3.75' Safety sausage question

[Spencermm]

So, for a late Christmas gift my sister gives me a safety sausage, for which I am truely grateful.(I've never used a SS- too new still) I noticed on the packaging that it came in 72" or 45", or 6' and 3.75'. She got the 45".
Question 1- is this thing going to be tall enough to do much good? Obviously it would be better than nothing, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off getting the 6' one.
Question 2- I read where the 6 foot one has enough lift that it can be used as a safety stop anchor. I'm guessing that the 3.75 does not have enough lift for the same use. True?
Thanks Folks,
Spencer

 

[Garrobo]

A four-footer would be visible in low seas but if the waves got going it might be hard for the captain to see it. "Safety stop anchor"? Would you explain this? It might possibly help you from sinking a little but a small shot of air in your BC would do the same thing.

 

[Spencermm]

Sure Garroba, I will copy/paste from a Scubatoys site re: the 6' SS:
"It can also be used for making a hanging safety or deco stop by simply tying on a 15 foot piece of line - and it has 14 lbs of lift - in case you need extra buoyancy in case of a BC failure."

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Even though the universal idea that bigger is better is not always true, in this case it is.......the 45 is adequate especially if you are not far from the dive boat and the seas are calm....however the rougher the surface and further away from the pickup spot "bigger is definitely better".......ditto Garrobo's "what do you mean safety stop anchor?"

 

[dab]

"what do you mean safety stop anchor?"

If you get blown off a wreck/dive site, you can shoot a 6' bag to the surface and do your deco/safety stops without fear of pulling it under should you put much downward pressure on it.

 

[Spencermm]

CajunCru, see above response to Garroba.

 

[Rand]

You might want to pick up a copy of Scuba Diving magazine's October 2007 issue. In it they talked about different SMBs and audible signalling devices and gave a range of effectiveness for each.

If you want to save a few bucks on purchasing the issue, the short of it is a 45 inch SMB was tested as being able to be seen up to 1/4 mile away. As a comparison, a 6 foot SMB was able to be seen 1/2 mile away. The testing was done in relatively calm seas, with 1-2 foot swells.

As for the buoyancy/lift of the SMBs, I can't really give you a good answer on that. Obviously the larger the volume, the more lift. I've never had to use mine for a saftey stop reference. I think the selling point of having more lift in case of BC failure is stretching it a bit as I think that would be an extremely rare situation.

I have the DAN 6 foot SMB and like it, however it is a bit of a hassle to stow. It is about 3-4 inches in diameter even when folded as tight as I can get it. I had to rig up my own strap system to find a convienient place to stow it as there was no way it would fit in a pocket. So, you should also consider how you plan to carry the SMB and figure in the stowed dimensions when choosing what size to get.

Scubatoys is a great company and I'm sure if you contact them and explain your concerns they would be able to guide you in the right direction.

 

[Barracuda2]

Get the 6' sausage. In this case, bigger is better. Also, you need to really practice using this thing. Mentally, it seems easy; but physically can be challenging.----unclipping the spool or reel, inflating without being drug up---especially doing a safety stop when up is not where you want to go---exhaling before you deploy really helps here; keeping from getting entangled in the line; clipping off your spool or reel once it's deployed. These practice sessions must be done in open water at a depth of around 25 to 30' so the sausage will stand upright when it hits the surface. 8' to 10' in a pool just doesn't work; you can't really get enough air in without it taking you to the surface. Last, depending how much air you got into at depth and how much it expanded going up, you may have to add air to it on the surface so it stands up to for best visibility. There's really a lot going on here.

 

[Jim Kerr]

So, for a late Christmas gift my sister gives me a safety sausage, for which I am truely grateful.(I've never used a SS- too new still) I noticed on the packaging that it came in 72" or 45", or 6' and 3.75'. She got the 45".
Question 1- is this thing going to be tall enough to do much good? Obviously it would be better than nothing, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off getting the 6' one.
Question 2- I read where the 6 foot one has enough lift that it can be used as a safety stop anchor. I'm guessing that the 3.75 does not have enough lift for the same use. True?
Thanks Folks,
Spencer

The 6' SMB is the prefered length. You want to be visible in rough seas and from "afar" if you surface and find the boat looks like a spec.

On a recent trip there were only two of us that had 6 footers, everyone else had 3.5 footers. The boat Capt pointed us out to the rest and told them that, that is the type they need to carry. He said if things get rough, I can see those but I may not see your's.

 

[diver 85]

So, for a late Christmas gift my sister gives me a safety sausage, for which I am truely grateful.(I've never used a SS- too new still) I noticed on the packaging that it came in 72" or 45", or 6' and 3.75'. She got the 45".
Question 1- is this thing going to be tall enough to do much good? Obviously it would be better than nothing, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off getting the 6' one.
Question 2- I read where the 6 foot one has enough lift that it can be used as a safety stop anchor. I'm guessing that the 3.75 does not have enough lift for the same use. True?
Thanks Folks,
Spencer

Where do you plan on using it???...I see you're in SE Texas.. If, for instance, you're thinkiing of the Flower Gardens, it's probably too 'short'---but don't worry, they give you one @ no charge( they hold your C Card for it & exchange them out on the way back in).If you're talking about fresh water diving, it's probably fine for any lake you'll be diving....Think about where you'll be diving, IMO it'll probably do just fine......