Lift bag/SMB, 50lb, valve at top?

[diddler]

Hello!

I have a question about lift bags, (and its been bugging me since I took my Search and Recovery class) and I'm hoping you might be able to help me out. For the life of me I can't seem to find the exact product that I want and I don't know why. I'd like to have a SMB/Safety sausage that doubles as a lift bag, preferably 50lbs lift, but has the air dump valve at the top. It would also be nice if the valve opened inwards, with a pull lanyard that runs from the valve through the center of the bag down to the bottom. Obviously it would also have to have either an open bottom or a over-pressure valve as well.

I see plenty of sausage/lift bag combo's that'll lift 50lbs, but the valves are always at or near the bottom where they don't seem to be able to do much good. (I assume these are closed or semi-closed bottoms?) I've seen smaller sausage/lift bags that lift less weight that have the valve at the top. Most normal lift bags (non smb) put the valve at the top. If you're controlling a lift, you need to dump air from the bag as you ascend. With the valve at the bottom its much more difficult to control the ascent.

Since nobody seems to build such a thing, I'm wondering if its because of some technical reason, or simply not enough interest in the product.

Can you shed some light on this problem?

Thanks!

Ryan

 

[PhilEllis]

Hello!

I have a question about lift bags, (and its been bugging me since I took my Search and Recovery class) and I'm hoping you might be able to help me out. For the life of me I can't seem to find the exact product that I want and I don't know why. I'd like to have a SMB/Safety sausage that doubles as a lift bag, preferably 50lbs lift, but has the air dump valve at the top. It would also be nice if the valve opened inwards, with a pull lanyard that runs from the valve through the center of the bag down to the bottom. Obviously it would also have to have either an open bottom or a over-pressure valve as well.

I see plenty of sausage/lift bag combo's that'll lift 50lbs, but the valves are always at or near the bottom where they don't seem to be able to do much good. (I assume these are closed or semi-closed bottoms?) I've seen smaller sausage/lift bags that lift less weight that have the valve at the top. Most normal lift bags (non smb) put the valve at the top. If you're controlling a lift, you need to dump air from the bag as you ascend. With the valve at the bottom its much more difficult to control the ascent.

Since nobody seems to build such a thing, I'm wondering if its because of some technical reason, or simply not enough interest in the product.

Can you shed some light on this problem?

Thanks!

Ryan

Hi Ryan. The combination you are looking for would need to be custom made. To my knowledge, all substantial safety sausages or personal markers I have seen have the OPV on the bottom. It primary role is relief of pressure, not ascent control of the bag in a lifting situation. You need to remember that the shape of a safety sausage is not the ideal shape for salvage. When carter says their largest personal safety sausage has 75 pounds of lift, that DOES NOT mean the bag is designed to lift 75 pounds. They are simply trying to describe the water displacement/size in a term that we are familiar with. It displaces the same amount of water as a 75 pound lift bag, but it still is not designed for lifting 75 pounds.

Hope you are successful in finding a single product that will do both things, but I suspect your search will be less than fruitful. Thanks.

Phil Ellis

 

[do it easy]

I can't help you to find a SMB that has the dump at the top, but I have a DR lift bag that I reversed the dump valve so that the pull string is on the inside. Of course, this only works on a open bottom bag or your buddies closed bottom bag