Storm Whistle<br>Rescue Reflectors or Ultimate Survival Signal Mirror<br>Rescue Laser Flare<br><br>

Presumed,<br><br>Man I don't know....most of my close calls while diving were either so easily prevented as to make me look VERY stupid, or are so far-fetched sounding that you wouldn't believe them.<br><br>For instance: 1991. 18 years old. In the Navy. Diving for conch in Puerto Rico. I found one, alerted my dive buddy who was about ten feet above me. He angled straight down toward me. The strap on his BC that holds the tank on let go, and came straight down. At me. It took his octopus with it and hit me in the head. This took off my mask, broke my mouthpiece (and two teeth). Dive buddy made emergency ascent, not bothering to check on me. The hose that I had been breathing through started free-flowing, and I had been low on air to begin with. The conch I had grabbed started sticking me with it's claw thingy (not painfull, but alarming). It finally occured to me to let the conch go. I got one more breath off of my secondary (spare? occo? I don't remember) before I ran out out of air in my tank. I got the mask back on, cleared it (sort of...nose was bleeding too) and grabbed my buddies tank and started breathing off of it. Made it to surface. Smacked buddy, told him we were trading gear and started swimming to shore. I had his gear sold before he made it back in. That was the last time I scuba dived. <br><br>That isn't even the worst story I have.<br><br>Take care,<br><br>Andy

Hmmm... First, I don't dive- I don't even like to swim. Kinda funny for a guy who just found out he likes boating. So here are a few ideas that my (hopefully not too ignorant) brain spotted missing:<br><br>Pliers: I saw the mention of a leatherman, but I don't know. I think I'd want to have a pair of short needlenose w/ wire cutters that I can slip into a secure pouch, maybe attached to my knife. For one simple reason- I can open my Leatehrman one handed on land, but underwater, I think I'd want to know I don't have to fiddle with opening it. <br><br>Other than that, I can't think of anything to add.

Ouch. Sorry.<br><br>My interest is usually in learning from other's mistakes... not sure there's any mistake here to learn from, just rotten luck.<br><br>So far, my limited diving (all in Bermuda, not counting snorkling) has been a lot of fun, but it's too high-maintenance for me as a hobby. I tend to cyclle through interests in a period of years, and diving in the US seems to be the sort of thing that's difficult to put away for years and come back to.

nt

What type of store (diving, sporting, hunting etc) sells flares?

Try sailing shops - 99,99% chance they will have some. However, sea flares, with all the certifications, etc., tend to be quite expensive.

Hmmmm... One company that makes flares is Orion. They can be bought online from WestMarine stores but I don't know to what degree are they water/pressure proof. Of course they have to be water resistant and Coast Guard approved but that also means that any boat bigger than a kayak should have a full range of signaling devices. <br><br>Now movies such as teh Abbys and Thunderbolt (with 007) feature underwater flares that are pressure and water proof but my reaserch returned only flares that are good down to 12-15 feet. This is an article about it as well as last time poeple heard from them:<br><br>http://www.boatingoz.com.au/news000714.htm<br><br>Ignoring all that and assuming that you find one I think that there may be a possible safety issue while trying to transport flares on board of the plane. After all 12 gauge flares are or can be considered a weapon and regular launching flares still are a projectile. But that's my 2 cents. Get an Aqua Strobe it will do the job. Plus the minute you start adding more and more stuff to take with you underwater more uncomfortable you become. It's not like you can take a backpack with you. Everything has to go into your BCU which really is not the roomiest thing in the world.

Living on the coast of North Carolina, in one of the best dive sites in the world (so say the readers of Rodales year after year) and an active and experienced diver, I have a few comments.<br><br>First and foremost, a companion that dives with you may be a friend or buddy, but the only person that you can rely on in an emergency is yourself. PERIOD. The most important thing to do is to have redundent systems for doing anything critical, such as breathing, ascending safely, and keeping track of your dive profile.<br><br>I never dive without a pony bottle (30 cu ft), a lift bag, wreck reel, two knives, a second computer, whistle, a mk 13 mod o flare, and a set of dive tables .<br><br>All of my diving is in water greater than 80 feet in the open ocean from a boat. The pony is an alternate air source that will get me back to the anchor line and the surface without a concern.<br><br>The wreck reel and lift bag will get me back to the surface, allowing me to do a decompression or safety stop, tethered to the bottom without drifting far from the boat and safety.<br><br>Two knives are important. Unlike Mike Nelson, I have yet to be in an underwater knife fight. In fact, I have only used my knife for cutting once underwater. I use a leg mounted knife for prying "things" loose. I have a second small and sharp knife mounted on my chest strap for real cutting and entanglement.<br><br>I never get in the water without a backup method of keeping track of the dive time and depth and any decompression penalty that I may accumulate.<br><br>For suface signalling, I keep a "sausage" and a whistle on my BC Vest. <br><br>In my opinion, a leatherman type tool is not appropriate, as they will rust solid. Also, NEVER put a "suicide clip" on anything.<br><br>Just some observations after investigating a dozen diving fatalities and treating about 100 divers with DCS.<br><br>Obviously, for a quarry, lake, or shore diver, the requirements will be different

Beachdoc<br><br>Sausage?<br>Suicide clip?<br><br>I havn't started my course yet, but i've read the NAUI book, so i only kinda know whats going on.