dive flag u use them

[sdexcalibur]

Hey just did open water dive couple of weeks ago. instructor carried a spool of line with him so the flag could follow us around. Anyone every use flag and use this same method. I know if you in the general area you can just tie it to a rock or something. Just sound like a Hassel.

 

[Spectre]

sdexcalibur once bubbled...
Hey just did open water dive couple of weeks ago. instructor carried a spool of line with him so the flag could follow us around. Anyone every use flag and use this same method. I know if you in the general area you can just tie it to a rock or something. Just sound like a Hassel.

Often. When boat diving, generally it's the boat that's flying the flag, and occasionally I'll stick the spool under a rock while I search for stuff or if I don't feel like bothering, but most shore dives have a flag in tow [either myself or if I can sucker someone into doing it for me... King Kong Matt is _always_ invited! ]

Today I truely learned the need for dive flags. We were searching for a lost sidescan towfish, very near the channel to the harbor. We had 6 flags in the water, and both ends of the main line and one on the end of the rest of the search pattern lines. It caused about .5% of the boats to steer away or slow down. I think the harbormaster made a fortune ticketing boaters today.

While on the topic of dive flags, a story I heard today [I'll leave it to you to figure out all the humor].

"So I was swimming along, towing the flag, and <jerk> <jerk> The line is stuck on something. However I was getting pulled up by it. I came to the surface next to a boat, who was pulling in the line. 'What are you doing?' 'OH! We thought you were a crab pot'"

 

[art.chick]

I shore dive more than anything, & my group does thusly:

The flag is folded on its staff in the float which I swim out with to about 25' of water past the surf zone. At the site, I remove spool from the zippered float case, attach it by clip to the float, & unfurl the line to the appropriate length leaving some slack for rising tide. I swim down to plant the anchor in the sand or rocks.

I surface & attach the flag. On the surface, the buddy teams agree on navigation plans that will bring them back to the anchor line when they ascend. In that way, we do not need to tug the float behind us. And SHAME SHAME on the boats ignoring diving flags!! I hope the harbor master "educates" those boaters before they kill divers.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

The base of my flag is a yellow "inner tube" that says "diver below" on the side. A 2lb weight hangs from a strap on the bottom. The flag is suspended between 2 posts on either side of the tube. The bottom of the tube is closed so you can set a dive light in it to illuminate the flag for night diving. It works great! You can see the glow from a LONG way away at night! The best part is how easy it is to tow and you don't drag it underwater if you don't have enough slack in the line.

Hey Spectre, I'll be your dive flag tender if I can bring my flag! I've never towed it from more than 42 feet deep and I'd like to see how easy it is to tow when I've played out more line.

Ber

 

[Padipro]

The first few times I made shore dives here in South Florida I used a flag with the big yellow handle and line wound around it. What a PITA that was. The line gets tangled or comes loose so the next thing you know you have 300 feet of line out and a flag that's no where near you. It's also a PITA trying to hold onto the handle and catch lobster, the waves are pulling at the flag, moving your arms and trying the drag you away. After the first few times of fighting with that mess I got smart and bought a small wreck reel with a locking knob for the spool. I just attack the end of the line to the flag and clip the reel to my weight belt or BC and it a hands free dive flag. The only thing you need to make sure of is that you have enough line out so you don't drag your flag under. It doesn't do you much good if the boaters can't see it, not that they pay much attention to it in the first place.

Scott

 

[pt40fathoms]

We have a permanent dive site located at a lake called West Hawk Lake. The lake is large and has a depth of 365 feet, formed by a very large meteor some 150,000 years ago. The dive site is marked by 7 large (3' by 3' by 3' tall) markers that clearly say "Diver Below" with the international red diver down flag painted on the upright portion. The dive site is year round about 25 acres in size, and controlled by the provincial government.

With all this, and signs posted "everywhere" to stay clear of the area. (boat launches, marina, campground, and all park literature) We still have boaters who drive 'between the markers and shore', blind to the fact that a diver is below and they just ran the risk of killing them if they were to ascend.

