Lost at sea signaling kit

[markfm]

Stuffing a "normal" submersible unit into a separate save-a-butt dry cylinder is probably significantly cheaper than trying to come out with a standalone handheld that can handle dive depths.
You have speaker/microphone transducers, tuning dials, volume/squelch, strobe on/off, power to deal with. Even a relatively "cheap" case, like the 40m-rated Oly camera cases, runs what, about $150? Handheld form-factor is also a bit "odd", not too conducive to a form-fitting case, due to the antenna sticking out of it.
A normal submersible-rated radio, that can handle 1.8m submersion to get you through wave splash kinds of events, coupled with a low-cost cylinder storage case, is likely much less costly.
Curious -- would a decent diameter PVC pipe piece, permanently cemented at one end, screw thread at the other, do the trick? Looks like it would need a tube with a 3" ID.

 

[cdiver2]

I got the Mcmurdo PLB with dive cannister good to 400'. It fits on the tank band and is in no way intrusive in fact I forgot it was there.

 

[vladimir]

Curious -- would a decent diameter PVC pipe piece, permanently cemented at one end, screw thread at the other, do the trick? Looks like it would need a tube with a 3" ID.

Or you could pay $295 for this one:
http://www.landfallnavigation.com/spwffdive.html

 

[cdiver2]

Or you could pay $295 for this one:
http://www.landfallnavigation.com/spwffdive.html

is the one I have, fits on the tank band no problems

 

[Bill51]

A custom made submersible case would be nice, but I’ve been pretty frustrated with the excess buoyancy using oversized or generic cases – or you wind up hauling 4 extra pounds of lead around in the case.

While 406Mhz EPIRBs have been a vast improvement over older 121.5 units, unless they have a built in GPS or GPS feed it still can take as long as 90 minutes to get a location fix and then another 5-10 minutes to get any rescue calls out to those that might be in the area. Then one of the first things the Coast Guard does in many cases when they do locate someone floating at sea is drop them a VHF so they can communicate with them until they can get a helicopter and rescue swimmer in the water to pick them up. If a civilian aircraft picks up the 121.5 homing signal, they have no way of directly communicating with any boats that might be in the area which is why I carry my marine VHF in my flight bag on all over water flights, and I carry my aircraft VHF on the boat when I’m offshore.

I think many massive searches could be avoided altogether and more people rescued in a hurry if they only had someway to communicate with a boat that might only be one or two miles away from them. Even something as simple as an under $200 Garmin Rino would work if one was left on the dive boat to point the boat directly to a diver within 2-5 miles of the boat.

 

[Doc Harry]

From my experience in the Navy in flying blue-water operations and searching for people lost at sea, the following items are EXTREMELY valuable signaling devices:

1. Sea Dye Marker. This stuff is HIGHLY under-rated. Can be seen by aircraft from 10 miles away on sunny days.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Item...chSortField=SKU&SortDesc=False&SearchTerm=dye

2. Signal Mirror. You gotta have one of these, and you gotta know how to use it.

The Aqua Star is not my favorite, the Army-Navy surplus mirrors are just fine:
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Item...ortField=SKU&SortDesc=False&SearchTerm=mirror

3. Strobe light. Check out the Tek-Tite Strobe 300. It's about the size of a 3 C-cell flashlight.

http://www.tek-tite.com/src/product_info.php?id=41

4. Whistle.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Item...rtField=SKU&SortDesc=False&SearchTerm=whistle

The strobe hangs on my left D-ring, just like a back-up light. The SMB hangs on my rear D-ring. The signal mirror and dye goes in my thigh pocket.

 

[maxcleosam]

From my experience in the Navy in flying blue-water operations and searching for people lost at sea, the following items are EXTREMELY valuable signaling devices:

1. Sea Dye Marker. This stuff is HIGHLY under-rated. Can be seen by aircraft from 10 miles away on sunny days.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Item...chSortField=SKU&SortDesc=False&SearchTerm=dye

2. Signal Mirror. You gotta have one of these, and you gotta know how to use it.

The Aqua Star is not my favorite, the Army-Navy surplus mirrors are just fine:
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Item...ortField=SKU&SortDesc=False&SearchTerm=mirror

3. Strobe light. Check out the Tek-Tite Strobe 300. It's about the size of a 3 C-cell flashlight.

http://www.tek-tite.com/src/product_info.php?id=41

4. Whistle.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Item...rtField=SKU&SortDesc=False&SearchTerm=whistle

The strobe hangs on my left D-ring, just like a back-up light. The SMB hangs on my rear D-ring. The signal mirror and dye goes in my thigh pocket.

Do you know how long the Fluorencent Dye Marker lasts in the h20 b4 it dissolves? The description doesn't state.

 

[Doc Harry]

Do you know how long the Fluorencent Dye Marker lasts in the h20 b4 it dissolves? The description doesn't state.

It lasts only a few hours

 

[lairdb]

It lasts only a few hours

20-30 minutes, according to OMS (the Orion product, which is what I suspect OMS is repackaging says the same thing for a similar size.)

 

[D_B]

Mirror , Light , PLB if you have the money , this Dye sounds good for searches from the air ..." Presto Dyechem dye had produced a very impressive slick from which the release remained consistent for around two hours, easily observed by helicopter." , and you might want to get that SMB in fluoresant yellow instead of orange ... "Yellow was the most conspicuous colour in all sea states, even with breaking wave crests, and could be located in deteriorating light when it was impossible to locate pennants of any other colour."

From ... http://www.divernet.com/safety/location0200.htm
... info obtained right here at ScubaBoard , thanks

DB