Recommendations on spools/reels

[wjefferis]

As I have posted before I am looking at taking a cavern class in the future. I know I need to talk to my instructor about equipment, but I also wanted to hear everyones opinion on two topics:

1.What kind of finger spools do I need and what length of line, ie 150 ft?


2. What kind of primary reel do you recommend?

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

This depends on several things. I am the kinda person that prefers a spool over a reel if its warm water and lengths less than 100 feet. Over that and it can be a pain to wind things back up.

my favorite spools come from dive rite, they make 2 styles, I like the larger one because I live where its cold. however if money isn't to big an issue a stainless steel one from deep sea supply would be my preference.

for cavern class your not gonna need anything more than a safety spool, so get a good aluminum or stainless one that will hold 100ft +/- of number 24 line.

when you get into things a bit more reels become very nice and for anything under 400 feet I would go with the larry green versions which are simple and bulletproof. over that salvo has to be the best I have used personally. Some people like the Manta brand reels, I have used these and they are pretty nice and very durable not to mention affordable in comparison but most of them are a top handle design which I dont care much for.

your instructor will supply these items or make suggestions most likely but in the worst case scenario a good quality metal safety spool will be all you need. DSS and tech diving limited have good metal spools, some are in colors too.

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

I like salvo reels and I have a 400ft one right now, umm as for spools i have a 150 ft one and a 200ft one I believe

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Walter - style will mainly come down to personal prefference between a tiller handled reel and a sidewinder wheel. Different people end up liking one over the other most of the time.

That being said, I like the sidewinding reels. I use a Salvo(because I needed one and thats what was available - aside from the Dive Rite Primary's which I hate). I may had picked up a sidewinding Larry Green/Ralph Hood reel had it been part of the choices I had. The Salvo has tight tolerances, and its difficult to jam. The Larry Green/Ralph Hood reels have incredibly smooth action and have enough room to fix the line if it gets jacked up.

You can also get the Ralph Hood Reels in a Tiller Handled model if you choose.

I don't like the Dive Rites because the barrels are made of a cheap plastic that cracks pretty easily. They also have a tendancy to dismantle on you The barrel issue doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with the smaller models.

Your mileage may vary.

I nearly always have two spools on me for safeties. I also carry a small reel for jumps(or another safety).


Walter, if you want, next time we're diving in the same area, I'll letcha try a bunch of these out. I have a Salvo(sidewinder) primary reel, a Larry Green(sidewinder) jump reel, a Dive Rite(tiller handled) cavern reel, and several spools of different sizes.

 

[cavediver08]

I second the Ralph Hood (Larry Green) reels, they rock! I need to pick up a couple more of them.

-Tony

 

[wjefferis]

Cool, I will have to take you up on that. I was looking at at the DSS spools and they seemed to be very nice. They hold up to 200 ft of #24 line, more than I have seen elsewere. I have a Dive Rite top handle reel with 150 feet on line that I have used as a back up for the just in case chance I can't find the anchor line in salt water, but I must agree with you they aren't the best. At Dive Rite Express they have high viz line in their spools. It looks like a good idea. Does anyone see these being used at all? I was actually thinking of buying a naked metal DSS spool and putting the high viz line on it.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Safety spools/reels should have a minimum of 150' of line. There are passages that could require that to find a line should you really need to use it. In my Cavern/Intro classes, I illustrate this point pretty well to my students. If the line is too short, you just might not find that main line. As for reels, there are a variety of choices out there. Personally, I'm a fan of the Ralph Hood reels. They are compact, smooth, and easy to handle. I also have a sidewinder Halcyon Pathfinder and a Tiller Dive Rite. Those were reels I bought before I found the RH reels but have kept so my students can experiment with different reels before spending money on something they don't particularly like.

 

[Dark Eternal]

Safety spools/reels should have a minimum of 150' of line. There are passages that could require that to find a line should you really need to use it. In my Cavern/Intro classes, I illustrate this point pretty well to my students. If the line is too short, you just might not find that main line. As for reels, there are a variety of choices out there. Personally, I'm a fan of the Ralph Hood reels. They are compact, smooth, and easy to handle. I also have a sidewinder Halcyon Pathfinder and a Tiller Dive Rite. Those were reels I bought before I found the RH reels but have kept so my students can experiment with different reels before spending money on something they don't particularly like.

He is not lying about proving you need 150' of line. My wife and I just took intro with Rob and while doing dry land drills he proved his point that our 50' gap reels were not enough.

With that said I would get a primary reel for even cavern. It will give you practice and is faster to reel in/out when you are talking lengths of over 100'. The cavern zone depending on who's standards you are going by can be close to 200' of penetration. You should also get a safety spool - they are cheap. Cave Adventurers has a 2 for $35 deal on 150' ones with hi-vis line. Its what I have and am happy with.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I wouldn't get the spools that hold 200ft, it gets really old rewinding that much line and as you will learn in cave diving "less is more" and "only bring what you need" really come into play fast. I stow my safety spool on the rear D-ring so size isn't that big an issue but many people keep them in a pocket and there size becomes an issue fast. your almost never gonna need 200' for a safety spool and 200' may not be enough line for connecting the cavern line to the cave line so really if you need 200' your better off getting a larry green reel (350') or a salvo (400').

I love high viz line I repeat I love high viz line... I have the dive rite spools that came with the line and that is some nice line, the orange glows almost, but unless your diving in lower viz or around several other people who have lines run for something its not necessary. A cheaper alternative can be had from home depot (available in several colors) and its still braided but slightly smaller line.

I would highly advise you get a spool that holds no more than 150' with 100' begin optimum. The dive rite spools are labeled as 125 and one of mine came with 115 and the other with 130 but I had to cut some off it to make life easier.

if you ever need more than 150' get a reel. if you dive cold water get a reel, if you want to keep your spool in a pocket get a small one.

eventually you will end up with spools and reels in a variety of sizes, I went through and knotted all my spools and labeled each with a paint marker so I have spools in 10' increments from 50' to 140' and a couple 75' and a couple 100' and most have home depot green line on them. I have reels with 350' to 1200' capacity and up to the 500' has knotted line to just cause I have not gotten around to doing the others. you pick the best tools for each dive that way. T

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Just my opinion but if your a cavern diver why would you ever end up over 150' from the main line? not to start an argument I really want to know this, even if you have unlimited viz in mexico caves you cant always see the line at much closer distances depending on the cave so wandering off that far seems like real trouble.