Expertise Needed: Lift bag & safety sausage mounted on BP&W

[sea_ledford]

I like the idea of having fewer doohickeys and whizbangs on the DSMB. The main complaint I have heard about the open-bottom bags is that the tend to leak air or take on once they reach the surface, and once they do, they fall down. I've never tried an open-bottom one though. Have you found this to be the case with yours?

I haven't really had that problem. I mean, they don't go shooting out of the water when you launch it from depth. You do have to keep some tension on the line to keep the bottom submerged, but a few seconds as you're fiddling with something else isn't going to do it. There is still the weight of the clip to keep the bottom facing down.

Once you are at the surface, if you need to keep it filled, it is a bit more of a pain than a closed one, but still not horrible. I'll trade that for ease of stowing.

Where is isn't good is if you need it for surface floatation. You aren't going to inflate it and give it to a struggling diver or swimmer, wrong tool for that job.

 

[rjack321]

I never said I have an issue distinguishing between colors. But when the rubber meets the road, I don't have to even look. 1, I am fine. 2, send help. They could be any color of the rainbow.

What if I gave you an orange and a red. At depth in NJ waters do you think you could reliably tell me the difference without a light? Brand new maybe, but not after a season and some sun fading. If I dove in clear water I might use a color scheme. But I don't have that luxury in my area.

What works for you doesn't necessarily work for me or the next guy. I'm sure you have adapted mannerisms that I would abhor, vice versa. Just giving an example to the op. Non of us here would have half our knowledge if people didn't share tips and tricks along the way.

Who said anything about orange and red? The vast majority are orange = normal, yellow = emergency. If you have time and gas (probably the most important limiting factor especially for a single tank diver anyway) then shoot both.

Put the other one in your thigh pocket although carrying different shapes to mean different things is kind of silly. Colors are a better identifier. And you can get orange and yellow safety sausages which actually stick up and are visible from a distance - unlike a lift bag.

Being required to muck about with SMBs twice as much in an emergency compared to what you normally do is imprudent.

 

[CharlieDontDive]

You can use one of these mounted on either side. I have one mounted across the bottom that I use for my DSMB
View attachment 604418
You could also use some bungee to make a couple of loops to secure the DSMB and lift bag to each side.

Oh snap, both great ideas! Thank you!

 

[CharlieDontDive]

You seem REALLY set on putting these things on your (single) tank.

This was designed for what you want to do and doesnt get in the way of doubles, argon bottles, light canisters or anything else. I holds 1 large lift bag or sausage and it won't come loose or get snagged on anything swimming on or through the wreck.
Halcyon Dive Systems

Put the other one in your thigh pocket although carrying different shapes to mean different things is kind of silly. Colors are a better identifier. And you can get orange and yellow safety sausages which actually stick up and are visible from a distance - unlike a lift bag.

Oh great stuff, thank you!

I got so carried away by this idea that I forgot my left side drysuit pocket is empty 99% of the time....

 

[CharlieDontDive]

SMB in a pocket, bag in the halcyon backplate pouch.

Also, the idea that sausage is just for emergencies, is really just dumb.

I'm sorry for being so dumb.

 

[DogDiver]

Hmmmmm don’t carry either a lift bag or smb. No need to in a cave. Lol

 

[flymolo]

Boat captains in jersey/Long Island don’t distinguish between yellow and orange smbs. If an smb goes up it’s assumed to be an emergency. If a lift bag goes up, they just wonder what you found .

 

[greeniguana]

Zeagle EZ mount pouch bolted to bottom of BP.