In our earlier article -5 Rules to Better Diving, we discussed how when it comes to Scuba diving safety, it’s best to dive like you’re diving alone. No, that doesn’t mean ditch your dive buddy, but as far as your safety is concerned, pretend he’s not there or… won’t be when you need him. In other words be self reliant.
With increasing incidents of divers being left behind by dive boats and even just freak accidents of running out of air, getting trapped or caught in nets, you don’t want find yourself in a situation wishing you had some basic Scuba safety gear or equipment. In order to be your own best dive buddy, we’ve put together some Scuba safety essentials which are light and easy to carry with you on any dive in case the dreaded happens.
A whistle. Yes, this seemingly simple and small device can make a loud, life saving gesture. Attaching a whistle with a lanyard to your buoyancy compensator is a great way to get the attention of your dive bat hands, if you happen to surface away from the boat. While buying a whistle make sure that select one with no moving parts that could jam and that functions even when soaking wet after being submerged. Also, see that it’s loud enough to be heard above ambient noises like the roar of engines, breaking waves or thundering gale-force winds.
A ‘safety sausage‘ or ‘inflatable signaling tube‘ that, after inflation sticks up about six feet above the water’s surface is almost a requirement when diving. Easy to see from a distance especially when drift diving and also used for hand’s free, face-up positive buoyancy, these signaling tubes pack very small and can be simply attached to your BCD without causing any hindrance. Some need to be manually inflated through a mouthpiece while more advanced versions are mounted on BC’s and once deployed they use air from the BC to inflate.
Carrying with you Scuba flash light or strobe light is a good idea for obvious reasons, be it a night dive or day dive. A small light or a strobe that can double up as a flashlight if needed can be easily put in a BC pocket without you even feeling it. Available with extended battery life a light is just handy to have even when diving wrecks, in low visibility or as an emergency signaling device when diving at night.
Lastly, a dive knife. While it has been well debated, whether a Diver really needs to carry dive knives or not as even we’ve previously touched on the subject in ‘Do I really need a Dive Knife? ‘. Weighing the pros and cons we came to the conclusion that it is always better to carry along with you at least one form of cutting tool, rather than be caught up in a situation where you wished you had one.
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*Photo credits: photo by gjs on flickr
** Products pictured above: Fox 40 Classic Marine Whistle With Breakaway Lanyard, Oceanic P.S.D. Personal Safety Device, Tektite Xenon Strobe 200 and Blue Reef Titanium Folding Knife. All available at LeisurePro.com.
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A diver who prefers not to carry a knife should have some other cutting tool. EMT shears are cheap, safe, and very versatile. A line cutter would be another option.
knife is a must, got tangled up in some fishing line in belize, nasty stuff to cut when youre at 80′ in a swift current
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