Wreck Diving Kit

[rossbale28]

Hi,

I'm wanting to get more "into" wreck diving next season having built up some UK experience. Is there any specific kit that I should be looking at/would be useful to have for Wreck Diving??

Also, I have a reel (make/model remains un-named) that requires you to hold a small lever down to release the line - have done a few mary poppins impressions with this when trying to send up a blob - any suggestions on how to stop this happening/advice would be most welcome/useful.

Thanks,

Ross.

[The Doctor]

Originally Posted by rossbale28

Hi,

I'm wanting to get more "into" wreck diving next season having built up some UK experience. Is there any specific kit that I should be looking at/would be useful to have for Wreck Diving??

Also, I have a reel (make/model remains un-named) that requires you to hold a small lever down to release the line - have done a few mary poppins impressions with this when trying to send up a blob - any suggestions on how to stop this happening/advice would be most welcome/useful.

Thanks,

Ross.

stay on dry land

[Colin Marriott]

Originally Posted by rossbale28

Hi,

I'm wanting to get more "into" wreck diving next season having built up some UK experience. Is there any specific kit that I should be looking at/would be useful to have for Wreck Diving??

Lump hammer, crowbar maybe ....




ColinM

[G man]

Originally Posted by rossbale28

Hi,

I'm wanting to get more "into" wreck diving next season having built up some UK experience. Is there any specific kit that I should be looking at/would be useful to have for Wreck Diving??

Also, I have a reel (make/model remains un-named) that requires you to hold a small lever down to release the line - have done a few mary poppins impressions with this when trying to send up a blob - any suggestions on how to stop this happening/advice would be most welcome/useful.

Thanks,

Ross.

You need lots of redundancy = lots of new kit.
Big torch
and chuck away the crap reel and get a new one or just let it go next time it jamms up.

[Woz]

Dive with some wreck divers and learn from them. They're the ones that come up covered in rust after dives.

[rossbale28]

Any reccs on a Reel - I have a Beaver Puffin 40m at the moment - would it be useful for something other than the blob rather than just binning it?

[Captain Deco]

If you are serious about wreck diving, then good solid fail proof gear would be a start.

Wrecks are deep, and you need a good foolproof reel. I use a Kent tooling free running 100m reel for my SMB and a kent tooling 30m spool for reeling into and around wrecks. I use them together as SMB tools as well as reeling tools.

A decent light - umbilical, long burn time, nice light pattern and all that jazz is a must, as the wrecks are in depths where less than 5m viz is not unusual. I use a solus su-500.

You probably need to be thinking about twins so you can increase your bottom time and give you the redundant bail out feature, or carry a large pony for the same bail out features. Maybe a stage with a decent deco gas (or gases) as well.

A really good drysuit with thermals to keep you warm. it's cold down there.

Ditch the beaver reel. It's crap. I had one in my 1st set of kit as advised by a shop who wanted money and it let me down every time. I flung it. Invest in quality gear.

Also invest in quality training. If you're going to do deco/wreck penetration/deep sea stuff then a techy course like TDI's adv. nitrox and deco procedures would be a good start.

Go to Stoney/Gildy on quiet weekedays (not mental weekends) and spend time getting your buoyancy perfected. You should be able to hold a stop at any depth without too much deviation (for deco stops where you are limited to ceilings) and launching an SMB in free water is a must do for the wreck diving.

Practice practice practice and then practice some more. Get decent kit........I know I have mentioned what I own, but Halcyon, custom divers, Salvo and god knows how many others offer the same kit for more or less the same prices - it's personal choice, so get what suits you. The stuff I use when diving is pretty much listed here.....all or most of gets used on the dives I do.

Find a like minded buddy who dives like you do, and likes the same stuff and practice lots, with them.

Bear in mind that you are going to get blown out, and that viz will no doubt be crap sometimes, but the wait is worth it. A great wreck in great viz makes it all worthwhile.

Last of all......be safe. It's just a wreck. Don't go all mad and try to get a souvenir at the price of your safety.

Bear in mind that wiser men than me will contribute, take what you like from my comments and do the same to others' comments, and you will go on from there - it's what i did, and it worked for me.

[milldog]

Good solid advice from scubajay ...

my kit i use is

halcyon pathfinder wreck reel 140 meters two 40m back up spools
twin 18's or 20's back gas (you use a lot of gas wilding the hammer and crowbar)
lift bags 90kg and 45 kg
SMB's Red (normal) Yellow (gas problem) and second red for redundant lift
2x VR3 computers, compass and bottom timer with tables in pocket
2x Ali 80 stages plus a drop AL 80 on the boat
al40 with 100% on boat
the crowbar and hammer of course
p Valve Needed for long deco
straps and cord for lift bags, food bag (Lobbys & Crabs)
21w agir brok umbilical light 4.5 hours burn time
back up torch, two knifes snips and line cutter
slate and wet notes

and 1 X "Warmwaterdiver" Backup

but get training from a good source Mark Powell is a good start

dive safe Graham

[milldog]

Originally Posted by Woz

Dive with some wreck divers and learn from them. They're the ones that come up covered in rust after dives.

Ill vouch for that last time i was on a boat with Woz he come up looking like a scrap metal dealer covered in rust and it was only the Scylla ????

[Lou]

The reel with the lever is a bog standard ratchet reel, which is perfectly fine for sending up SMB's. Without wishing to be rude, perhaps learning to use the gear that you have should be the first step - of you want to get into wreck diving and include deco and penetration work then sending up an SMB should be the sort of skill that is second nature to you.

All the best

Lou

Rather than get all the kit I would recommend finding yourself a mentor, or an instructor who does the sort of diving to which you aspire, and learn a bit about what you want to do, before rushing in with both feet/fins!