Doing Research Need A Hand

I Carry these DSMB's when Diving

  • I Carry two DSMB's 1 Red and 1 Yellow and use similar to the description in the thread topic.

    Votes: 6 14.6%
  • I Carry only one DSMB it is Red or it is Yellow

    Votes: 29 70.7%
  • I Carry one DSMB it is Red on one side and Yellow on the other

    Votes: 6 14.6%

  • Total voters
    41

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DiveTub

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Scuba Instructor
Messages
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Location
Perth, West Australia
Hi All.

Ok simple really I need to know what you carry when doing deeper dives.

In Australia and with the guys and girls I dive with, when we do deeper dives everyone carries two "Deployable Surface Marker Buoys" DSMB's, SMB's. Whatever you want to call them, it does not matter.

Ours are usually about 70" long with around 30lb of lift

They are only deployed if the diver Is not on the line or has an emergency.

One is Red deployed when the diver is ok, on Deco but does not need assistance

One is Yellow deployed when the diver is in urgent need of assistance or has an emergency situation.


Please fill in the poll it would be most helpful with what bag or bags you carry on your dives.

If you only carry one color how do you tell the surface you have a problem or are fine ?

Cheers
Chriso
 
I've never done a dive that may or may not require deco. Either I'm planning to do a deco dive, or I'm not.

In any case, I bring two SMBs... one as a lift bag/backup, and one for free ascent. I don't plan drift deco in the northeastern US as a rule.
 
I carry one red and one yellow. The yellow one is smaller and easier to shoot, while the red one is larger and is essentially a redundant backup marker.

In just about any foreseable situation, I would shoot the yellow one first- OK and doing deco, OK and blown off the wreck, not OK, just practicing, etc. The red one is just in case I screw up the yellow one. :D

I'm under the impression that as far as markers are concerned, colour means much more than color. :D
 
MSilvia:
I've never done a dive that may or may not require deco. Either I'm planning to do a deco dive, or I'm not.

In any case, I bring two SMBs... one as a lift bag/backup, and one for free ascent. I don't plan drift deco in the northeastern US as a rule.


Matt, I didnt say the Deco was not planned, it was just in reference to the dive itself Deco or not Deco. "Post changed to reflect that.

So what you are saying in your case is you only carry one DSMB and one colour ?

And as a rule do we ever plan to drift when there is a perfectly good line to follow, rules and the sea I find don't always make good bed fellows

This is why we ALWAYS carry two bags, One Yellow and One Red

If you want to read a story....
http://rebreatherworld.com/rebreath...r-stings-your-eyes-after.html?highlight=Silly

Cheers
Chriso
 
Hmmm,

So the failure to carry a backup mask on a 300+ ft dive nearly cost him his life. Moral of the story is what?

For the record, I'll be carrying two bags red for ok, yellow for not. And if I fumble my bag shoot, my buddy will deploy his.

By the way, where was his buddy?

And where was the safety diver? Surely no one would plan to do a dive with 2.5 hours of deco without putting a diver in the water at mid-depth just to check on him...

Sounds like him screwing up shooting a bag was the least of his issues that day.
 
I've seen some dive with 2 that are the same color. I guess their thinking is shoot 2 up on a single line if there is a problem. That might pose a problem in itself if you shoot a bag, the reel jams and you have to let it go.....then shoot your other bag and find you have deco gas problems and need more from the surface. That would be a really bad day. I agree with the 2 different color and have a slate you can send along if need be.
 
From reading similar threads over the last few years it seems that color = meaning varies from place to place, and probably from boat to boat, group to group...

So, wouldn't it make sense to carry both and then decide which means which during a pre-dive brief? Granted, a universal, international, rule would be great, but I can't see that happening...

I still like my idea, one that I haven't been able to get much feedback on:

Carter makes (made?) a SMB with a removable dive flag on the top. Seems like a good idea, just in case the jetskiers DO know what a dive flag means... also, I know some locales require that you ascend within XX yards / meters of a dive flag...

So, why not print SOS big and bold at the top of the SMB, then cover it up with the removable flag? For ordinary assents just launch the thing like normal. When all goes south rip the dive flag off before sending it up.

Better yet, rather than complicating the SMB launch during an emergency, carry the flag separately. In an emergency launch the thing. In a normal ascent, attach the flag and launch the thing. I anticipate that the majority of times I launch my SMB will be during a planned stop, so taking a couple of minutes to attach a flag shouldn't be an issue.

And, of course, let the boat crew know your plan...

disclaimer: I've only used an smb as a surface device so far. Learning to shoot it hasn't worked it's way up my priority list yet...
 
O2BBubbleFree:
From reading similar threads over the last few years it seems that color = meaning varies from place to place, and probably from boat to boat, group to group...

So, wouldn't it make sense to carry both and then decide which means which during a pre-dive brief? Granted, a universal, international, rule would be great, but I can't see that happening...

I still like my idea, one that I haven't been able to get much feedback on:

Carter makes (made?) a SMB with a removable dive flag on the top. Seems like a good idea, just in case the jetskiers DO know what a dive flag means... also, I know some locales require that you ascend within XX yards / meters of a dive flag...

So, why not print SOS big and bold at the top of the SMB, then cover it up with the removable flag? For ordinary assents just launch the thing like normal. When all goes south rip the dive flag off before sending it up.

Better yet, rather than complicating the SMB launch during an emergency, carry the flag separately. In an emergency launch the thing. In a normal ascent, attach the flag and launch the thing. I anticipate that the majority of times I launch my SMB will be during a planned stop, so taking a couple of minutes to attach a flag shouldn't be an issue.

And, of course, let the boat crew know your plan...

disclaimer: I've only used an smb as a surface device so far. Learning to shoot it hasn't worked it's way up my priority list yet...
Interesting idea, but it would have to have a darn good way of making sure the dive flag doesn't accidentally come off, or else you'd have emergency crews scrambling just because the flag fell off...

Which color SMB means what is entirely regional, so unless you only dive in one area with well-defined meanings that everyone agrees on, it seems pointless. I have two SMBs, one dual color, one yellow. I carry the dual color one all the time. I don't own an all-red one, nor do I feel the need to purchase a third SMB, since colors aren't defined at all in my area.
 
Sydney_Diver:
Matt, I didnt say the Deco was not planned, it was just in reference to the dive itself Deco or not Deco. "Post changed to reflect that.
Understood. I just wanted to clarify.
Sydney_Diver:
So what you are saying in your case is you only carry one DSMB and one colour ?
I carry two DSMBs... one red sausage, and one yellow "lift bag". There doesn't seem to be much standardization of which color means what here though, so I'll usually talk to the captain if I intend to use one.
 
I just got a(n) SMB, from DAN, and haven't had the chance to practice with it yet. It's orange or red, anyway not yellow. I've posted before about Dive Flags vs. SMBs vs. Safety Sausages.

I see that this is another area where there is no universal standard.

In that this is a safety issue, wouldn't a universally accepted standard be better than the current situation? I really like the fact that SCUBA diving is not regulated very much by the government; it's mostly self-regulated. But there are other standards organizations, like ANSI, or ISO; what would you think if one of these non- (or quasi-?) governmental standards organizations took on the task of harmonizing all the various diving practices, especially concerning safety?

I hope this question is related to the original post enough so as not to be a hijack.

BTW, the first time I saw one of those two-color SMBs I thought, "That kind of messes up the 'red/OK - yellow/trouble' system."
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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