Ask your instructor to show you how to use the DSMB!

[Z Gear]

I wanted to take this opportunity to perhaps help those avoid not being familiar with something that I now consider an important item to be familiar with, the DSMB short for DEPLOYED SURFACE MARKER BUOY. I did not get trained on this item and the importance of using it was not stressed adequately in my opinion. This last weekend there were some close calls with some other divers who were in the water near us. It involved a life guard with a jet ski cruising to fast, near a surfacing diver. Whether its guys on a jets ski cruising, other dive boats or fishing boats its crucial that one be aware of the potential of an accident any where at any time. I just posted a thread on this topic under basic scuba about diver buoy and SMB/DSMB.

All it takes is one time for an accident of this kind to end it for you or your dive buddy. Don't assume you will get the training you need on this item, DSMB. Insist on it having your instructor show you how to properly use it and get in the habit of using this regularly if possible on every ascent.

You will be doing yourself and your group a favor, by getting this training now.

Frank G
Z GEAR - Z Gear

 

[tbone1004]

DSMB-Delayed Surface Market Buoy due to it only being deployed either when you begin your ascent, or quite commonly while on decompression/safety stops. If you are in a high traffic area and plan to stay relatively deep, say 40ft or more, check with local laws on whether you have to tow a dive flag or not as it greatly restricts boat traffic *At least in theory*

quite often the DSMB's are used for boats to come find you or to relay messages back to the boat about being on decompression or whatever. Make sure to check local laws as DSMB's are usually only used when your surface vessel is displaying a dive flag, Florida is particularly anal, California not so much...

 

[Hawkwood]

Use of an SMB (or DSMB) is a requirement in PADI's OW program. Students don't have to ask.

 

[boulderjohn]

The DSMB is surprisingly new to the world of recreational scuba. When I first started diving, I did most of my diving in Cozumel, a popular dive site ideally suited to DSMB use. When I first started diving there, I never saw anyone using one, even the DMs. Within a few years, though, they were being used by every DM on every dive. It was only about 5 years ago that PADI started requiring deploying the DSMB as a skill for divemaster candidates. I don't know about other recreational diving agencies.

Why is that important? Because it is very possible that your local instructor has never performed this skill! If your instructor went through the DM training prior to the last 5 years, and if that instructor has done most of his or her personal diving in the many places in the world where DSMBs are rarely used, then it is even possible that the instructor has never seen it done. This might be one of those rare instances where you might be better off looking for skill demonstrations on the Internet and practicing by yourself in a pool. That practice is important, because the skill is trickier than it looks. The danger is tangling the line and going up unexpectedly with the DSMB.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2015 at 09:05 AM ----------

Use of an SMB (or DSMB) is a requirement in PADI's OW program. Students don't have to ask.

But it can be just done on the surface (SMB).

 

[Z Gear]

DSMB-Delayed Surface Market Buoy due to it only being deployed either when you begin your ascent, or quite commonly while on decompression/safety stops. If you are in a high traffic area and plan to stay relatively deep, say 40ft or more, check with local laws on whether you have to tow a dive flag or not as it greatly restricts boat traffic *At least in theory*

quite often the DSMB's are used for boats to come find you or to relay messages back to the boat about being on decompression or whatever. Make sure to check local laws as DSMB's are usually only used when your surface vessel is displaying a dive flag, Florida is particularly anal, California not so much...

I wanted to stress the fact that this to me is more to do with what to do to avoid getting killed than rules or laws. This last weekend my eyes were opened to the importance of this because of another diver who was also diving near us at La Jolla shores. She posted on her face book page:

"Posting because this freaked me out this weekend while diving the Cove and seeing a lifeguard charge past me on a jetski out near Buoy A - he was going so fast he wouldn't have been able to see a diver just surfacing and could've hit someone."

It doesn't matter if it was a life guard who forgot the rules or a fishing boat etc... The fact that all it takes is any vessel to be cruising over you while you are surfacing to end it for you or your dive buddy. Why not make things safer by making this a vital safety practice on all your ascents. At least we should stress it like this from the start. Experience might help other divers be more lax on this, although I really don't think anyone is exempt from a potential incident. Besides its not like there is going to be less boats or jetskis in the water! Some might view this as an extra safety precaution that is not really necessary because they never really had a close call or heard of anyone they know that did. Out of sight out of mind. But that is no longer true in my case.

