First dive trip, do I have everything I need?

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Besides what everyone has said. I do recommend bring an extra mask with you on the trip, but not necessary on a dive. For rec dive, if you lose a mask, do you really want to replace it underwater and continue? I would just end the dive, and use the spare on the next.

As for spare air, I think the key here is that if you monitor your air, you will never need it. So why bring it? If you bring it with you, so that you can be lazy and not pay attention to your air, this is a wrong reason for having spare air.
 
I live by and dive in Puget Sound all the time. I'd really recommend 5mm gloves, or you might not enjoy your diving because your fingers are freezing.

Also...why go on a dive trip and not bring a camera? There are lots of critters here - nudibranches, crab, shrimp, sponges, starfish, jelly fish, etc etc.

+1 for DAN. Dive injuries can be spendy.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
 
I live by and dive in Puget Sound all the time. I'd really recommend 5mm gloves, or you might not enjoy your diving because your fingers are freezing.

Also...why go on a dive trip and not bring a camera? There are lots of critters here - nudibranches, crab, shrimp, sponges, starfish, jelly fish, etc etc.

+1 for DAN. Dive injuries can be spendy.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

Not bringing a camera on this trip since it's my first dives since certifying in Cabo and my first dives in cold water/low vis.

I'd like to just focus on getting my basics down, taking pictures will come once I have improved my basic skills.

Hopefully whoever I wind up buddying with will take some pics.

Right now, I can't wait to get back in the water and this will be my first opportunity.

I have been learning all that I can from this site, it's time to start putting it to practice.

The reason I prefer to have an alternate air source is for equipment failure....while very rare, a complete primary failure forcing me to Cesa w/o a good breath to start terrifies me.

I do check my pressure frequently.....probably to a fault.....but I'd like to have an option if I'm completely OOA due to equip failure and my buddy is out of contact.

While your buddy should never be out of contact, from the stories that I hear from locals the low vis can cause issues unless your holding hands.....may be okay depending on who your dive buddy is:D

A pony with reg is my goal long term, but this will appease my need for redundancy for now...you'll notice that everything has a backup in my current kit.

I also do some competitive shooting and they have a saying....Two is One when One is None

At work, we need to change toxic gas cylinders and we use a house air system with....a small escape cylinder in case of an equipment failure....I have worn one of these for every gas change but no one has ever actually needed one.

Does that make it bad to carry one?

It seems even more important in a hostile environment like underwater to me.
 
Vyper hit it, 3mm gloves will be way way too cold for the nw here. You dont need to carry a spare mask, and at Mikes, you arent far from Hoodsport Dive to the south if you need anything else.

I assume you are aware of other other nearby sites (Jorsted, Octopus Hole and Sund just for a few).

Note: lately the viz is really sucky, although flagpole just had a good viz report.

For dive buddies, info, etc there is an active board in the northwest, you can pm me for if you are interested.

I'd skip the spare air, they just dont carry enough air. That's what a dive buddy is for. But if you going to solo dive, I suppose its better than zero/nothing.
 
Trauma shears, for entanglements that require more than the knife. As for the spare air, better to carry that than a spare mask, IMO. pony bottle is better, and you are already planning for that.
 
Dive trip update, things were very interesting.....still have so much to learn!
First dive, me one new AOW diver and one more experienced AOW diver.
Didn't have enough weight, aborted dive and got loaned an extra 4 lbs.
Went back out and had a fantastic dive...the more experienced diver found the boats sunk near the dock and we checked them out...saw my first ling.
The pleasant surprise was that I wasn't very cold, my core started to get a little chilly after 15 min at 50', the 3mm gloves were fine, then my first major problem hit.
I accidentally kicked the boat and my fin strap came unbuckled and floated away.
Definitely need to work on keeping my mind focused underwater....I know they float but I was looking around on the bottom.
When it hit me it was too late, my dive buddies tried to grab it but were unsuccessful.
We had to surface at that point and then I had a long surface swim to retrieve it.
I learned to not use the buckles underwater, have them pre-buckled and loose then pull on and tighten.
I buckled one side and then pulled on both sides to tighten, they held at that point but I didn't have a fin problem on any other dives.
Second dive was my best experience diving so far.
Me and one other less experienced diver, things were uneventful saw lots of wildlife...even had a cabezon attack me!!!!!
Last dive was a night dive, uneventful for the first 30 minutes....night is definitely freaky though.
Looking up and seeing true nothingness above, definitely something to experience but kinda scary.
Then my second problem hit, at some point I got the left BCD weight released caught on something...my console line or glove strap not sure.
The next thing I know I can't stay down, we were at about 20-25 feet and I'm ascending out of control.
I immediately start dumping air from my BC and lungs as fast as I can but it's not helping.
I manage to get inverted and am kicking as hard as I can but keep going up and see my buddies lights descending below me.
I also managed to get some kind of a spin and vertigo thing going because I just remember kicking as hard as I could but seeing the lights spinning into the distance.
Next thing I know, my fins are breaking the surface so I right myself and inflate my BC and wait for the other 2.
They show up within 45 seconds, took them a second to notice and then they found my light above them.
I told them to finish their dive and I started to surface swim in, was rolling hard to one side and that's when I discovered the missing weight and it all started making sense.
So I lost 10 lbs in weight and a BC pouch.....but had some of the coolest experiences of my life.
Can't wait to go back next month and catch some of those big Dungeness!!
Also the guy from the first dive lives in Seattle and is going to hit Edmonds with me in Aug.
My network is beginning!!!!
 
Well, for someone newly certified, I think you handled a few difficult situations well enough. Eventful dives, to be sure.
 
Oh, my goodness, what a day!

Glad you were warm enough, and came out okay, and saw some cool stuff.

Comments: 1) Spring straps. I don't know why all fins don't come with them, or why everyone doesn't use them. Spring straps rock -- they are easy to get in and out of, and they WON'T LET GO!

2) Consider distributing your weight. Integrated weight pouches are theoretically attractive -- but the systems that secure them are trying to do two diametrically opposed things at the same time. They are trying to retain the weights securely, and allow them to be easily released. It's hard to do both things well, and most systems don't. Either it's a pain to release the weights, or they release too easily. In my analysis of diving, it's almost inconceivable that you would need to release your weights in a screaming hurry, and never underwater; on the other hand, loss of a significant chunk of weight can result in precisely what you experienced. Therefore, I prefer systems that weight the odds toward NOT losing weights.

Night diving can be disorienting, even if you aren't having buoyancy issues. Track your bubbles -- in the absence of violent currents, they WILL go up.

Come back and see us some time . . . I'd be delighted to meet up with you for a Puget Sound dive or two. If you can look at your experiences of the day and focus on what delights you, you are the kind of diver I want to be in the water with.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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