BlackTip Integrated flag

[Rick Brant]

I may purchase a BlackTip Travel scooter for use in debris removal diving. Generally I will be staying shallow, traveling along the coast from an easy entry/exit to a work site. I like to drag a dive float and flag -- Mako's inflatable -- but I don't want to take the range hit on the scooter. Since the BlackTip is positively bouyant I am thinking about putting a female PVC screw base on the DPV and then screwing the flag directly into the DPV. In that case I would carry the flag in my BCD while transiting and then deploy it at the dive site. The DPV would be on a reel. I'm OK with not having the flag while transiting. I use the same approach when kayak diving, attaching the flag directly to the kayak.

Is anyone else doing anything similar? I'm wondering how stable the DPV's flotation is, if the tip is consistently pointing up or if it kind of swings around. The reel would help a little as it could be attached to the handles.

 

[Jona Silverstein]

The travel is neutrally buoyant. It just trims nose up. There is a difference there.

You are dragging something, you will take a range hit similar to carrying more stages. The more line you have out the more range you will lose because it generates more drag.

I would if you are going to de dragging a line from the unit, I would mount it forward to a grab handle similar to the one here. Blacktip DPV Carrying Handle — ExplorerTechnology
And I can make modifications to it if necessary.

 

[Rick Brant]

Hmm OK so that won't work then. To be clear, I'm not planning to drag anything while traveling. If the Travel was positive I was going to put the flag on it and tie it to a reel. Thank you.

 

[Jona Silverstein]

Hmm OK so that won't work then. To be clear, I'm not planning to drag anything while traveling. If the Travel was positive I was going to put the flag on it and tie it to a reel. Thank you.

You can make it positive by removing some lead from the nose but I think what you're anticipating to do is not the right way to go about it. If you are going to swim and drag a float, then just tie off the dpv to one of your butt or side rings and go from there, But a tech would probably be more suited as they store a lot better than a travel,

 

[-JD-]

Outside the box, maybe ...

Throw a Dive-Rite no-mount bc on it and you can have dynamic buoyancy. No Mount Tank BC - Dive Rite,

Or use a Carter personal float with flag to hang it up. Personal Floats Safety Sausage Tubes

 

[Rick Brant]

Hmm interesting ideas, thanks!

Outside the box, maybe ...

Throw a Dive-Rite no-mount bc on it and you can have dynamic buoyancy. No Mount Tank BC - Dive Rite,

Or use a Carter personal float with flag to hang it up. Personal Floats Safety Sausage Tubes
View attachment 731609

 

[geoff w]

I may purchase a BlackTip Travel scooter for use in debris removal diving. Generally I will be staying shallow, traveling along the coast from an easy entry/exit to a work site. I like to drag a dive float and flag -- Mako's inflatable -- but I don't want to take the range hit on the scooter. Since the BlackTip is positively bouyant I am thinking about putting a female PVC screw base on the DPV and then screwing the flag directly into the DPV. In that case I would carry the flag in my BCD while transiting and then deploy it at the dive site. The DPV would be on a reel. I'm OK with not having the flag while transiting. I use the same approach when kayak diving, attaching the flag directly to the kayak.

Is anyone else doing anything similar? I'm wondering how stable the DPV's flotation is, if the tip is consistently pointing up or if it kind of swings around. The reel would help a little as it could be attached to the handles.

I use my Blacktip a lot for underwater debris removal dives with Ocean Defenders Alliance, but we're diving from a boat. Cleanup depth ranges from 15ish to about 100 ft, depending on the location. Several of the other divers on the boat are getting Blacktips as well, rather than using the pricier scooters on the boat. Our general MO is to find abandoned traps or ghost net or other debris, attach a lift bag and shoot it to the surface for retrieval. For smaller stuff, fishing tackle, coolers, bottles, plastic, etc., we'll pick it up and carry it with us in a mesh bag. Bigger stuff, like pipe, fishing poles, and similar, we'll just drag along. On my Blacktip, I added a loop on the left side of the propellor shroud, and either clip a mesh bag to that, or tie a line to the bigger stuff and drag it along with me. I found having the loop on the left side really helpful to clip stuff off. If we're cleaning something like a wreck and the visibility is decent, we'll clip the tow line off around something solid