Deco divers and yellow emergency SMB

[tbone1004]

I carry a small orange DSS DSMB. Boat knows to look at it and see if it comes up with any notes on it, but it is all discussed beforehand.

FWIW it would be extremely uncommon to be requesting more gas on a deco stop. That is not something generally practiced but if you even think it might happen, bring an extra O2 bottle and have it on the hangline, not something you ask someone to drop down to you

 

[Wookie]

I carry a small orange DSS DSMB. Boat knows to look at it and see if it comes up with any notes on it, but it is all discussed beforehand.

FWIW it would be extremely uncommon to be requesting more gas on a deco stop. That is not something generally practiced but if you even think it might happen, bring an extra O2 bottle and have it on the hangline, not something you ask someone to drop down to you

If you have a hangline, you are unlikely to be shooting a bag. DSMBs are typically for drifting decos, not moored decos.

 

[JohnnyC]

Shoot a second bag on the same line in an emergency, WITH A SLATE. The nature of emergencies can be such that simply indicating an emergency is useless, you HAVE to convey information. And all the boat needs to know is that if they see two SMB's on the same line, check it out post haste. Everything else flows from there.

Reiterating what has been stated, there's no standard for color. I just happen to have one orange and one yellow. The yellow is easier to shoot because I can fill it with gas several different ways. It also happens to be easier to see. If I'm on a deco stop and someone starts sending down tanks on top of me because they think there's an emergency and they think they know how to fix it, they're gonna have a real hard time when I get back on the boat.

 

[ajduplessis]

Orange is more visible than yellow especially out on the water. I therefore use 2 large orange SMB's . Each buoy gets a strip of danger tape tied to the top. The tape is removed before deployment to indicate all is OK. If the buoy surface with the tape still attached the support divers now which diver is having trouble.

 

[KenGordon]

Black is the new black. AP Self-sealing SMB with Easifil Adaptor | AP Diving

In the UK a yellow SMB means whatever you arranged with the skipper. Generally that is send more gas. For that to work for sure you need to have left more gas on the boat. This generally is enough of the time to mean that you will never see a yellow otherwise and some inland sites explicitly ban yellow ones for non emergency use. Two smbs on a single line is usually taken to mean there is some unspecified problem.

If a skipper dropped gas to a diver with a yellow SMB here and the diver gave him a hard time over it then I think the popular vote would be with letting that diver find their own way home.

 

[Freewillow]

Thank you all for your very interesting answers.

Let me explain one or two things:

I am mostly diving with french divers, so I understand that the "yellow" smb is not a US related issue. Of course, everytime I am doing a deco dive, I make sure that the safety items are on board. This, for me includes a tank with first and second stage on a 15 feet rope almost everytime. I make sure that "emergency signals" are understood by the crew. Until now, it was two SMB together at the surface.

Please note that I wrote: "in case of emercency, such as, need for supplemental air or EANx.....................". This, in my mind, meant for "all" emergencies and of course a wetnote or slate should be attached to the SMB. However, I believe that the highest probability for emergency would be to ask for extra deco gaz, especially in the case of deco bottles.

 

[currier]

Although not ‘standard‘, I was taught to shoot an orange DSMB when leaving the bottom (or first switch), and that a yellow was reserved for emergencies. We trained with lost gas drills and had spares sent down the line from the boat upon request.

One 40 lb. orange
One ~20 lb. yellow

 

[tbone1004]

If you have a hangline, you are unlikely to be shooting a bag. DSMBs are typically for drifting decos, not moored decos.

hence the boat looking for a note that comes up with it to figure out why it was shot.... I don't shoot them often, don't plan on shooting them often, but if they see one come up, then they know to look for a note on it requesting something.

 

[tursiops]

Orange is more visible than yellow especially out on the water.

Maybe not. Recent tests say yellow. Here are the tests (I can find).
Oldest: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/manuals/Study of Detectability of Colored Targets.pdf
Newer: Diver emergency surface location devices - OpenGrey
Divernet summary of the newer test: Can anybody see me ? - Divernet
Newest test: WorkSafeBC.com
Any florescent color is better than any non-florescent color.

I've got florescent orange for my primary safety sausage, but when it dies I'm going with florescent yellow.

I'm in the send-up-another-SMB-on-the-same-line-with-a-note-and-discuss-it-beforehand school.

 

[JohnnyC]

If a skipper dropped gas to a diver with a yellow SMB here and the diver gave him a hard time over it then I think the popular vote would be with letting that diver find their own way home.

That's the problem, there is no standard, so unless you've explicitly made prior arrangements that a yellow SMB means send more gas, it's a no go. If a skipper sends gas anyway without any prior arrangement, he'll be finding his own way back to his own boat. Where the boat is may either be at the top of the ladder, or back at the dock, depending on how apologetic he is for potentially killing a diver. It's not his life on the line, and I don't know any divers who would be ok with a captain randomly throwing tanks down a line because he thinks he knows.

Next time you're hanging from a bag, imagine getting hit in the head with a tank on the way down. Maybe nothing would happen, maybe your buddy gets knocked unconscious, reg comes out, with a 2 hour deco obligation. If a captain assumes a diver wants gas, what's to keep him from assuming they want it fast and throw 20 pounds of weight on it to sink it fast.

Again, SINCE THERE IS NO STANDARD, PRE-DIVE COMMUNICATION IS A MUST. I don't ever foresee a situation in like this in my diving as I explicitly state any communication protocols before any technical dive. If a captain wants a certain set of communications protocols before a dive, he needs to state them. Assuming is what gets people killed.

Or, as an industry, the training agencies need to standardize on a color.