When to blow your bag?

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dave22387

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Question for some of you deco guys out there. When I went through my tech and deco courses I was taught to blow my bag for deco during the ascent prior to reaching my first stop. I would like to know on a deco dive when do you guys blow your bag (prior to stop on the way up, at the stop, etc...)? Also reel or spool preferred? Thanks guys!
 
easier to shoot from deeper, and reel is the way to go. i shoot at end of BT before ascending or maybe at deepest deco stop if really deep bottom and wanting to get shallower fast. u try shoot bag from 300' with a spool and see how goes :)
 
Obviously you would need a primary reel in that case... Given the chance to use a reel or spool what would you "prefer"

---------- Post added March 26th, 2014 at 07:36 PM ----------

From say 70'
 
Obviously you would need a primary reel in that case... Given the chance to use a reel or spool what would you "prefer"

From say 70'

Depends on depth and current. I learned the hard way once how much scope you may need on a bag when you're doing deco in heavy current. On deeper dives I almost always have a primary reel with me.
 
Every situation is different.... but I subscride to the theory of shooting shallow if in a mild current, with a spool. If the current is ripping, shooting deep so the chase boat can follow is a really good idea. I am prepared to do either on every dive, spool in pocket, reel clipped off.
Eric
 
Obviously you would need a primary reel in that case... Given the chance to use a reel or spool what would you "prefer"

---------- Post added March 26th, 2014 at 07:36 PM ----------

From say 70'

spreel if no reason to carry 400-800' reel, reel if i have it anyway. why mess with spool when u can climb the spreel/reel, lock it off, and hang under it 4 stops?
 
I use a spool but I don't dive to the extreme depths that some of these guys do so my deco obligations are normally pretty mild by comparison and I never have mandatory stops deeper than about 12 metres.

As for when to send up the bag, it depends on circumstances but as a general rule unless there is a compelling reason to do it any deeper I'll usually wait until I've reached either 18m or the first stop longer than 1 min and do it from there.

The reason for 18m is because that's the stop where I normally (anally) wait on my clock to synchronize with my depth (my clock doesn't count seconds) so I can do accurate 1 min stops starting from that point. Normally this means that I have anywhere from 1-2 min at 18m which is lots of time to launch the blob. This is all Nitrox diving, mind you, so if you're diving deep it might not be the best strategy.

If I don't do it at 18m then I prefer to focus on making the ascent as tight as I can and wait until the first longer stop to launch the blob. On balance I think shallower is less hassle.

R..
 
As soon as practical.

We drifted a total of 2 miles from the wreck last weekend. That's a fair bit of distance for a boat to spot a little orange tube if you dillydally.

This^^^

Get that bag on the surface and save your captain some undue stress.
 
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