Marking distance on a wreck reel

[NJScubaDoc]

I want to mark the line on my wreck reel to tell me distance traveled. For those of you that use reels anyone have a good method of marking distance on the line?

 

[fire_diver]

How about a simple over-hand knot every 10 feet. Lets you measure distance, and is tactile so you can count backwards in a blackout condition or while watching for hazards.

FD

 

[WVDiver]

First use it, get it wet, stretch it so it won't get longer on you after it has been marked.

Knotting the line is a good idea. You can also use permenate markers. I have even used some with very small pieces of flagging tied on and marked off for distance. Make your marks at 50' then 100' and so on. Then go back and mark 10, 20, 30 etc. If you try to mark your line every ten as you go any mistake will compound over the distance of the full length of your line.

If you mark 50 then 100 and then go back and fill in the rest your mistakes will be minimized and at least you will know for sure that the 50' and 100' mark is right on even if the the ones in between are a little off.

 

[Paco]

I used a permanent marker with one dash at 25 ft., two at 50 ft and so on. Works for me.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The other option is get some shrink tubing used by electricians or electronics techs. It can be shrunk easily with a hair dryer, don't advise using a match, and you can cut it small so that it does not affect line flexibility. And if you've got way too much time on your hands you can get different colors so that you can mark off different increments. Ie blue 5ft, yellow 10 ft, etc. Also since it shrinks around the line it will not get hung up on the reel guide.

 

[AndyNZ]

I used a permanent marker with one dash at 25 ft., two at 50 ft and so on. Works for me.

I do a dot-dash with permanent marker every two metres.... the "dot" indicated the direction to the entrance (line end) and the "dash" to the reel end. Useful if you use a jump reel from your main line!

 

[Scuba Brad]

Ok for those of us who are NOT wreck diving experts.............WHY are you do you even care about the distance traveled? (I think I know the answer but I'm sure there are a number reading your notes that don't)

Happy Diving

 

[Scuba Brad]

I meant to say WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT..........sorry for the typo

 

[mike_s]

This might seem a little nerd-ish or technical, but put color marks on the line that relate to resister codes. You can determine the resistance (in ohms) of a resister by the color bands on it. If you know the codes it's pretty easy to convert that color pattern into binary numbers.

then you just put those band colors up and down your line

0 black
1 brown
2 red
3 orange
4 yellow
5 green
6 blue
7 violet
8 gray
9 white


So for 120 feet you would use a brown-red-black

 

[Diver0001]

How about a simple over-hand knot every 10 feet. Lets you measure distance, and is tactile so you can count backwards in a blackout condition or while watching for hazards.

FD

If I needed to do something like this then this is what I do but I would space them out more than every 10ft. If you have too many knots you'll lose count and you still won't know where you are. Every 20 metres is lots. I do have knots tied at the 5metre point of the reel for my blob.

If you're just trying to measure the size of a wreck, then just lay out the line and tie a loop in the line where you want to measure to and then check the distance after the dive.

R..