lift bag failure question

[nradov]

lanun once bubbled...
2) try to oral inflate the cc smb - i've sen my son blow air into it but need to see how that works underwater.

With Halcyon's small closed-circuit SMB this works fine. A single breath into it at 50ft is plenty of gas to leave it fully inflated at the surface. Stick the inflator all the way into your mouth so you get a good seal.

I really don't like the idea of disconnecting my drysuit inflator hose to fill a lift bag. That can turn into a real CF if you need to quickly descend again to rescue someone. Having the bag in close to your body increases the risk it will snag on something. And I have seen divers forget to reconnect the drysuit inflator afterwards, or, worse yet, connect it back over the top of the long hose.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

If diving in cold water I'd suggest NOT placing a second stage
under the bag opening and pressing the purge button.

1) you now have BOTH hands occupied with different objects
and one of them is a regulator that could ... (read #2)

2) you might cause a free flow and now you have that
problem to sort out in addition to handling an inflated/inflating
bag

Better idea:

1) hold the bag opening over the exhaust tee and exhale
into the bag

 

[ericfine50]

Or.. better yet, make it a two man job - one man is reel guy the other is the bag man.

Eric

 

[WreckWriter]

Green_Manelishi once bubbled...
If diving in cold water I'd suggest NOT placing a second stage
under the bag opening and pressing the purge button.

1) you now have BOTH hands occupied with different objects
and one of them is a regulator that could ... (read #2)

2) you might cause a free flow and now you have that
problem to sort out in addition to handling an inflated/inflating
bag

Better idea:

1) hold the bag opening over the exhaust tee and exhale
into the bag

Since I don't general do cold water diving I never thought of that issue, makes sense though. In general though I'm much less than comfortable with the bag and rigging that close to my head while being inflated. I'm sure you cold water folks have developed a special technique for avoiding fouling the bag/line with your head?

Tom

 

[WreckWriter]

ericfine50 once bubbled...
Or.. better yet, make it a two man job - one man is reel guy the other is the bag man.

Eric

The only reason I don't recommend this method is that in the event of seperation you end up with 2 divers who aren't well practiced in bag deployment by themselves.

Tom

 

[madmole]

I am a cold water diver (like all in UK), we never use the exhaust gas to fill, its far to hit or miss, takes too long (we use large bags) and the risk of sending your DV up with the bag is too great

Personally I use my own DV if on OC (posiedon jetstream) with it switched to the - setting. If I'm on the Yellow death trap I use the auto air. Can deploy, hold reel and DV in right hand and bag in left. Sneak mouthpiece under bag, Give purge a BIG belt and the moment I start to move, let go of bag. Use left hand to put mouthpiece back in, while right hand controls blob reel

Personally I've never had a free flow in 2800 dives including many under ice. (seen plenty though)

The buddy clips their reel onto yours and watches. If yours jams they let theirs run. That way the bag always gets to the surface and you get back any reels that tangle (touch wood, mine never has)

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Cripes, sounds like a bank robbery

The best way to begin is to have a bag that does not
require two hands to hold it open.

To prevent snagging yourself simply "gather" the
nylon straps at the bottom of the bag and hold them
up against the bottom of the bag as you hold it above
the exhaust tee. Don't be afraid to "roll over" onto your
side a bit so the exhaust heads straight up (basic
physics) out of the higher of the two exhaust ports
and directly into the bag.

You don't have to place the opening of the bag AROUND the
exhaust, just place it a few inches ABOVE the exhaust.

By *NOT* using press-the-purge-button method you
have the benefit of both hands to use in controlling the
bag, reel/spool, etc.

Be smart: practice in a controlled environment BEFORE your
life is in danger. Also, carry TWO bags and reels.

 

[tinman]

"The buddy clips their reel onto yours and watches. If yours jams they let theirs run. That way the bag always gets to the surface and you get back any reels that tangle (touch wood, mine never has)."

This beats my buddy poised with knife routine I believe. We'll give this a try. It is a good day when an old dog can learn a new trick....

 

[madmole]

After 20 years of letting bags rip from 50-80m down you tend to get it right

Plus they are too expensive to just let go of if theres a problem

Best technique is to tie reel to wreck, let rip, untie. If it does jam you get a chance to untangle

 

[Fetch]

Not to pick fights as I am far from a technical diver, BUT: wouldn't it just be easier all around to use a spool? No worrying about jams, etc.

jeff