Lift bag versus SMB for tech divers?

[Jimmer]

Ok, I'm still gathering up my collection of equipment before I take Intro to Tech. As for marking your position, are lift bags or SMB's the preferred method?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Ok, I'm still gathering up my collection of equipment before I take Intro to Tech. As for marking your position, are lift bags or SMB's the preferred method?

Jim,

either will work. Depends on where you're diving, and what you're doing.

For marking your position in the open ocean, bigger is generally better. Something that sticks up higher, like an SMB/sausage design, is better than something lower to the surface of the water.

On a lake or sheltered body of water you don't need anything near as large or high. Where do you expect to be diving? And would you expect it to be 'all-purpose'?

A 6' Halcyon SMB is nice in swells and 2'-3' seas if you're 60 miles offshore in the Atlantic, but it only offers some 40 lbs of lift.

If you're actually trying to recover an outboard motor, for example, a Halcyon CC 300 lb lift bag may be a wiser option. And while I like CC bags, all my stroketacular buddies prefer open-circuit bags. Go figure.

If you're in the Great Lakes or the Thousand Islands area, you may not need either a 6' SMB or a raft....but if you're diving off Fiji on a drift dive, a raft might be an extremely prudent idea. In fact, if I were planning drift dives in the remote South Pacific I would pack both (and an EPIRB).

I'd recommend you initially get something that is relatively easy to deploy, as during your class you will no doubt have a few other things happening simultaneously when you're trying to shoot the bag... ( )

Best,

Doc

 

[Jimmer]

I guess the best thing as ever would be to talk to some locals and see what they use. I'm not planning on lifting anything off the bottom, just to use during my tech training. My equipment list that was provided to me specified 2 different coloured marking systems, either SMB's or bags. Right now it will all be Great Lakes diving during my training anyway. I'm thinking one of each right now, unless a point can be made for one option being the best option.

 

[texdiveguy]

Ok, I'm still gathering up my collection of equipment before I take Intro to Tech. As for marking your position, are lift bags or SMB's the preferred method?

Thanks,
Jim

I like 'semi sealing' lift bags for a general marker/lifting device. I due carry a sausage too.

 

[almitywife]

i only found out this week that the non-rec divers use different colour smb's for different reasons

eg; yellow is emergency but orange means keep my soup on the stove as ive still got deco to do

is it the same in Nth America?

cheers

 

[Doc Intrepid]

There are a couple that I like, but as with all things these are subjective preferences.

Carter makes great lift bags and SMBs - here is a page for SMBs but check out their main page as well:
http://www.carterbag.com/personalfloat.html
http://www.carterbag.com/home.html

And of course there is always Halcyon, which offers very high quality SMBs, lift bags, and rafts:
http://www.halcyon.net/mc/dam.shtml
http://www.halcyon.net/mc/liftbags.shtml
http://www.halcyon.net/mc/dlr.shtml

Couple things to remember. Colors are regional. They may mean one thing in one location, something else in a different location. TTBOMK there are no 'universal' meanings ascribed to various colors.

Second, if you're going to be drifting for awhile, a closed circuit bag can be lifted out of the water and waved. (An open circuit bag loses its rigidity if you lift it above the surface of the water.) A CC bag can also be used to keep an exhausted diver afloat. (An open circuit bag will need to be tied shut or otherwise secured somehow if the air inside it is not to rush out if you try to keep an exhausted or injured diver afloat with it for several hours.) There are a few other issues, but you get the general drift...no pun intended.

 

[Jimmer]

Well I'm just gathering the gear now in preparation for the course, so I can't speak as per specific colours, but yes, one is to mark position and all is ok, and the other is to let the boat know that the crap has hit the fan.

 

[brokenbones]

Well I'm just gathering the gear now in preparation for the course, so I can't speak as per specific colours, but yes, one is to mark position and all is ok, and the other is to let the boat know that the crap has hit the fan.

Talk to your instructor..they can help point you in the right direction.

 

[Charlie99]

i only found out this week that the non-rec divers use different colour smb's for different reasons

eg; yellow is emergency but orange means keep my soup on the stove as ive still got deco to do

is it the same in Nth America?

cheers

I think those meanings for the colors are much the standard in the UK, but in the US there isn't anything close to universal agreement.

 

[do it easy]

I guess the best thing as ever would be to talk to some locals and see what they use. I'm not planning on lifting anything off the bottom, just to use during my tech training. My equipment list that was provided to me specified 2 different coloured marking systems, either SMB's or bags. Right now it will all be Great Lakes diving during my training anyway. I'm thinking one of each right now, unless a point can be made for one option being the best option.

I dive in the Great Lakes and the dive can start out glassy and up with large swells. I would rather have a marker than a liftbag since the marker stands taller out of the water. I use the smallest Carter marker, which is closed, oral inflate only; and the TDL marker which is 50lbs, semi-closed baffle. Both can be launched from depth and both will hold air out of the water and stand 5'-6' tall. The Carter bag is skinnier, but easier to deploy.