Roger Hobden
Contributor
Colour-coded dSMBs according to position or emergency: are there widely accepted standards ?
Colour-coded dSMBs according to position or emergency: recognized standards ?
- Thread starter Roger Hobden
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There are no universal standards. It's always necessary to discuss with the boat/team what particular colors/configurations mean and what response you should expect.
That said, generally I think it is more common to treat yellow as "I have a problem" and orange as "here I am doing my deco or safety stop, but no problems" -- but that is very far from universal. Also, two bags on one line is usually a sign for an emergency.
There have been several threads on this lately and some folks are inclined to choose yellow for some perceived visibility improvement or just because they like it. Plus, there are those bags that are yellow on one side and orange on the other, or pink, or black, or whatever....
I think not all divers appreciate/understand that DSMBs are used, more often than not, as a routine part of drift or deco diving. Thus, there needs to be a way to distinguish between that routine use and an emergency like "I need some more gas, so please send a bottle down." Unfortunately, since you can buy pink, yellow, orange, mixed, black, etc., it's going to be hard to have a reliable universal rule. We could all agree on yellow as emergency until somebody that didn't get the memo shoots a yellow bag on their safety stop and gets conked on the head by the cylinder somebody drops down the line.
Since I doubt there will ever be a way to enforce a standard, it's just something to discuss pre-dive.
That said, generally I think it is more common to treat yellow as "I have a problem" and orange as "here I am doing my deco or safety stop, but no problems" -- but that is very far from universal. Also, two bags on one line is usually a sign for an emergency.
There have been several threads on this lately and some folks are inclined to choose yellow for some perceived visibility improvement or just because they like it. Plus, there are those bags that are yellow on one side and orange on the other, or pink, or black, or whatever....
I think not all divers appreciate/understand that DSMBs are used, more often than not, as a routine part of drift or deco diving. Thus, there needs to be a way to distinguish between that routine use and an emergency like "I need some more gas, so please send a bottle down." Unfortunately, since you can buy pink, yellow, orange, mixed, black, etc., it's going to be hard to have a reliable universal rule. We could all agree on yellow as emergency until somebody that didn't get the memo shoots a yellow bag on their safety stop and gets conked on the head by the cylinder somebody drops down the line.
Since I doubt there will ever be a way to enforce a standard, it's just something to discuss pre-dive.
Well, the misses and I have used chartreuse yellow in Cozumel and no one has ever said anything. Recently I have seen every neon color under the sun. One Divemaster had a formerly orange dsmb that had faded into a sort of cream color. Someone needs to start a go fund us account so we can all look alike!
Exactly. I don't think any universal rule based on colors will work. But, it's still something to discuss, especially if shooting a bag is part of the dive plan because of deco or drift.
EireDiver606
Contributor
Post #2 is spot on. IMO, stay away from SMBs with 2 colour sides, it doesn’t serve any purpose, other than confusing the boat Cox.
I stay away from the color references. 1 smb to the surface signals deco or safety in a drift. 2 smb's signals send help. Last thing I care about is the color I pull out of my pocket. But, it really matters what your intended use is. As long as you discuss your plan with the boat everything should be good.
OP
Roger Hobden
Contributor
I guess one underlying component of my question is the following: Should all recreational divers be proficient with the use of two SMBs, if the condition of the dive requires the use of at least one ?
Should ALL rec divers be proficent; NO. That is subjective. There are plenty of dives I do without the use of any. However, if I do a dive that requires 1 then I take 2. It is just how the circle of people I dive with choose to communicate. It works for us. That doesn't mean it works for everyone.
My personal thought is if you can deploy 1, then deploying 2 is just as easy. You aren't reinventing the wheel. Same principals apply. I am not some kool-aid drinker that says it can only be done one way. There are many ways to do something. Find what works for you and your circle of buddies and stick with it. The people I dive with choose to not pay attention to color, just the quantity of bags that are deployed. That saves you from deploying an orange one over a red one at depth which would be hard to determine without a light. Just pull one out and let it fly. Makes it super easy.
nolatom
Contributor
Medium gray and medium blue are discouraged.
;-)
;-)
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