MarkH
Contributor
I've never seen anyone use a float/dive flag. They're too dangerous.
Dive Flag or Marker buoy
- Thread starter lee08
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bwerb
Hoser/English Translator, eh
swankenstein:
In hawaii where it's the law???
Sorry dude, you likely saw my "location" and assumed local...I agree, no way I'm diving here with a marker, hence my question...not used to diving with a marker for the duration...blowing a bag is one thing...swiming with or around one is something else (it's kinda funny, when you can dive in Maui and see the boats when rolling over on your back from 100 feet deep).
MarkH
Contributor
Ha! -Actually I didn't even notice you were local. I meant to say I've never seen it anywhere in the world, including Hawaii. I admit that all the dives I've done in Hawaii were with a boat charter, so maybe the boat counts as a dive flag.bwerb:
I just remembered that I lied. Depending on the site, some local instructors do use a dive flag, but they don't attach it to themselves. They attach it to a fixed point on the bottom and do their drills in the area around it.
I agree that I can't even imagine swimming around tethered to the surface with a colourful floating object that attracts attention and makes boats want to come over and see what it is. I'd be constantly worried about the line getting tangled in a prop. Of course that's even ignoring the issues of drag in current, kelp entanglement, damaging life on walls above you, etc...
james croft
Contributor
Look up your state law on dive flags. While they may differ on distances boaters must keep away from the flags, they are mandated to be displayed. Failure to do so carries fines. I use one for CYA purposes. If a diver was injured or killed by a negligent boater a civil jury could say you contributed to the mishap or a prosecutor could refuse to prosecute someone for running over you. Dive flags are an attractive nuisance. I have had a couple of close calls like many, both with a flag and without one. A couple were my fault and a flag could have prevented the situations. The most memorable was when a buddy and I were diving in a river for shark teeth and heard a boat coming. We moved near the bank and switched to snorkel. As the boat came around the bend of the river the occupants of the boat began shooting at us with a .22 rifle from about 150 yds away. After a few shots hitting near us we submerged and "surrendered" to them by waving a yellow fin out of the water when they got close. The retard with the rifle said he thought we "were a school of fish" when he saw our snorkels blasting water into the air.. I guess old Ahab figured he'd cornered his white whale. Looking back on the incident I think a dive flag might have given him pause to at least think there were people around, although I might be giving him too much credit. At the time I was diving with a VA State Game Warden and I was a police officer so of course the guy got arrested. He was charged with reckless handling of a firearm and poss. of a firearm by a convicted felon. The dive flag issue never was brought up in court, but I worried that it would. I always carry one now, but never attach it to me.
octotat
Contributor
I agree. I actually put a dive float/flag in the water, and then get the hell away from it. Not only does it seem to attract the moron boaters, it is an entaglement hazard as I'm diving in low vis with current.
So for me it's a legal CYA thing. I don't ascend near the flag, and I don' ascend in the river I dive anywhere but near shore. If I do need to ascend out away from shore, I inflate my safety sausage about 15 feet down, and ascend with it held way above my head, and slowly wave it back and forth as it rises from the surface. This doesn't eliminate the chance of getting hit (not diving does) but should drastically reduce it. If I did get hit, it I would rather get my arm chopped than my noggin.
So for me it's a legal CYA thing. I don't ascend near the flag, and I don' ascend in the river I dive anywhere but near shore. If I do need to ascend out away from shore, I inflate my safety sausage about 15 feet down, and ascend with it held way above my head, and slowly wave it back and forth as it rises from the surface. This doesn't eliminate the chance of getting hit (not diving does) but should drastically reduce it. If I did get hit, it I would rather get my arm chopped than my noggin.
Although they're bulky and a pain in the butt to work with, I've recently become a big fan of dive floats with written warnings affixed to them.
http://www.scubatoys.com/store/accessories/flags.asp
http://www.joediveramerica.com/scubagear/prods/FL-0301.html
http://www.scubatoys.com/store/accessories/flags.asp
http://www.joediveramerica.com/scubagear/prods/FL-0301.html
mrjimboalaska
Contributor
Per Hawaii State Law......
(f) All vessels shall be prohibited from approaching within one hundred feet of a displayed diver's flag or within fifty feet of a displayed diver's flag on navigable streams, except within marked navigation channels. Vessels approaching a displayed diver's flag to conduct SCUBA, snorkeling, or free diving activities within the one hundred foot or fifty foot restricted area shall be allowed to do so provided that the vessel approaches at a speed of slow-no-wake.
Now with that said.....I've had the Navy barrel down on my boat at high speeds and take off from the boat at high speeds while the diver flag is flying.
I came across someone last weekend who was under the impression that there was 100 ft. steer clear zone........not the case folks............
(f) All vessels shall be prohibited from approaching within one hundred feet of a displayed diver's flag or within fifty feet of a displayed diver's flag on navigable streams, except within marked navigation channels. Vessels approaching a displayed diver's flag to conduct SCUBA, snorkeling, or free diving activities within the one hundred foot or fifty foot restricted area shall be allowed to do so provided that the vessel approaches at a speed of slow-no-wake.
Now with that said.....I've had the Navy barrel down on my boat at high speeds and take off from the boat at high speeds while the diver flag is flying.
I came across someone last weekend who was under the impression that there was 100 ft. steer clear zone........not the case folks............
JennTheMermaid
New
Wow. This is quite disturbing. I was the only one that I ever knew of that this has happened to.
A couple of years ago I was diving off the shore in Destin, as I have millions of times before. The water was about 15" deep in the spot I was in. I was about 100 yards off-shore. I had my dive flag flying. It was a clear, sunny day.
I had a friend that was snorkeling right near me for the most part and then she ran back up to the beach to get something out of her bag...I did not know this.
