DryFob XL: Affordable Canister for PLB

[-JD-]

Retracted

 

[rhwestfall]

Yes, there are 1 million ways of solving the “I don’t want to lose the cap” problem

Not the cap, the contents inside. If/when opening this "at sea", it is likely an actual issue, and things are pear shaped. Losing the cap is "trivial" at that time. Losing the rescue device inside it is "critical"...

We had discussed simple "at home" mods for the two parts of the capsule, and never even considered the manufacturer to have to improve it.

I really like this item. I have a Custom Diver (sold only in Europe) unit, and was thrilled to have options in the US.

 

[Akimbo]

Yes, there are 1 million ways of solving the “I don’t want to lose the cap” problem

Not the cap, the contents inside. If/when opening this "at sea", it is likely an actual issue, and things are pear shaped. Losing the cap is "trivial" at that time.

Exactly, loosing the whole housing is trivial compared to the PLB when you need it. In the case of this housing, there are places a lanyard or bungee can attach the lid to the housing, which is presumably attached to you. The important part is figuring it out before you are faced with the problem.

 

[Boarderguy]

I can't think of anything I dive with that isn't capable of being clipped off on its own. All lights, camera rig, dsmb and reel, etc. Each critical piece of equipment should have a bolt snap affixed and clipped somewhere whether that is clipped inside the can or to your harness/bcd once in the surface and using it. If everything is importance is attached to the lid which is also attached to you then the only potential loss at that time is the can and really, who cares. Seconds don't matter in that situation, critical thinking does.
Unclip the plb from the lid and attach to you directly.
Unclip and attach and other needed items after that.
Close the can if still available and stow.
Activate plb and start working out the rest of your self rescue plan.

 

[rhwestfall]

@Boarderguy - you sound like a rock climber.... (dropped **** is gone!)

 

[Boarderguy]

@Boarderguy - you sound like a rock climber.... (dropped **** is gone!)

Haha I used to when I was younger and less broken. When I fall while diving the landing is much softer.

 

[Akimbo]

@Boarderguy - you sound like a rock climber.... (dropped **** is gone!)

Or a working diver. I saw a diver on CCTV drop a large socket that fell over 200'/60m to the mud bottom. They couldn't find one on nearby platforms or ships and the weather was nasty. Long story shore, it cost of over $250K in 1980 before the job could continue. The client was not pleased and that diver never worked for them again.

 

[Jaan]

This is a review of the DryFob XL (https://dryfob.com/product/dryfob-xl-waterproof-plb-container/), a waterproof canister designed to keep items dry down to 100 meters or beyond, sized to contain PLB's and other such items of similar size.

Thank you so much for that comprehensive writeup and great ideas for the product. We are very happy to provide a solution that we hope will benefit divers with PLBs.

The feedback and product improvement suggestions are all appreciated. We were out diving this morning and I’ve just returned to read through all this.

For attaching the PLB to the lid, the lids interior smooth surface can be used to glue or adhere a lanyard with a strong adhesive sticker perhaps.

We’re also very interested to hear more about attachments and how you all mount/secure it. The smaller car key containers are often bungeed to belts or arms or kept in pockets but the XL is much bigger.

Thanks again for the great feedback and ideas.

 

[Dan]

This is a review of the DryFob XL (https://dryfob.com/product/dryfob-xl-waterproof-plb-container/), a waterproof canister designed to keep items dry down to 100 meters or beyond, sized to contain PLB's and other such items of similar size.

This is somewhat long (surprise!). I start with a brief description of what I'm using it for, and other solutions I've tried. I've put subheadings in, so feel free to skip to the review details in the second post.

Why Is This Needed?

For many, a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB: Emergency position-indicating radiobeacon - Wikipedia ) is a desirable part of their SCUBA emergency equipment. The majority of these devices combine a GPS with a radio transmitter designed to communicate with satellites in orbit anywhere in the world. For me, I acquired a PLB before I went on a liveaboard in Egypt: it is not unknown for such liveaboards to sink. But even in the United States, it's not unknown for divers to end up floating at sea, so once having spent the money, it would be very useful to be able to have my PLB with me.

