Do you ever dive WITHOUT a flag?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

jsado

Contributor
Messages
229
Reaction score
8
Location
upstate NY
# of dives
50 - 99
Here's the scenario I encountered this past weekend.....

We decided to anchor off of one point of an island and dive around the whole island resurfacing at the boat. I didn't bring my flag and reel on the boat trip because I knew my buddy had his. As we were getting ready, I asked how he was bringing the flag. Did he have line or a reel or something? He said we'd leave the flag on the boat because we were sticking right along the side of the island and didn't really need it. Of course, I was concerned immediately and eventually made the poor decision to trust him. He has a LOT MORE experience than I do.....

We begin the dive, drop down to about 40ft and start circling the island. Swimming into a stiff current and sticking close to the wall. Here enters the problem. At 40ft the wall goes off in one direction and the island wall turns into 20ft and goes in another direction. We missed that turn. The water starts getting shallower. We start hearing MAJOR boat traffic. Boats start zipping along over our heads. We're both completely disoriented and make another bad decision..... One of us has to surface to see where we are. Naturally, I make the universal hand signals that say "this was your great freakin idea! You're the one who said we DON'T NEED a flag! I'm not getting my head smashed by a boat or chopped up by a prop.... YOU GO".... he concurred and made his ascent. Knowing that he might have to make an emergency descent, he completely deflated his bc, swam to the surface and poked his head out. When he verified the coast was clear, he motioned for me to surface.

After we realized where we were, he said lets go back down and swim to the other side of the island and return to the boat. The other side of the island is known as the "main channel". There is ALL KINDS of heavy boat traffic there....700ft steel freighters go through there 15 times a day. I called the dive and said, "no way lets go back to the boat - surface swim."

The lesson I learned? NEVER DIVE WITHOUT A FLAG
 
We dive without flags all the time, because most local boaters don't have a clue what the flag is, and the flag seems to actually attract boats and jet skis. But we always carry surface markers, like a safety sausage that we can send up on a line from a spool as we ascend, or inflate on the surface to be seen.
 
I found out later he had a safety sausage tucked away in his bc pocket..... I don't have one, but now I think I should
 
My dive instructor told me that flags are ok, but are prone to snagging, and other issues, however a Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (sausage) is better, because you only use it when you're surfacing. I carry one, and everyone i know has one, but i've never dived with a flag, or anyone else who's had a flag.

I'm not that experienced, and this is just an opinion based on my experience.
 
I found out later he had a safety sausage tucked away in his bc pocket..... I don't have one, but now I think I should


I believe that most divers (if not all) should have an SMB and should know how to use it. This may not fit with a beginner diver but it is a safety precaution that may always be needed to surface safely.

I will dive without a flag depending on who I am diving with and what the specific site conditions are. This weekend I called off my second dive because my dive flag had issues and I was diving with a relatively new diver in waters with lots of Labour Day boats. Not worth the risk in my opinion.
 
For the dive team of course we do not use a flag but, for recreational diving around here it is the law with the exception of a few private mudholes we dive as there is no boats there.

I believe the fine for diving without a diveflag is $80.00 around here.
 
I found out later he had a safety sausage tucked away in his bc pocket..... I don't have one, but now I think I should

Still useless unless you had 20' of line to float it above you. Best to stow them with that line, pre-coiled and ready to deploy.

Possession ≠ Competence, so be sure to practice with it.

The best way to break the surface in that emergency situation? With an upheld, waving fin.
 
I found out later he had a safety sausage tucked away in his bc pocket..... I don't have one, but now I think I should


I just got my 1st one about 4 or 5 months ago.....great little $10 toy to play with,..........plus........
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom