Is my Sausage too big?

[Garth]

I have a DAN sausage and use the inflation device that connects to a low pressure inflator. Because its a rush of air the thing fills nearly full until it yanks you. I don't let it do it that far of course. Other things to think about is proper deployment and no entanglement. Should have a cutting device if necessary easily accessible.


Also: I've practiced in 15 feet of water just for ****s and giggles but it certainly is much easier at a depth if 40ft or more...

Garth

 

[Landlocked123]

Thanks Garth. Definitely very cautious about the entanglement. The reality is based on what i can see if it happened at 20 feet good luck trying to get out of it as i dont see how one would have time. I am hearing multiple people indicate depth as the change variable here. Unfotunately in the quarries i dive 30 feet yields 1 foot visibility. So I don't even feel comfortable pulling the thing out of my leg pocket with such viz. Next time i hit water where i can see my hand in front of my face at 30 feet i will try at 30. Thanks for the input
G

 

[Scared Silly]

It takes practice to deploy a sausage. Dump a bit of air from your BCD, counter act that by taking a full breath. As you fill the SMB, release air from your lungs. When you release the SMB, take a breath to counter act the buoyancy change.

The closer to the surface you are the more difficult because the relative pressure difference is greater.

 

[Landlocked123]

Thanks Scared Silly ..again I am hearing Depth here… so I would like to get people's opinions. Scenario is as follows, open water, boat dive, separation from DM (i know it should not happen but if it does), waters with boat traffic. What depth do you deploy an SMB? I am starting to think that 40-30 feet is best. Sounds like reduced effect of air expansion, a little more time to address a possible entanglement, and more time for the boat to see you (sooner rather than later as you could be drifting away). What depth would others deploy?

 

[Scared Silly]

Depth deployment - it all depends. Perhaps a general rule would be when I hit my first stop. Whether that be at 15' for a safety stop or 70' for my first switch to a deco gas. It might be when I find myself blow off a wreck at 100' due to current.

 

[uncfnp]

I have two. A smaller 4 foot safety sausage that is orally inflated and a 6 foot SMB that can be inflated through the flap at the bottom. I carry the smaller on all my dives and will inflate it at the safety stop with a finger reel. If I am diving deeper and/or rougher seas, I will also carry the larger DSMB that I can deploy at depth or on the way up. I have a larger reel for this. The larger DSMB, as others have said, is a real pain to deploy near the surface and is over kill for most of my diving but I like to have it available on the few occasions I need it. On dives where I am surfacing near the boat or dive flag, I don't send up either but may inflate the small one at the surface.

 

[Landlocked123]

Thanks uncfnp. I have 2 as well. I have a the smaller one which sounds like is the way to go at the 25-15 foot range. The larger one will be used for deeper deployment sounds like. How do you carry both? I use an OMS thigh pocket where i keep the larger Dan one with the reel already attached. Currently the finger spool i have is 50 footer and is attached to the larger DSMB. Sounds like that is more of a match to the smaller SMB. So I will move the finger spool over to the small one. What type of reel/spool do you have for the larger DSMB? How do you carry them? already rigged or separate ?
Thx
G

 

[Wookie]

I deploy my sausage when I leave the dive for the surface on a recreational dive, or the first deco stop on a tech dive. On a rec dive I carry a finger spool, on a tech dive I carry a Manta reel. I always carry my DSMB (don't want DivemasterDennis' imagination to get too worked up, here) in a pouch hanging off of the back of my backplate. I carry the finger spool on every dive clipped to my chest d-ring, and my Manta reel on tech dives only clipped to my front waist d-ring, below my stage bottle. If scootering, I have a self inflatable DSMB (it has it's own gas supply, just open the valve) rigged to the scooter so if the scooter should happen to flood, with the turn of a handle I send the scooter to the surface so the boat can recover it.

 

[uncfnp]

The small one I keep attached to the finger reel and clipped to a shoulder D ring. The larger SMB I carry clipped to a hip ring or in a pouch. I do not keep the reel attached to it. Until recently I just used a larger finger reel I also carried in a pouch but just got a Light Monkey 200 to try out. Haven't gotten to try it yet but it was a little larger then i expected and will not fit in pocket so will have to clip it as well. I have a Manta Nano + on back order. Hoping it will arrive so I can try out both in 2 weeks. Still in the process of finding the best configuration.

 

[Garth]

I deploy a SMB when I don't have a point of visual reference. If you can tell if you are ascending or descending by something other than your computer or lung/counterlung volume.