For underwater communication, there is light communication and communication via hand signals. This is enough for 90% of all your dives. However, once you are no longer understandable, there is the so-called wetnotes. These are writable under water plastic pages, usually packed in a protective Cordura shell and used like a book.

As standard, wetnotes come with a strap, so that you can attach a bolt snap carabineer, a rubber strap that holds the closed Wetnotes and, depending on the design, diverse subject areas where you can store small items. Today I would like to report on the possibilities of fastening it and a few small parts:

Fastening the wetnotes

If you are equipped with dry suit pockets, then the Wetnotes can be snugly held in one of these pockets. How to knot a rubber band to the dry suit pocket, you can find in the appropriate post in this blog. These bands have the advantage that your individual equipment items can be fastened to it, and you will not lose it, when you need to take something out of your pockets.

For attaching a bolt snap to the wetnotes, there are two possibilities:

Possibility 1: Fastening with a bolt snap carabineer

In this first possibility, fasten your bolt snap carabineer to the loop of the Wetnotes. This type of attachment has the advantage that it is not easy to lose the Wetnotes and you can go into the pockets of your bags without accidently opening the wrong bolt snap and losing your Wetnotes. The disadvantage to this is, Wetnotes are hard to keep together and thus the handling will be a little harder.

Possibility 2: Fastening with a double ender

In this second possibility you attach a double ender to the loop of the Wetnotes. This has the advantage that you can use the double ender with the Wetnotes, and thus the Wetnotes will weigh less. The writing is easier. If you have little to no additional equipment in the Wetnotes, then you should swim without a clipped on carabineer on the Wetnotes.

Small items “in the wetnotes”

Each one of you will have only just got to the dive site or at the entrance to the dive site, when your equipment brakes. For those last minute repairs, it is useful to carry a few small items and tools in your Wetnotes. A few very useful “little things” I want to introduce you to, are the following:

Flat wrench wetnotes tool

The first tool, I want to introduce to you is marketed under the name “wetnotes tool”. Under this not very meaningful name, there is a tool hiding with four different wrenches. ?So you can, for example, with the second wrench, unscrew (or tighten) the regulator or you can unscrew one of the hoses. Be it because of a defect or because you want or need to spontaneously change something in on your hose routing.

Allen key

The next tool is an Allen key. This is needed to open, for example, the plugs on the first stage or to close them. Here, in the pictures on the right you can see two versions of it. ?The star-shaped tool offers three different sizes of Allen key. The tool is, however, very bulky and cannot be optimally secured. The lower tool is an IKEA key that has an indentation in the lower region, and thus securely attaches to the Wetnotes to be stored there and can save space.

Pens

Of course, pens must be in all wetnotes. Because without pens, writing is very difficult. Graphite pencils have been proven for use underwater. These resources should be used as opposed to normal pencils, which do not work underwater. With the diving knife, you can easily sharpen them.

Cable ties

Another must-have are cable ties. Its best to have them in different sizes. When the mouth piece comes loose at times, the bolt snap carabineer for the pressure gauge may come loose or if a part of the equipment must be fixed quickly, cable ties are a quick and easy solution. The protruding part of the cable tie can then be carefully (!) removed with the diving knife.

O-Rings

Even a small part that immediately breaks down at the start of the dive, the O-Ring is on the first step. It makes sense here to have one or two in the wetnotes. In order to protect the O-Rings from the direct influence of the water you should pack them in a small plastic bag with a snap closure. A spare O-Ring has already saved one or two dives!

Tables and insurance cards

My wetnotes have a viewing window the on the back, where a deco table fits perfectly in. So you can, if required, unpack the wetnotes during decompression and have a look at your deco table. You can also open and extract the wetnotes through the window.

Another small item, that I always have in the wetnotes is the plastic card for my dive insurance. Because if “something should happen” during a dive, then the card is nowhere worse, such as at home or in the car.

The above mentioned items are my gadgets, that I always have in my wetnotes. I know other divers that also take a spare mouthpiece and other stuff with them in their wetnotes!

What do you have in your wetnotes. Just leave a comment. Perhaps I will adjust the article with some interesting gadgets from you! 🙂