The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) or Mounties for short have taken to issuing tickets on only the word of 2 divers who witnessed an infraction. (the fact that the Mounties themselves dive, and have seen this themselves also helps) The second offense results in confiscation of the boat and a very large fine.

In short, the message I want to make is "never rely on a flag to keep you safe". A lot of boaters have never taken the time to read the most basic rules of water navigation, and probably never will.

 

[Spectre]

Ber Rabbit once bubbled...
Hey Spectre, I'll be your dive flag tender if I can bring my flag!

Heh heh! You've got a deal! In fact, you find your way out this way I'll even let you crash in my guest room! [Anyone guess how much I hate towing flags?].

Of course I'd need about a months notice to clean...

 

[dkerr]

Of all the people I dive with it seems I am the only one with a flag so I am always towing it. I am also the only one with a lobster licence, so by law I am the only one allowed to tow it. It is a pain but you get used to it.
Padipro
I use one of the yellow handles and they aren't bad once you get used to them. Keep the right tension in the line and you can wind and unwind with one hand. Also NEVER atach the flag to yourself. Alot of boaters like to use the dive flags as a slolom course and if their prop catches that line you are going for a serious ride.
Dive safe...
Doug

 

[SDAnderson]

Flags are:

• Ineffective. Too many boaters don't respect them.
• Sometimes dangerous. It's not unheard of for boaters (and their more pestilent cousins, jetskiers) to use them as targets.
• Often required, even if stupid.

Solution: avoid them whenever possible. When you have to have one, take it out with you and tie it off in deep water. Do your dive and return to the float. NEVER tie a float (and this goes for lift bags and surface markers, too) to yourself.

It's not the powerboats that will get you - you can hear them coming. It's the dadburned sailboats that sneak up on you with those 6' weighted keels...

Steven

 

[Rockhound]

Dive flags are required in many, if not most, states. Florida requires down flags, even for snorklers. On my last trip I ended up with about a dozen snorklers swimming around me on a free diving excursion off the jetties at St. Andrew's State Park. It seems I was the only one with a flag, and they were all getting hassled by the Marine Patrol (I didn't see anyone get a ticket, but a couple of kids said they saw that happen earlier in the day).

I have a 25yr. old "Florida Global Divers Flag", which is still in good shape. It is comprised of a fiberglass rod with a lead weighted base and a styrofoam float (it is larger than some of newer flags I've seen of similar construction.) Still, in a really bad current, the flag will submerge, which can make it pretty "draggy". I would think a light, inflatable float would be better.

On most of my shore dives, I'll admit to being the only one with a flag, which means I always get stuck dragging it around. As for line handling, I use a homemade line handle made from a electric cord organizer (like a big kite handle, but much stronger). I can handle it easily one-handed and seldom have a problem with snarls or tangles. What problems I do have are related to the flag getting "sucked" into rock jetties or other obstructions and getting hung up. When you are down 70' or more, coming up to free the float is more than just a simple hassle, since it often requires a safety stop.


I can lessen the chances of these snags by keeping the line short as possible, but snags still happen.

The float comes in really handy on drift drives (like off West Palm), but when diving off an anchored/moored boat, I usually just tie it to the stern to supplement the flag flying off the boat.

One note: NEVER tie the flag (or any line) to your body. That is a bad thing.


Once, while diving Lake Travis several years ago, something hit my flag hard enough to give me a serious tug. I held on since the flag was only bumped, but then slowly surfaced to see what the problem might be. I could hear/feel jetskis nearby on the surface, but I didn't judge their distance well. The morons were using my float as a "turning mark" while they raced each other. Just as I surfaced, I got "bumped" from behind by one of the PWC's as turned near my float and skidded backwards into me. It was only a tap, but I was pretty darn p'o'd.

"Whoa, Dude", the little-drunken-redneck-teenager said. "You shouldn't be swimming under that bouy. We're using it, man."

For that reason, I believe it is justifiable to shoot anyone on a jetski. (I cheered out loud when readind one of Jimmy Buffett's characters used a stinger missile on one in his first book).

I HATE jetskis and the usually drunken idiots who ride them, but that's another thread altogether.