The problem is, these devices are not designed for SCUBA divers. Even the best of them are only waterproof to about 30 feet, and most are 15 feet or less -- more splashproof than waterproof. There is one such device (the Nautilus: Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS - Free to use, Diver Rated to 425 ft. | Nautilus LifeLine ) that is rated to below 100 meters, but it works differently: it sends signals to a nearby boat in line of sight, rather than satellites in orbit). There are advantages and disadvantages to each. This review isn't about PLB's themselves; but suffice it to say that for many people, the satellite-based EPIRB PLB better fits their needs. But they're only barely waterproof.

So if you want to carry such a PLB, you need a way of protecting it while you're deep underwater. After all, the most likely time to need a PLB is when you come up from a dive and the boat is nowhere to be seen. If you can't bring it with you throughout the dive, it rather defeats the purpose of having it in the first place: it does you no good if it's left behind on the boat while you do the dive. So how do you accomplish that?

Bad Idea: Cell phone bag

My solution for this was simple: use a flexible drybag designed for cell phones. This seemed like a decent solution: it was cheap, it was designed to keep water out of sensitive electronics, and even if it didn't work perfectly, the PLB itself was waterproof enough to keep water out even if the bag leaked a bit. So why not?

One kind of obvious thing was that the water would be pressing in on the device through the plastic bag. Could that activate the button? It seemed like this would be unlikely: the PLB I use, an OceanSignal PLB1) has a protective cover over the button, as well as a neoprene cover over the entire device (to make it float), wich seemed like it would be enough protection.

So, that's what I did. But this did not work well, and in the end, it did not work at all. First, the cases are designed for wide, flat things -- cell phones. Sticking a bulky, chunky object them was not a great fit. The hard plastic top meant it was going to take a bunch of width anyway, and now it was going to take a bunch of depth, too. This made it pretty awkward in a diving pocket. In addition, the shape also put a bunch of stress on the bag in ways it wasn't designed to. Which meant it leaked pretty quickly. The PLB is designed for that, but still not optimal.

But these were not what made it a failure. What made it a failure was the time I got off a dive boat after a couple of very nice dives, leisurely put all my stuff in the car, and then checked my cell phone -- and found a half-dozen voicemail and texts from the Coast Guard! I immediately called them (but like 90 minutes or more after the messages started) to let them know that I was fine, and they told me that the helicopter was just taking off to come find me... Seems the pressure pressed the button unbeknownst to me. Huge pluses to the Coast Guard for coming to get me, and to my PLB1 getting a signal out even with the antenna stowed; but huge minuses for me to ask them to come get me when I didn't need to be.

So I haven't carried my PLB with me since then.

Until now.

Good Idea: DryFob XL

When I originally went looking for ways to protect my PLB, the only solutions I could find were either soft bags or battery pack canisters. The soft bags had the very strong advantage of cost and size; the battery canisters had the opposite disadvantages. They were very large (if you re-used an old one), or very expensive (as in $250 or more, if you had one made to a reasonable size). Which is why I went with the cell bag.

However, sometime later, @Jaan appeared with an intriguing possibility: the DryFob. This was exactly what I wanted: a small and affordable (dirt cheap, really) canister that did exactly one thing: kept its contents dry during a dive. It was very nearly perfect, except for one thing: it was too small. It was designed for keyfobs, and even the largest keyfobs are quite a bit smaller than a PLB.

But I messaged him way back in May, 2021 and mentioned PLB's, and how there were quite a few of us that had them and needed a way to take them on a dive. Of course, there aren't as many PLB's as keyfobs... but could there be enough that it would be worth a larger model?

Fast forward a year, and today we have it: the DryFob XL. It's exactly what I described: a small canister with one job: keep its contents dry during a dive. No extra holes or purposes (like either a cell phone bag or light canister), just a dry "box", but this time sized for a PLB! Yes, please.

So I purchased one (actually, two, to get free shipping). I received it a couple weeks ago, and I've had it on a few dives now, so now I can write up a review.

---

Continued in the next post

Thanks for the great product review.

Back in 2019, I also pressure tested my PLB1 in a soft case for Phone 6+ and took it down to 102’ depth. The hydraulic pressure crushed the softcase to the point of pressing the red button. I ascent slowly to about 90’ when the red turned back to green.

No message received from US coastguard as it was a short button press at depth, too deep, too short of duration for the signal to pass through 100’ water column and even though the signal passed through the water column, the residual signal could be too weak to travel all the way to the SAR satellites, perhaps.

