Why not attach spool to DSMB before the dive?

[bradlw]

Good gravy!

10+ minutes to get to this little macramé technique.

No way am I screwing around with that while underwater.

That spool is some janky alibaba crap, too.

ha ha...but it seems like you didn't pay attention to many of those minutes. The point was that he's NOT screwing around with anything underwater. THAT was the point!

and thanks @Wibble ! I was just coming back into this thread to post a follow-up question about how best to attach the spool to a DSMB that has a permanently attached snap! Mine is a Halcyon too! I like the swivel idea. Especially good if you practice deployment much...to minimize twist. When I was playing around trying to implement the Hickory SCUBA video idea, what I landed on was pretty close to your setup, except without the swivel.
The thing I was considering though, was trying to figure out a way to eliminate the double ender since there's already a bolt snap in the tangle.

Anyone else have ideas about that?

 

[Wibble]

The thing I was considering though, was trying to figure out a way to eliminate the double ender since there's already a bolt snap in the tangle.

There's two bolt snaps for a reason: one for the SMB and the other double-ender for knitting the string to the spool when it's bouncing up and down in front of you (as the SMB's umpteen metres/feet above you).

More knitting pics:

When I used to use the Apeks spool, which is heavier relative to a plastic spool, it would go up then fall down, but rolling as it went and sort of flying out to the side and bouncing the bolt snap. Hence needing the 'knitting'.

 

[bradlw]

ah yes...

ugh. I knew that. I was being obsessed with the idea of stowing it and deploying it...not thinking through actually using it during the ascent. ugh.

This deployable concept is rather new to me.... as I think I mentioned before, back when I was an active diver it was an optional thing....and those that carried them only had those little small things and at least nobody I ever knew or saw carried a spool or real for them. They were for use on the surface as a signaling device.

I did buy a little reel toward the end when I was getting into tech stuff, but that was as much for light-duty wreck penetration as it was for deploying the marker. I certainly never practiced it!

Anyway, the way you have yours rigged with the spool threaded through the bolt snap's ring, that snap isn't really being used and is in the way, right? Good I guess if you ever want to use it as a lift bag though.

 

[Wibble]

ah yes...

ugh. I knew that. I was being obsessed with the idea of stowing it and deploying it...not thinking through actually using it during the ascent. ugh.

This deployable concept is rather new to me.... as I think I mentioned before, back when I was an active diver it was an optional thing....and those that carried them only had those little small things and at least nobody I ever knew or saw carried a spool or real for them. They were for use on the surface as a signaling device.

I did buy a little reel toward the end when I was getting into tech stuff, but that was as much for light-duty wreck penetration as it was for deploying the marker. I certainly never practiced it!

Anyway, the way you have yours rigged with the spool threaded through the bolt snap's ring, that snap isn't really being used and is in the way, right? Good I guess if you ever want to use it as a lift bag though.

When you deploy it, you remove the double-ender bolt snap and clip it off to your chest D-ring. You then roll in the slack line before you unwrap the SMB — loose line is never good.

Once you unfurl the SMB, you can then hold the spigot (inflator tube) with your index finger with your thumb and middle finger through the spool. Thus you’ve a firm hold on both the spool and the SMB inflator.

Then disconnect your drysuit hose and push it onto the spigot with the other hand. Look around to check, then press hard to inflate the bag, hold it on for a good three or five seconds as it starts to pull you up, then release your index finger to release the SMB as the spool unwinds in your hand.

For bonus points re-attach the drysuit hose one-handed. Only joking; normally needs both hands!

Once the SMB has hit the surface spool in any slack; look around and off you go for your ascent, winding the line onto the spool as you go.

Once at the first stop, or safety stop if no deco, then clip the double ender onto the string with a couple of twists and let it go. Some photos from another thread…

DIR- GUE Post in thread 'Spool to SMB attachment'

Sep 22, 2021

Clip knitting...

This is the incredibly irritating problem with spools; they self-unclip when they bounce. The clip hits the spool and with the leverage opens the gate and the spool drops into Nelson's locker.

BTW this is exacerbated by the shiny, expensive design of the Apeks spools. They use a flat string which is great (the reel pictured has 60m/200' of line), but it slips through the boltsnap.

The only way I found to stop this happening was to assemble the clip like this.

• Wibble