 

[TSandM]

I'm not sure that DSMB deployment should be taught in OW. I'm dubious about teaching things to OW students that have a significant probability of causing harm, and a blown SMB deployment from depth certainly has that. Successfully deploying an SMB from underwater requires good buoyancy control while task-loaded, something which is not the new diver's strong suit -- AND the typical time to do it is in midwater, which makes it harder. If you get distracted and fail to notice you are going up, you could end up in an uncontrolled ascent. If you fail to get the bag out away from you, and keep the line away from you, you could get dragged up.

I think an OW diver, diving in an area where a surface marker is necessary, should be towing a float or diving in a guided group with someone who is either towing a float or has the skill to deploy a bag. Once buoyancy has solidified and some tolerance for task-loading is shown, the skill should be taught, so AOW is a reasonable place to put it.

When I did Fundies the first time, out of the six students, the instructor only deemed three ready to learn the skill, and no one executed it perfectly.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why does CA not require towing a dive flag on shore dives, as FL does? Shooting an SMB on ascent is great, but towing a flag might be even safer.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2015 at 12:05 PM ----------

When I did Fundies the first time, out of the six students, the instructor only deemed three ready to learn the skill, and no one executed it perfectly.

Tee hee. Same here. On my first attempt at Fundies, the instructor didn't even bother having any of the four of us attempt to shoot an SMB, since we were SO out of control in the water, even after four days of instruction. But he demonstrated it to us. My wife and I spent some time on our own practicing. When we returned for, uh, remedial Fundies we nailed it. I cannot imagine having to have learned it in OW class. In OW class I had enough trouble keeping it straight in my head which button was inflate and which was dump, etc.

 

[mselenaous]

The DSMB is surprisingly new to the world of recreational scuba. When I first started diving, I did most of my diving in Cozumel, a popular dive site ideally suited to DSMB use. When I first started diving there, I never saw anyone using one, even the DMs. Within a few years, though, they were being used by every DM on every dive. It was only about 5 years ago that PADI started requiring deploying the DSMB as a skill for divemaster candidates. I don't know about other recreational diving agencies.

Why is that important? Because it is very possible that your local instructor has never performed this skill! If your instructor went through the DM training prior to the last 5 years, and if that instructor has done most of his or her personal diving in the many places in the world where DSMBs are rarely used, then it is even possible that the instructor has never seen it done. This might be one of those rare instances where you might be better off looking for skill demonstrations on the Internet and practicing by yourself in a pool. That practice is important, because the skill is trickier than it looks. The danger is tangling the line and going up unexpectedly with the DSMB.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2015 at 09:05 AM ----------



But it can be just done on the surface (SMB).

I'll agree with that. I was not exposed to a DSMB until after I was an OW instructor. And when I got to South Florida where almost every dive is a drift dive (Jupiter/WPB/FLL), every student on a boat was required to have one on every dive. At that point I had to start teaching students to use them from OW on, starting in the pool with surface inflation (PADI has since added is to standards). And again from depth in the CW. I only require my OW students to attempt it once in OW usually the last dive so that he/she can experience task loading and situation awareness issues. Some of course take to it easier than others. This becomes the emphasis for practice practice practice.
I recently had an AOW diver that I was guiding, who had read about using DSMBs and asked me to show him during the dives. And he made 1/2 of all the typical mistakes on the first dive, and the other 1/2 of the typical mistakes on the second dive.
Shooting a DSMB is a skill that takes practice to develop it and needs to be practiced periodically to stay adept.

 

[cocoajoe]

I also don't know if new divers could (safely) handle it. But it is very important to learn asap particularly here in Florida where drift dives are the norm.
I was probably 40 or so dives in when I attempted my first try. Dropped the spool and scrubbed the attempt. Practiced several times (self taught) in shallow water and wondered why I thought it was so hard.
Well, it's not really hard just something new that you have to do a few times to get the hang of it.

 

[Z Gear]

Why does CA not require towing a dive flag on shore dives, as FL does? Shooting an SMB on ascent is great, but towing a flag might be even safer.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2015 at 12:05 PM ----------



Tee hee. Same here. On my first attempt at Fundies, the instructor didn't even bother having any of the four of us attempt to shoot an SMB, since we were SO out of control in the water, even after four days of instruction. But he demonstrated it to us. My wife and I spent some time on our own practicing. When we returned for, uh, remedial Fundies we nailed it. I cannot imagine having to have learned it in OW class. In OW class I had enough trouble keeping it straight in my head which button was inflate and which was dump, etc.

I would think towing a dive flag for the most part in CA would be difficult because of kelp. DSMB is much better.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ----------

I am kind of puzzeld why most think it is something to difficult to teach for new students, especially when their is a program out there that consider this to be a requirement and has no problem with it "PADI".