PLBs Can Save Your Life

Are there any plb’s Atm that don’t require a dive canister?

scubaboard.com

I ended up designing my own case out of acrylic (plexiglas) tube and polyethylene lid (to keep the thread from locking up during opening). Clear case also helps me to see through for leak inspection. I had a plastic machine shop to make one for me. It costed me $125 for the labor.

I took it down diving for about 500 dives so far and down to as deep as 145’ depth. No leak so far. Fingers crossed.

Before having the hard case, I used to put my PLB1 in an old Sony underwater camera case that I bought from eBay for $10,

I dove with it for 200 dives & down to 135’ (41m) no problem.

As far as storing and carrying my safety devices on a dive, they fit in my BCD pockets, DSMB and light on my left BCD waist pocket, PLB1, Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS on my right BCD waist pocket.

 

[Dan]

To address @tridacna and @Akimbo both:

At no point have I ever thought it was too difficult to open the canister. At all times, though, I did think that it required a good grip and decent pressure to get it open. If you’ve ever used screw-on dive lights, you know what I’m talking about. They are not pickle jar hard, but they’re not easy, either.

I found that after a dive, if I had put the lid on snugly, the lid was slightly more difficult to open. Again, not pickle jar hard, but more difficult than it had been. If I screw it down snugly and then back it off 1/8 of a turn, that problem goes away, and we’re back to the screw on dive light level of stiff.

Now, keep in mind that this is coming from the perspective of an able-bodied large-handed male with no grip limitations. if you consistently have a difficult time opening jars, I would definitely try it out before I bought it.

As for worrying about losing the canister or the PLB when it came time to deploy it: that is kind of a solved problem. The sealed canister itself is slightly positively buoyant even with the PLB. And the PLB1 itself, while wearing its included neoprene sleeve, is also positively buoyant — that’s why they give you the sleeve. (ETA: The sleeve can remain attached to the device, even when you go to operate it. I’m sure it’s removable for the majority of people who are using it hiking, and don’t need the buoyancy.)

It’s possible that you might lose the canister during the dive, but I’ve never lost my dive canister which uses a very similar attachment mechanism. It might be possible that if you flooded the container with the PLB still in it that the entire contraption might be negative enough to go away, but aluminum is not *that* negative in water: if you’ve ever dropped an aluminum spool, you know what I mean. You usually have time to grab it before it disappears.

ETA: Thinking that through, I think, given the way I have mounted it, the right solution is to put the bungee ring around my wrist before I open it. That way, it is positive until I’ve opened it, the PLB is positive after I take it out of the canister, and for the briefest moment where it’s open before I take it out, it’s bungeed to my wrist. Thanks for the motivation: I think that was a valuable exercise.

I’m certainly not going to guarantee that there aren’t circumstances under which you could lose it, but there aren’t a whole lot of other alternatives, so if your choices are a canister that will make sure it’s there and usable 99+% of the time, or not have a solution that allows you to take it on a dive in the first place, I know which one I would choose.

ETA: As for losing parts of the canister if I were trying to deploy it in an emergency situation: I wouldn't care. Some people I understand have commented that they’re worried that they would lose the lid in an emergency situation. I would probably try not to, just out of general principle, but in an emergency situation all I want is the PLB, And I would gladly drop the lid in order to have a free hand to get the PLB out if I thought I needed to. If I lose part or all of the canister, I will laugh hysterically when I buy its replacement. I think the first one will have done its job admirably under the conditions.

I think people might be more worried about that if they are using the canister frequently before or after a dive, such as if they are using it for car keys or a wallet or whatever. I can easily see misplacing the lid under those conditions. But for my needs, I will rarely have the thing open. And in addition, there are holes in the lids that would allow you very easily to attach a bungee to the hole on the bottom of the canister so that the lid could never be far away.

Another thing to consider is the room temperature where you assemble and inserting the PLB1 into the canister. I do it in a cool AC room, where the air is dryer and denser than on the sea surface. So, when you are floating in warm water sea surface, the air inside the canister becomes warmer and less dense, hence, it has higher pressure than the ambient pressure to help popping up the lid instead of creating vacuum if you prepare it in hot, under sunny day conditions.

To keep my devices, canister, lid, etc., from losing to the abyss, I have all of them on a leash.

PLB1 has float sleeve, so I’m not worry about losing it. If I pull it out of the canister and fumble it, I just swim to it and grab it on the surface.