'Must have' safety items?

[BalekFekete]

My wife and I are newly minted OW divers and about to head off on a cruise which will include a pair of dive days at two of the ports of call (Bermuda and St. Maarten). Of course we purchased the mandatory personal gear, but I'm wondering what people's take is on other gear we should buy, specifically some of the safety gear. Should we be picking up e.g. a whistle, mirror or safety sausage, etc. in advance of the trip?

Thanks in advance for the insight and advice.

 

[caruso]

The thing about safety items is there are no "must have" items. You never see divers with the same gear, some have more, some have less, some have just the most basic gear (especially those who rent) and then you have divers such as me who carry just about every safety device and backup scuba gear that can be found.

It's all about your risk tolerance. You may never need any of the stuff, or it could save your life. I know I am much more at ease in the water knowing I have the following

2 dive lights (in addition to the two video lights attached to my Gopro rig which can also be used as dive lights)
19cf pony bottle with it's own regulator
In addition to the above 2nd regulator I have a BCD mounted octopus so I have 3 regs
2 cutting tools (although I often leave one in my dive bag when diving known sites where there probably won't be any monofilament fishing line)
primary dive computer, backup dive computer and analog spg to backup my 2 air integrated computers
safety sausage
SMB and reel
air horn on my BCD inflator hose
whistle
signal mirror

In my dive bag
extra mask and extra mask and fin straps
zip ties
assorted o-rings and clips
computer batteries and o rings and computer battery cover removal tool
more batteries for dive lights and camera than I will probably ever need
extra 1st and 2nd stage regulators
tools to swap out regulators and hoses

 

[divad]

A mirror is cheap, compact, and easy to use. So is an "SMB and reel" if you're practiced at using it. If you're not, it might be better to take only the compact SMB and just inflate it @ the surface. Getting tangled up in string underwater would really suck.

 

[rhwestfall]

 

[divad]

View attachment 466556

I resemble that remark.

 

[rhwestfall]

for what you are doing, keep it simple....

what did your class go over as proper safety equipment?

do you know how to use it?

 

[BalekFekete]

what did your class go over as proper safety equipment? do you know how to use it?

We trained on a simple surface SMB; didn't do a submersed deployment with a reel.

 

[rhwestfall]

We trained on a simple surface SMB; didn't do a submersed deployment with a reel.

than that is what to have. put a whistle and a mirror on it, and call it done. It is highly likely you are diving with a DM/Guide who will (should) be skilled in the rest.

Enjoy your trip!

K.I.S.S.

 

[divad]

​

New! 45" Orange Closed SMB w/OPV

Piranha's Price: $19.99​

 

[divad]

May as well get two of everything...........in case of any sort of separation.

It should double your odds of being spotted in the case of no separation.