drag the flag or not?

[Soggy]

I know the laws...In Massachusetts, a diver must surface within 100 ft of the flag. The lobster police have been known to ticket divers exiting the water without flags. This being said...what do you actually do?

- Drag the flag everywhere you go
- Drag the flag to some central location and anchor it but stay near it at all times
- drag the flag to some central location and wander away
- Don't bring a flag at all

Also, in some other thread someone mentioned that dragging a flag doesn't add to your task load...you simply toss it around your arm and pull it along, leaving both hands free. I'd like to challenge that notion -- if a boat hits the flag and the spool is hooked on your arm, you are no longer a SCUBA diver, you are a water ski. I always keep a loose hold on the flag with my right hand (unless I really need both hands, in which case, I'll temporarily put it around my arm or stick it under a rock).


I prefer to drag the flag to some central location, anchor it with a weight and stay reasonably near it, navigating to and from it. I try to make sure I know my heading to the flag and my approximate heading to shore. It's tough to do, and I rarely find the flag exactly, but since it is usually in 15-20 ft of water, it's not too big a deal to surface, find it and grab it.

 

[redacted]

No dive flag requirement that I know of in TX. In boat traffic area, I set a flag (usually on my anchored boat, and go from there. I usually plan to come back to the anchor, but when vis gets less than 5 ft, I occasionally miss it. Not a problem - it's just another excuse to practice the DSMB deployment.

 

[notabob]

Ok, so I have to start paying much closer attention to what I type. Yes I wholeheartedly agree that carrying it on your arm is potentially dangerous. For that reason my spool doesn't even fit beyond my palm - the opening is too narrow. It being pretty neutral allows me to set it down when I need both hands free. I never implied that it leaves both hands free, nor that it does not increase your task load. My exact quote was:

notabob once bubbled in another thread...
And personally, I have never found it to be a major task loading hazard. The spool hangs on your arm and you periodically feed the line/re-wind it as you get deeper/shallower.

Apologies for not phrasing it correctly. Should most definitely state "hangs in your hand" or "held in your hand." The implication was that it does not increase your task load to dangerous and unmanageable levels.

And, for the poll's purposes, I tow the flag with me wherever I go.

-Roman.

 

[Soggy]

notabob once bubbled...
Ok, so I have to start paying much closer attention to what I type.

I understand what you meant...the quote just prompted the question in my head and wasn't meant as a criticism of you. I was curious what other people do, as I've had this discussion with other divers before. Some are paranoid that they'll get hit by a boat if the flag is not attached to them and some seem to think that a flag is a waste of time.

I wasn't trying to pick on you, notabob

 

[notabob]

AaronBBrown once bubbled...
I wasn't trying to pick on you, notabob

Aaron, I know. Don't worry about it. Just keeping me on my toes, which is much appreciated.

-Roman.

 

[shellbird]

Is this one of those questions that really means how do you prevent the flag from going out to sea? Hasn't that happend to one or two of you??????? Aaron, was it you?

Also, you forgot the option in your poll of "have someone else be the flag biach (as it is affectionately referred to).

 

[dkerr]

I always tow the flag throughout the dive. I am a little paranoid about the flag coming lose if trying to anchor it. The exception to towing it was last week when we found ourselves 100 yards from shore (still waist deep) when we realized that we forgot the flag! Awwwww S*&#T

 

[notabob]

dkerr once bubbled...
The exception to towing it was last week when we found ourselves 100 yards from shore (still waist deep) when we realized that we forgot the flag! Awwwww S*&#T

But we DID have a flag! shellbird's fins were much more visible than any flag I've ever seen!

-Roman.

"But warden, we DID have a white stripe on the "flags". It's not our fault that the masking tape got wet and came unglued!"

 

[Soggy]

shellbird once bubbled...
Is this one of those questions that really means how do you prevent the flag from going out to sea? Hasn't that happend to one or two of you??????? Aaron, was it you?

Nope, not me...I think Rax & KKMatt might know something about this, though.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Whether I drag a flag, tie it off, fly it from a boat or not use one at all depends on when and where I'm diving, and what I'm doing on the dive. This past weekend exploring the collapsed old Kowaliga bridge in Lake Martin I hauled the flag with me for the whole dive. Next weekend in the Gulf the only flag will be on the boat.
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Texas... here are some regs that can apply to diving:
It is UNLAWFUL for any person to:
...
Operate in a circular course around fishermen or swimmers.
Moor or attach to any buoy, beacon, light marker, stake, flag or other aid to safe operation, or to move, remove, displace, tamper with, damage or destroy the same.
...
Operate within an area designated as bathing, fishing, swimming, or otherwise restricted.
...
Operate any vessel or manipulate any water skis, aquaplane or similar device, in a willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property. (Violation of this provision shall be punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $2,000 or by confinement in jail not to exceed 180 days or both.)
Swim or dive within two hundred yards of any sight-seeing or excursion boat except for maintenance purposes or unless within an enclosed area.
Operate within 50 feet of a "Diver Down Flag" or operate a boat within 150 feet of a "Diver Down Flag" except at Headway/Steerage Speed. (emphasis is mine - RM)
----------------------
Rick