Ok, this is a shameless plug for one of the best ideas that has came out in a while. This is first hand experience with one heck of a safety item you should consider buying.

Mantus, yes the company that sells that very nice anchor and snubber set, produced a miniature scuba pack set that is ideal for cruisers. We purchased a set a couple of years back.

This is a necessity for cruisers in my opinion. A small package and footprint size scuba set, it has been great now in two different seasons of use. We mentioned it before, but after using it again today, wanted to toss it back out there again.

We managed to kill a crab trap in the area of Marathon for the third time passing that area. Then following a rather abrupt soft grounding in Bimini, I needed to check the bottom and running gear.

The currents in Bimini can make it rough getting into the water and out again with a full SCUBA set. This is where the Mantus Scuba set worked its magic. A simple backpack and 19 cu ft tank, it will provide around twenty minutes of down time to retrieve anchors. Clear fouled props or check for any damages from soft grounding.

Dove the boat today, and without a doubt, one of the top 10 items i would recommend. Cleared the rope from the prop in five minutes and checked bottom for issues (found O).

Dove to find this…

So it was a breeze with the Mantus. Easy in and more importantly, easy to get out with under 10 pounds on your back! Being a long term diver, I favor this over the big complex dive sets because it allows me to rapidly check out any issues without pulling all the gear out for a 8 ft deep dive!

Consider this a important piece of safety gear to add to your equipment.