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

[TMHeimer]

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.

Makes sense. I demonstrated deploying one on an OW checkout dive last year and observed all 6 students pretty much ace it. But as you say, this was from on the bottom at 20+ feet, not deeper/mid water, etc. And it was the "best" OW class I have assisted with.

 

[Z Gear]

Actually it does as of the latest OW Update last Fall. It's on page 60 of the latest Instructor Manual.

Inflatable Signal Tube Use — Deploy an inflatablesignal tube at the surface, or deploy a delayed surface
marker buoy (DSMB) from underwater.​

Every diver needs to know how to use them. Divers become separated from groups all the time. You don't know where an individual diver will have the opportunity to dive, so better to be prepared than surprised or worse...lost.

I recall a thread about a group in Cozumel with a DM that the boat captain lost. They swam for several hours to make it back to shore...only 2 of the 9 divers had SMBs. Image if all 9 had deployed them on the surface the big cluster of bright orange would have made it easier to be found.

Thanks for making this point and for focusing on the safety benefits that this brings to all divers, and especially new divers!

 

[decompression]

Read posts 12 and 13.

Thanks.......so as long as you can blow up a balloon, you're golden....[emoji3]


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[Searcaigh]

If I owned a dive shop there, I would require every diver to carry one. If they don't own one, they could buy one from me or rent one at a minor cost. When I was diving in Australia last year, we were not only required to carry one, we were required to carry Nautilus Lifelines.

Exactly what I would do too, personally I think it should be mandatory for everyone who dives from a boat to carry one.

Last year whilst diving solo off a boat off Dubai, the owner gave me a Nautilus Lifeline to carry during the dives just in case, I thought that was pretty cool, no charge either.

 

[Redshift]

They were mandatory when I did a Red Sea liveaboard.

 

[rivers]

you don't need to ask an instructor necessarily on DSMB use. My mentor taught me. There were many, many dives where I would shoot several DSMBs in a row to gain proficiency and competence.

 

[mselenaous]

Exactly what I would do too, personally I think it should be mandatory for everyone who dives from a boat to carry one.

Last year whilst diving solo off a boat off Dubai, the owner gave me a Nautilus Lifeline to carry during the dives just in case, I thought that was pretty cool, no charge either.

Here in the Keys, divers are required by shops to have an SMB (or rent one) for all dives on the Speigel Grove or Duane due to sometimes strong & unpredictable currents. Divers have been blown off the wreck and the boat can't leave the mooring ball to chase them until all the other divers are aboard. Better to have that SMB so the Capt can keep eyes on you until he can get to you.

The Rosio del Mar in the Sea of Cortez also issues Nautilus Lifelines to all passengers for the duration of the trip, as does of course, Nautilus Explorer & Belle Amie.

 

[Storker]

Successfully deploying an SMB from underwater requires good buoyancy control while task-loaded, something which is not the new diver's strong suit

Anecdote time:

On the PPB dive during my AOW course, I brought my newly aquired dSMB. I asked the instructor about shooting it before we did the dive, and when we'd finished the stuff he'd planned, I was allowed to shoot it. Or, rather, try to shoot it.

Have you seen those Youtube videos on how not to do it? I'm grateful that no-one brought a video camera, because I did almost every one of the mistakes you see in those videos and had to ask my instructor to untangle me after my uncontrolled ascent.

It was a great lesson in humility...


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[jonhall]

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.

Leads me to the question of, is there continuing education for DM/instructors who were trained in earlier years. As a retired teacher from Indiana, after getting my masters degree, my teaching license became a lifetime license. In the last 20 or so years, that changed so that all new teachers coming into the field had to take some form of continuing education every year.

Is there a requirement in scuba diver training? I know there isn't for OW and AOW, but probably should be.

And should every level of diver have to be required to update at some point to be re-certified, kind of like a driver's license renewal?

 

[TMHeimer]

Leads me to the question of, is there continuing education for DM/instructors who were trained in earlier years. As a retired teacher from Indiana, after getting my masters degree, my teaching license became a lifetime license. In the last 20 or so years, that changed so that all new teachers coming into the field had to take some form of continuing education every year.

Is there a requirement in scuba diver training? I know there isn't for OW and AOW, but probably should be.


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I've heard that in at least one state you have to re-test for a drivers license each year--if you are over 85. Otherwise getting a new license (ours is every 5 years, which is nice) involves paying money only. Where I taught (in Manitoba) there is no requirement to update anything except attending the inservice days that are set up (and no fee for that). And unlike in NY State, no requirement to ever get your Masters.
There has been a recent thread about pros (and others I think) being required to update/renew certifications periodically. I don't think this is a bad idea, but I would imagine it would lead to a lot of costs somewhere (for the diver, the shop?). Many things are for life--college degrees to name one. Keeping one's self up to date on methods, equipment, etc. should be a personal responsibility no matter what you do. It should be noted, of course, that scuba pros are responsible for the lives and safety of other divers/students, which sets it apart from a lot of other endeavors-- but one of them that is similar is driving a car....
I do believe PADI for one has a requirement that instructors/DMs that have been inactive for several years have to do something to get back at it (I THINK something more than just re-start paying membership--I believe you have to at least do something on their website that includes current procedures/changes, etc.). For an instructor who teaches daily or weekly every year/season, an official refresher on how to do that would make less sense.