It's not uncommon to hear boats/waverunners off in the distance, but you can tell they're pretty far away.
But, not this time. I heard the sound getting closer and closer and I looked up my line and saw the flag still up there on the top of the water. I started feeling uneasy. REALLY UNEASY.
It was getting closer and closer and louder and louder. I thought...worst case scenario...they just DON'T SEE my flag and are going to run over me!!!
The only thing that I could think to do was to head straight to the bottom (15') and hope for the best. I heard it coming and thought it was going to be right on top of me at any second.
I said a quick prayer to the sea gods and the noise finally started getting quieter and further away. Once I was sure I was out of danger, I came back up, only to see a myriad of people running from the beach into the water trying to get the boat to see them and my flag, but they paid no attention.
It turns out it was a parasailing boat. The boat was SO close I was able to get the number off the side of the boat. I FLEW up the beach to my cellphone and asked to speak with a manager. I told him one of his boat operators almost freaking ran over me. He asked if I was displaying a flag and I told him yes. I asked if his driver was blind and he said no. I said "I can't tell!!!!". I told him that I knew the rules and that they were that his boat should not be within 300 yards of the shore and that I knew I had to have a flag 100 yards (+) out. I said this was serious and wanted to come in to his office to talk to him before it happened to another diver. He invited me in.
I went directly to the office and he brought the boat operator in. He was about 60+ years old. He said that he did NOT see my flag and that the other passengers on the boat were the ones that spotted my flag, prompting him to turn around and go the other way. I asked what they were going to do to ensure this does not happen again and he said they would have an "awareness meeting"...blah blah.
The owner profusely apologized for scaring me so badly and said that since we were going to be in town another week that if we were interested, that we could parasail as many times as we wanted for free. Woowoo.
We did take them up on the offer, I mean come on...parasailing IS FUN!
But, I will never forget that day!!
Here's the ominous parasail that looks FREAKING EVIL TO ME!!! I think it wanted to kill me:
A couple of years ago I was diving off the shore in Destin, as I have millions of times before. The water was about 15" deep in the spot I was in. I was about 100 yards off-shore. I had my dive flag flying. It was a clear, sunny day.
I had a friend that was snorkeling right near me for the most part and then she ran back up to the beach to get something out of her bag...I did not know this.
It's not uncommon to hear boats/waverunners off in the distance, but you can tell they're pretty far away.
But, not this time. I heard the sound getting closer and closer and I looked up my line and saw the flag still up there on the top of the water. I started feeling uneasy. REALLY UNEASY.
It was getting closer and closer and louder and louder. I thought...worst case scenario...they just DON'T SEE my flag and are going to run over me!!!
The only thing that I could think to do was to head straight to the bottom (15') and hope for the best. I heard it coming and thought it was going to be right on top of me at any second.
I said a quick prayer to the sea gods and the noise finally started getting quieter and further away. Once I was sure I was out of danger, I came back up, only to see a myriad of people running from the beach into the water trying to get the boat to see them and my flag, but they paid no attention.
It turns out it was a parasailing boat. The boat was SO close I was able to get the number off the side of the boat. I FLEW up the beach to my cellphone and asked to speak with a manager. I told him one of his boat operators almost freaking ran over me. He asked if I was displaying a flag and I told him yes. I asked if his driver was blind and he said no. I said "I can't tell!!!!". I told him that I knew the rules and that they were that his boat should not be within 300 yards of the shore and that I knew I had to have a flag 100 yards (+) out. I said this was serious and wanted to come in to his office to talk to him before it happened to another diver. He invited me in.
I went directly to the office and he brought the boat operator in. He was about 60+ years old. He said that he did NOT see my flag and that the other passengers on the boat were the ones that spotted my flag, prompting him to turn around and go the other way. I asked what they were going to do to ensure this does not happen again and he said they would have an "awareness meeting"...blah blah.
The owner profusely apologized for scaring me so badly and said that since we were going to be in town another week that if we were interested, that we could parasail as many times as we wanted for free. Woowoo.
We did take them up on the offer, I mean come on...parasailing IS FUN!
But, I will never forget that day!!
Here's the ominous parasail that looks FREAKING EVIL TO ME!!! I think it wanted to kill me:
finflippers
Registered
On several occasions I have had jet skies and boats on top of me, circling my flag (they usually dont get a good enough look at it the first time they go by it). I dont know if they do it because they just do not know any better or if they just dont care.
I display my flag only for CYA [FONT="]purposes [/FONT]and the hopes that it might stop some fisher from fishing for my bubbles.
[FONT="]If it wasnt a legal requirement for me to display my flag while down, I probably would not because of how it tends to attract boaters. I have been tempted to switch from using my traditional Divers Down Flag to an inflatable Divers Down Flag that states diver below.[/FONT] [FONT="]
[/FONT]
I display my flag only for CYA [FONT="]purposes [/FONT]and the hopes that it might stop some fisher from fishing for my bubbles.
[FONT="]If it wasnt a legal requirement for me to display my flag while down, I probably would not because of how it tends to attract boaters. I have been tempted to switch from using my traditional Divers Down Flag to an inflatable Divers Down Flag that states diver below.[/FONT] [FONT="]
[/FONT]
JEScholz
Contributor
In the Great Lakes it is common to fly the dive flag when down. Most of us will wire tie an inner tube around a milk crate and flythe flag off a fishing pole above that. The float works well to carry the junk we clean off the bottom and can aid in a long swim back to shore. There are some areas with strong current that we do drift dives on. In those cases we will fly a flag at the entry and exit points and take our chances in between. I have not done it but there are a couple places near the Port Huron bridge where the divers in the channel listen to the 1000' freighters go overhead!
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