The Dive Otter

My Dive Gear - Misc

AL40 Pony Bottle

  • For Lake Michigan dives over ~40ft
  • 38.8cft volume / 3000 psi nominal
  • ~1lb negative buoyancy when full
  • ~1lb positive buoyancy when "empty"
General Opinion: Haven't dove it yet

ScubaPro MK2/R195 (DIN)

  • Used on my AL40 Pony Bottle
  • The ubiquitous Pony/Stage/Deco Regulator
  • Piston First Stage (reliability)
  • High freeze resistance (free flow protection at depth)
  • One HP Port (so can't run SPG as well as AI)
  • Reversible Hose Attachment on 2nd Stage
General Opinion: Haven't dove it yet

Bare Reactive (7mm) - XLT

  • Good for me down to ~50F
  • 20lbs of positive buoyancy
General Opinion: Freaken awesome wetsuit. Absolutely love it. But I'd rather dive the drysuit if the temperature needs a 7mm.

Aqualung Seawave Hood (7/4mm) - XL



  • Worn whenever I'm diving my 7mm
General Opinion: No complaints. Easy to get on and off and keeps my head and ears toasty warm.

Poseidon "Chuck Taylor" style Dive Boot

  • Comfortable and easy to use
General Opinion: The original insole disintegrated after 10 dives and I had to replace it with an aftermarket insole that wasn't made of paper. Seriously guys? Paper? In a Dive Boot....that gets wet?

Dive Rite Trauma Shears

  • Stainless
General Opinion: I have used these to do line work in my home quarry. Easy for me to grab and re-sheath and no chance of cutting myself or any dive gear.

DAN Rescue Pak

  • M9 Cylinder (8.77 cuft : ~20min of delivery)
General Opinion: After doing approximately 30 dives at the local quarry and not seeing anyone with emergency O2 with them, and very sure that the local park district wouldn't have any, I bought my own and pre-position it before every dive.

Aqualung Aleutian Gloves (5mm) - Large



  • Worn when I don't want to dive dry gloves with my drysuit
General Opinion: They're not bad. Plenty of dexterity to do what I need under water. The stitching is not great after only 15 dives and I've had to apply a bit of wetsuit repair glue along some of the stitching as a preventative measure.

Spare Spools

  • 75ft (green)
  • 100ft (white)
General Opinion: So far used only for dive map mapping. But pre-rigged and ready to go

Dive Reel - Light Monkey (400ft)

  • 400ft (white)
General Opinion: Works great and easy to use with drysuit gloves

Long Hose Stick

  • A black piece of hard plastic that mimics a canister light for long-hose routing
General Opinion: Works as expected

Dryfob XL

General Opinion: Not used yet

OrcaTorch D530 (Spare Flashlight)

  • 8deg beam
  • 1300 lumens
General Opinion: I don't generally use this flashlight, but I have it with me in my "Save a Dive Kit" just in case my primary fails before the dive or my buddy forgot theirs or wants to try one.

OrcaTorch Dive Beacon (mini)

  • Used as a tank flasher in limited visibility
General Opinion: Most of my local quarry dives would be considered "low visibility" or "poor visibility" at best so I can run a tank flasher to make my dive buddy feel better about not losing me if needed.

Princeton Tec - Aqua Strobe

  • Used as a downline marker in limited visibility
General Opinion: Works great when diving in Lake Michigan


Dive Slate \w Graphite Pencil

General Opinion: They work great under water. You need to figure out how to store them so you don't look like a christmas tree and have pieces parts flapping about off your DRings. But I used one on multiple dives when mapping my local quarry.

Spare 3-1/2 ft dSMB

  • Dual-color Orange/Yellow
General Opinion: Perfect size for calm water deployment. Not too big and not too small. Have used it as a dive marker, a location marker and for dSMB deployment practice for safety stops. It does have a "push in" to inflate mouth piece which is a bit tricky to use under water. The Halcyon has a one way valve, so I prefer it.

xDeep dSMB (Orange) - Long (4-1/2 ft)

General Opinion: Only really carried when I want to have a secondary floatation device or a backup to my normal smaller dSMB. This dSMB has features that allows it to be used on the surface as a life ring.

XS Scuba 50lb Lift Bag (Yellow)

General Opinion: Have not used it yet

Diving Mirror

General Opinion: I've not dove with it much yet. So no real opinion.