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Dave thanks for the info on wreck kit. I've just started the retrieval portion of my dive career ;} Brought up a 90# steel winch pulley from 170'. From now on, I'm looking for smaller, more manageable items. I assume a bolster is the same as a chisel? Do you take a hacksaw and, if so, how do you keep the blade covered. I'd like to carry a small hacksaw but want some sort of sheath for the blade to avoid cutting my dry suit. I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments. Tom David Shimell (shimell) wrote: > Lawrence > > Nice to hear from you again. This is what I have done, maybe someone has > done better or can contribute to the approach. (Sorry for the > verbosity.) > > Firstly, my wrecking kit mentioned here is a crowbar of about 0.6 m > (24"), a lump hammer of 4 lb. (I don't bother with toffee picks), and a > bolster of 2" width. The 2" bolster is ideal as it is easy to position > on an object without slipping off but not too large to create clutter in > the pocket. I have carried other kit for specific tasks but this is the > basic. I keep the bolster in my suit pocket but am working on an > alternative location to keep the pocket clear. (A Winter project.) > Always keep the bolster sharp. > > Firstly, the lump hammer. > > The lump hammer is kept in a home made "pouch" on the harness webbing, > currently on the RHS where the canister torch would go. It sits head up, > handle down. As I am buying a Gavin light, I shall probably move the > pouch to the LHS, behind the waist D-Ring (I have not yet tried this). > The important thing is that it sits far back, near the backplate and out > of the way. The pouch has a loop through which the waist harness belt > goes and it is currently kept in place by a buckle just like the canister > torch would be. > > I have made this sort-of-builders-pouch from 2" harness webbing this took > 2 hours but now I have a hand sowing machine so my next model should be > quick to make. Here is how to build it (I hate to say sew :)). > > Form a loop of webbing large enough for the handle to go through but not > the head. Stitch Velcro to the section that will face the outside. The > next bit is hard to describe but the idea is that you have a length of > webbing that acts as a flap from the rear (close to your waist belt), > goes over the top of the hammer head and then Velcros to the front loop > made earlier. Clearly flap has Velcro stitched on as well. Make sure > there is plenty of Velcro to ensure easy, and firm closure. Also, make > sure the flap protrudes below the outside bottom of the loop so that it > can easily be lifted with gloved hands. Stitch this flap so that it also > acts as a second loop for the harness waist belt to pass through. > > The idea is to have the hammer head level with the waist belt webbing as > the centre of gravity is high otherwise it will flap around and be > annoying. > > Next the crowbar. > > The crowbar is easy: get a section of waste water piping (1.5 inch, I > think) cut to slightly longer than the length of the crowbar, this acts > as a sheath - just like a sword. Fix two dog clips (AKA bolt snaps, > piston clips) to the piping and carry the arrangement as a stage on the > LHS. Put this on before your stages so it sits close to the body, > allowing the stages to find their own attitude as they streamline > themselves. > > The crowbar must be selected to fit by friction *alone* into the piping. > Not all do this - most are too tight. Shop around and you should find > one that is fine and buy several. The handle of the crowbar (the bit for > getting nails out) does protrude and is a point where nagging can happen. > So make sure it is close in to your body and is slotted right into the > pipe as far as possible. The "handle" is easily accessible and visible > so snagging is not really a problem. Make sure there are no rough or > sharp points on this end of the crowbar as you may cut yourself or more > importantly your suit :). > > And finally the ancillary kit. > > Lift bags (up to four) and goodie bags (1) sit on the back gas cylinders. > They are folded into long tubes slightly longer than the gap between the > bands. Strops and clips are pre-connected but wrapped up inside so they > do not snag. Each bag is kept tidy using the same sized inner tube as > used to retain the Barry Miller backup lights to the harness. These are > cut thinner (e.g. 10 mm) so that they can be easily removed underwater. > On each back gas cylinder I have two truck inner tube strips about 1" > wide. The top sits under but near the top cylinder band, the lower under > or over (but near) the lower band. Pre-packed lift bags sit under these > truck inner tubes. The method of deployment is to pull the lower part of > the pre-packed lift bag outwards from under the lower tube and then pull > down to get it out of the top tube. This is real easy. > > Try to have the bags as close to your body as possible as this will > minimise drag and allow the wings to wrap around better. The bags sit > well on the cylinders, do not come off and are out of the drag as the > wings wrap around them. The arrangement is clean. I only have one large > and tough (90 Kg) bag, the rest are 35 Kg Bowstones. > > The only problem I have had with this arrangement, common to stuffing the > long hose, is that once removed, the lift bags cannot be re-stowed to > their proper place. However, they can be stuffed under the waist belt to > the rear since they are thin tubes. But then who is going to get a bag > out and not lift their prize? > > As with all things only take what you need on a dive and this kit is not > taken on all my dives, only when "I'm on a mission". > > David Shimell > Project Manager, Sequent Computer Systems Ltd, Weybridge, UK > Email: shimell@se*.co* > > ---------- -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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