Feedback Wanted: Apeks Spool & Halycon Big DSMB

[Wibble]

Oooh, knitting...

 

[Wibble]

The main thing you need to do when you get to your stops is use a "Cave" style wrap around the double-ender to stop the spool from jumping out when it bounces due to the waves...

 

[PfcAJ]

Yeah I've never once had a problem with the spool coming unclipped after I've deployed the SMB. You don't need to tie some boyscout knot all up and down the double ender.

Keep it simple.

 

[Wibble]

Yeah I've never once had a problem with the spool coming unclipped after I've deployed the SMB. You don't need to tie some boyscout knot all up and down the double ender.

Keep it simple.

We'll wait with baited breath for your first time.

Winding up a 60m spool takes quite a while. But it does give you something to do whilst hanging around decompressing.

 

[mr_v]

Go with @Wibble 's advice. His setup will work regardless of where you store the SMB/spool combo and won't come undone.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

So, when the line is all wrapped around the boltsnap, what happens when you ascend to your next stop? Do you untie and retie that every time, every 10 feet?

 

[Wibble]

So, when the line is all wrapped around the boltsnap, what happens when you ascend to your next stop? Do you untie and retie that every time, every 10 feet?

Of course. Have you something else to do that’s more urgent/important/interesting as you hang around doing nothing?

Obviously if you’ve only got short stops you can just hold it in your hand. But if there’s a short choppy sea bouncing the spool up and down and you become tired of holding it where it’s constantly snatching, you’ll tie it off and let it hang free.

If the conditions are like that I tend to tie the spool off a metre/3ft lower than my stop then "OK" my fingers around the line allowing it to slide up and down between my fingers as the SMB rises and falls in the waves. Sometimes I’ll use a double-ender so the string doesn’t saw through my dry gloves.

Not knotting the clip allows the double-ender to unclip itself as it is bounced up and down by the waves allowing the spool to drop. Apeks spools, made from aluminium alloy, are heavy and drop faster than you can descend to catch them. As mentioned above, this has happened to me (and a team mate/buddy) and retrieving the spool is a little tedious to put it mildly. Doing that knitting takes no time and prevents it from unclipping.

BTW these days I don’t use a spool any longer. I use a man-sized Kent Tooling reel and a self-inflating SMB. This is much easier to deploy and wind up. But most of all the reel doesn’t unclip and drop.

 

[mr_v]

BTW these days I don’t use a spool any longer. I use a man-sized Kent Tooling reel and a self-inflating SMB. This is much easier to deploy and wind up. But most of all the reel doesn’t unclip and drop.

How many sharks have you killed with that reel?