Too much gear? Or standardized setup?

[Lorenzoid]

Gear is dive dependent. Caves I am carrying 3 lights, cookies arrow, multiple spools/reels and no snorkel or SMB. Reef dive, I am carrying a snorkel,single spool/SMB and one light. Night dive on reef, same as day but add another light. Really depends on the dive as to what I would call required equipment.

Shouldn't we be comparing apples with apples? One reef dive versus another? Obviously, a cave dive and reef dive call for different equipment. Cold water dive in drysuit versus warm water dive in wetsuit--again, an obvious difference in exposure protection gear. Maybe I'm not understanding the question.

 

[Storker]

Because you see a fish/nudibranch/sponge and you want to some added light to see the colors.

Just last week I had an example of this. I saw this really nice, blue/yellow nudi at some 12-15m (40-50') and decided I'd snap a couple of pics. Checking my camera's LCD screen, I found out it was sitting just above a patch of wonderful red/orange sponge. Turned on my light, and presto! I'd never seen that without artificial light.

 

[Doby45]

Shouldn't we be comparing apples with apples? One reef dive versus another? Obviously, a cave dive and reef dive call for different equipment. Cold water dive in drysuit versus warm water dive in wetsuit--again, an obvious difference in exposure protection gear. Maybe I'm not understanding the question.

Does it make sense to tailor your gear to the type of dive and leave extra stuff behind? Or wear everything you own?

The original premise that I got from @giffenk is "Do you tailor to the type of dive you are doing?" So the reality is that it is not apples to apples, it is dive specific. You can do the exact same reef dive just one during the day and one at night and my dive load out will change.

 

[Nianne]

I tend to adapt with the condition.
Sunny and no holes to explore : no lights. Fun diving with my buddy and wanting to make jokes : the scribing board.
Guiding people and wanting to show stuff without putting my finger everywhere : metal stick.

Otherwise, I always have a surfacing and underwater sound device, a SMB and a safety sausage (to be able to signal an emergency).

I had to sprint to the club to get my computer this morning after realising its missing on the docks, so yeah, less is better, easier to remember to take the most important gear !

 

[Lorenzoid]

You can do the exact same reef dive just one during the day and one at night and my dive load out will change.

Well, obviously. So I really don't get the question. Unless we're going to mention specific items of gear, which giffenk said was not his intention. I can't imagine any diver really bringing the EXACT same gear on every dive no matter what. Even on the same dive site, it might be warmer or colder, day or night, a good day to spear a fish or not, etc.

 

[victorzamora]

I don't keep the same gear on every dive. I do, however, keep the same "base" on every dive and then tailor stuff on top of it to my dive. I do carry at least a couple lights on every dive. OW means DSMB, Cave means no DSMB. I always carry the same computer, and almost always carry the same slate and cutting devices. I have pockets on my drysuit I don't have on a wetsuit, so that changes a few things....but I dive similarly to a pilot's MEL.

Just like in flying, the MEL is the minimums for the conditions. Different conditions require different minimums. In diving, I try and stay near my personal MEL for each dive so I'm not carrying tons of superfluous crap on every dive.

 

[stuartv]

In Steve Lewis' book, The Six Skills, he has a chapter on Trim. Part of his definition of trim includes having all the gear you need and none that you don't. That seems like the right approach, to me. I.e. no standard config. As @Lorenzoid noted, you aren't going to bring the exact same gear on every dive - unless you always do the exact same dive.

Having a standard config seems to me to promote laziness in preparing for a dive. Instead of thinking through every individual piece of gear you need to bring, it invites you to NOT think through each thing and instead just think "I've got my kit. I'm ready." But, what if you forgot that you took your shears out of your kit for some reason, and forgot to put them back? Or your compass? Or whatever...

A checklist seems like a good idea - if it's comprehensive, covering all types of dives that you do, and you go through it knowing that you won't take everything, but you actually give a thought to each item on the list and whether to take it or not.

 

[KeithG]

Seems to be some (small?) agreement about taking a minimal approach as opposed to a minimum approach.

I have fallen into the habit of taking my minimum gear. In the future on Bonaire I will go minimal and leave my safety sausage, mirror and whistle behind. These will be taken on LOBS.

I think when I spotted the inflatable raft it started me thinking about my Christmas tree.

 

[scubadada]

I don't dive with much, if any, extra equipment (minimal equipment?). I always have my dSMB, a finger spool, knife, line cutter, and DiveAlert. Electively, I carry one or two lights, a strobe, a small white slate for WB if I have my camera. That's about it, I did not include my 2 computers and compass on the list, they're like my regulators. Obviously, I have a reel, with or without a reef hook, if I am drift diving with my flag. That's about it, I carry all this stuff in my dive bag all the time.

I would also be interesting in what @giffenk observed that would be extra stuff.

 

[KeithG]

I don't dive with much, if any, extra equipment (minimal equipment?). I always have my dSMB, a finger spool, knife, line cutter, and DiveAlert. Electively, I carry one or two lights, a strobe, a small white slate for WB if I have my camera. That's about it, I did not include my 2 computers and compass on the list, they're like my regulators. Obviously, I have a reel, with or without a reef hook, if I am drift diving with my flag. That's about it, I carry all this stuff in my dive bag all the time.

I would also be interesting in what @giffenk observed that would be extra stuff.

Well, using a Bonaire dock dive (even easier than a shore dive!) as the example for MEL, there is no need for a reel or a dsmb or even a compass (I tossed my compass about 5 years ago when I ditched my 25 year old console).