Must Have Accessories?

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by terrillja

this sort of falls under accessories, spring straps. I never understood why eveyone was always raving about them, I got a pair of fins with them and now I know why. They are the single best scuba purchase I have ever made. The fins are on and off in a heartbeat and there is nothing to break. Being able to get your fins off quickly becomes very important if you are doing drift dives, since the boat can't really wait for you to get your fins off. When the boat gets there to pick you up, you had better get on quickly, and spring straps help a ton with getting the fins off quickly.

Yup. My buddy (who has easily twice as many dives as I do, mostly shore dives) broke a strap as we were getting in, just past the surf zone, on his 6 month old fins on a dive Thursday night. Fortunately, he was able to get back out, and had just enough strap left to move it around and get through the dive. I was stunned he didn't have spring straps, since he did at one point ... turns out he had planned to add them, but hadn't gotten around to it yet "since the fins were so new". I now officially hate rubber straps. And yet I may have to stick a spare in my save-a-dive kit for others who insist on going without, or I risk their cheapness scrubbing MY dive...

[doczerothree]

Surgical tubing and Rescue tape Rescue Tape Self-Fusing Silicone Tape ~ The Ultimate Multi-Purpose Repair Tape! this stuff is amazing!!

[mentalmarine]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Yup. My buddy (who has easily twice as many dives as I do, mostly shore dives) broke a strap as we were getting in, just past the surf zone, on his 6 month old fins on a dive Thursday night. Fortunately, he was able to get back out, and had just enough strap left to move it around and get through the dive. I was stunned he didn't have spring straps, since he did at one point ... turns out he had planned to add them, but hadn't gotten around to it yet "since the fins were so new". I now officially hate rubber straps. And yet I may have to stick a spare in my save-a-dive kit for others who insist on going without, or I risk their cheapness scrubbing MY dive...

<----guilty with the rubber straps, but why must they be so damn expensive!!! They are just springs!

[terrillja]

Originally Posted by mentalmarine

<----guilty with the rubber straps, but why must they be so damn expensive!!! They are just springs!

My way of looking at it when making a purchase- will it improve my diving experience, and if my current or future gear fails, what will it cost. Spring straps won't break, so if you break a rubber strap on say a $50 charter, the spring straps would have been paid for. Oh, and they WILL improve your diving experience, both from shore and boats. So quick to get on and off....

[terrillja]

also FWIW, you can DIY your own spring straps if you'd like, I just went with the OMS ones @ $40. Money well spent.

[mentalmarine]

Well I know what I am getting if I ever get up to 250 posts

[terrillja]

Originally Posted by mentalmarine

Well I know what I am getting if I ever get up to 250 posts

That's what I said too, then I got a camera package, a wetsuit, new fins, and other small accessories. Grand total: $1080.00.

The GC helped ease the pain, but just a bit.

[mentalmarine]

Originally Posted by terrillja

That's what I said too, then I got a camera package, a wetsuit, new fins, and other small accessories. Grand total: $1080.00.

The GC helped ease the pain, but just a bit.

lol geez! Well I just bought a bunch of stuff last week, so I think the wife would kill me if I spent more than spring straps

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by terrillja

My way of looking at it when making a purchase- will it improve my diving experience, and if my current or future gear fails, what will it cost. Spring straps won't break, so if you break a rubber strap on say a $50 charter, the spring straps would have been paid for. Oh, and they WILL improve your diving experience, both from shore and boats. So quick to get on and off....

Agreed. Rubber straps have actual, known tendency to break without failure. There are exceptions that last for a long time, but all too often, they do break. Why do you think replacement fin straps are the #1 thing included in every commercial save-a-dive kit?

The spring straps on my fins were $32... not all brands are expensive (EZ Spring Straps from DiveSports, in my case). That's not too much to spend to increase the odds of saving even one dive over the next 10 years or so.

[Dive Rong]

I like to carry a couple of Glo Toob FXs. Always one on my BC in case I float away into the night (g_d forbid)... The other for marking a reference point on night dives.