Four European divers missing - Mersing, Malaysia

[DandyDon]

Just get the PLB once. The battery is good for 7 years.

Say you dive 100 times / year. A PLB1would cost you < $0.50 / dive for a peace of mind. Is that too expensive of a dive insurance for saving your life?

RESCUEME PLB1 Personal Locator Beacon - USA Programmed

Amazon links don't work here. There is a discussion on the Help forum. PLB1s are running $310 USD with free delivery in the US, but you left off the $100 or so for a dive canister. Still, close enough.

I sprung for the ACR ResQLink View 425, model 2922, which is not all that much more. Even with five-year battery life (six if you test the battery often during the fudge year, and I did that with my previous model), the combined $470 cost over five years of carrying it every day everywhere is like 25¢/day. Anyway you break it down, it's pretty cheap. It gets cheaper after five or seven years depending on model as you only have to have the battery replaced and the unit tested to keep using it, if you don't lose it traveling as I did.

I posted this question in another thread - can you de-register then register your PLB for each country you dive in? This thread said the local SAR only accept registrations from serial no. belonging to its country Reprogramming PLBs

Too much trouble, too much expense, and unnecessary.

You register a PLB in your home country only. Government SAR worldwide can access the registration information. Distress alerts are sent to your home country and to the country who is responsible for SAR management in the area the distress alert is coming from.

Yep. Google can give you many sites about how PLBs and SARs work.

Would compulsory SMBs for every diver help with this? I know that in the canaries, every single diver (even DSDs) need to carry a SMB with them. Perhaps one of the skills for OW now should be on how to use a SMB...

Oh, that's pretty basic. They should be required with OW cards. They're not, but any responsible diver should own and carry one.

 

[dmaziuk]

... (SMBs) should be required with OW cards. They're not, but any responsible diver should own and carry one.

... on quarry dives. I mean, come on: there's a well-known problem with blanket statements like that. Mine stays in the bag 9 dives out of 10. It wouldn't be the case if I were diving in the middle of Indian Ocean, but I don't.

 

[DandyDon]

... on quarry dives.

No, I was referring to real OW dives, not training dives.

 

[dmaziuk]

No, I was referring to real OW dives, not training dives.

Yes, on real OW dives on the Caribbean islands where the risk of being swept out to open sea is next to non-existent. I'd take mine if a) we're doing a drift dive and b) we're not sure the entire group is coming up together. Which adds up to probably 1 out of 10 dives.

 

[James79]

No, I was referring to real OW dives, not training dives.

I agree with a lot you post (most of it, frankly), but are you implying that a quarry can't be a "real" open water dive, and is inherently "just" training?

Respectfully,

James

 

[Swan]

Oh, that's pretty basic. They should be required with OW cards. They're not, but any responsible diver should own and carry one.

Most divers don't even know how to use one. You don't get trained to use it with either your OW or AOW, and you probably wouldn't think of it if you dive fairly infrequently because you're used to being with your dive guide. I don't think a sweeping statement that someone who doesn't carry a SMB is irresponsible is right, especially if it is not part of your learning. I'm not saying this is what is right, but this is what is happening - hence, my comment that maybe this should be taught with your OW as an important skill. Even in this Mersing case, I don't think the DM was carrying a SMB....

 

[DandyDon]

Yes, on real OW dives on the Caribbean islands where the risk of being swept out to open sea is next to non-existent. I'd take mine if a) we're doing a drift dive and b) we're not sure the entire group is coming up together. Which adds up to probably 1 out of 10 dives.

I guess we see the possibilities of being left behind or lost differently. Even without a reel, just carrying one rolled up in a BC pocket is a cheap & easy addition just in case one needs to be found.

I agree with a lot you post (most of it, frankly), but are you implying that a quarry can't be a "real" open water dive, and is inherently "just" training?

Respectfully,

James

Quarry dives are different enough from ocean dives that the only reasons to carry a SMB is (1) practice and (2) equipment habits.

Most divers don't even know how to use one. You don't get trained to use it with either your OW or AOW, and you probably wouldn't think of it if you dive fairly infrequently because you're used to being with your dive guide.

Even without a reel, just carrying one rolled up in a BC pocket is a cheap & easy addition just in case one needs to be found. It doesn't take skill to inflate on the the surface when you can't see any boats.

I don't think a sweeping statement that someone who doesn't carry a SMB is irresponsible is right, especially if it is not part of your learning.

Ok, we have differing opinions. No problem there. If you know any divers who do not carry one, you might suggest it, or buy them one. They're cheap.

my comment that maybe this should be taught with your OW as an important skill.

Perhaps. Still, even without a reel, just carrying one rolled up in a BC pocket is a cheap & easy addition just in case one needs to be found.

Even in this Mersing case, I don't think the DM was carrying a SMB....

I don't think it was ever established.

 

[Belzelbub]

Most divers don't even know how to use one. You don't get trained to use it with either your OW or AOW, and you probably wouldn't think of it if you dive fairly infrequently because you're used to being with your dive guide.

Maybe you didn’t, but I definitely did. Not during OW, but definitely during AOW. My instructor made sure that all of us knew how to deploy it.

Different styles of diving. I prefer to be as self sufficient as possible. I’ve actualy never dove with a guide.

 

[Saldiac]

Sad, sobering update.

Indonesia halts search for body of missing teen diver | Malay Mail

MERSING, April 18 — The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) has stopped its search for 14-year-old Dutch diver Nathen Renze Chesters, 14, who was reported to have died after missing for four days while diving at Pulau Tokong Sanggol here. The...

www.malaymail.com

 

[myshadeofred]

Teen European diver in Malaysia dead, 2 others found alive after days in water

A teenage diver was pronounced dead in Malaysia after going missing for four days during a dive off the coast off the country, according to his father.

www.foxnews.com