some boat engines and bad weather. For $75 this setup can save your life...so why not...

One is good two are better...being safe is never overkill.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Hey gang - fairly new to the board and I have a few questions concerning safety gear. I am a fairly new diver (9 dives) and my wife and I are heading to Cozumel in 2 weeks to go diving. <good stuff snipped>

Coffeyman,

There have been numerous threads on this in the past, and while a new thread is fine what you miss are some truly informative past responses by some experts.

If you use the Search button (top of the page, third one from right, beneath where it says "Welcome, Coffeyman") and use similar keywords as in your post (e.g. 'safety', 'survival', 'epirb', etc.), you'll be able to search previous threads in the archives on the same topic. In them you'll find a wide variety of links to various manufacturers and places where you can get the recommended items.

Enjoy your vacation,

Doc

 

[keyshunter]

Coffeyman,
If you have not yet bought your sausage, I recommend that you buy an orange one, or at least a yellow/orange two tone. From the bridge of a boat, a yellow sausage can be much more difficult to see under some conditions. That is why survival suits are always orange.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Coffeyman,
If you have not yet bought your sausage, I recommend that you buy an orange one, or at least a yellow/orange two tone. From the bridge of a boat, a yellow sausage can be much more difficult to see under some conditions. That is why survival suits are always orange.

KeysHunter, can you elaborate? I've seen lots of posts claiming that the yellow are easier to see in most conditions. When is the orange better?

 

[Coffeyman]

I have searched and read tons of posts relating to the saugage use - I guess I was just hoping for someone to tell me if I really needed to drop a ton of cash on 2 of everything or for that matter if the sausage is really needed in Cozumel diving with a small group.

Never been to Coz, and I sort of feel like it should be a standard setup (SMB) for every diver but wanted some other opinions.

Thanks.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

I have searched and read tons of posts relating to the saugage use - I guess I was just hoping for someone to tell me if I really needed to drop a ton of cash on 2 of everything or for that matter if the sausage is really needed in Cozumel diving with a small group.

Never been to Coz, and I sort of feel like it should be a standard setup (SMB) for every diver but wanted some other opinions.

Thanks.

I just bought one. My non-diver wife and I are headed to Playa Del Carman, and If my wife were diving, I'd want one for her too. Just in case...

I am not planning on buying the spool and line yet. I won't have time to learn no use it before the trip, but figured I'd have it with me for surface-inflation only.

That's what I think...

 

[Charlie99]

if the sausage is really needed in Cozumel diving with a small group.

Except for a few advanced dives, you are within easy swimming distance of shore, so the SMB is not so much to avoid being left at sea, but to avoid being run over by a boat. Most of the time I just let the DM surface and be the "marker buoy", but if he's gotten onto the boat, I'll put up a small SMB before coming up from safety stop. A small sauage with 30' of cord wrapped around it, with a small weight such as a boltsnap on the end works nicely for this "don't run me over" usage.

WIth the small 4"x44" See Me sausages, oral inflation works well since you don't change your buoyancy as you move air from your lungs to the sausage.

Charlie Allen

 

[jedah]

I would go with 2 safety sausages and 2 dive alerts/whistles.

The currents in Cozumel can be quite strong and they tend to take you out to sea.

J.