Redundant Bouancy

[SmileMon]

Not to loose the reel if the entanglement is inside the reel..

I do agree with him in one condition - the line is slightly negative so you won't get entangled, I've seen a few which are slightly negative and a few which are neutral, in the neutral case, you're absolutely right, I don't want to be there when this line is out the reel.

 

[Quarrior]

I've heard a nice thing today from my instructor, I think he has a point, use a 100 pound lift bag, its huge so others can spot you in the water and its easy to deploy.

You can use it as a bouyancy device (which is a bad idea, especially with something that big) or use it with a safety reel.

Extract the amount of line you need from your reel BEFORE connecting it to the lift bag, and let it ride to the surface..

Combined with ties on your safety reel every 10 feet, its almost fool proof in my opinion. lets say you want to be at 40', just extract 40', tie, deploy, hold.

What could be better than that? (other than service your equipment and check it frequently enough to avoid it)

I know a lift bag is sometimes useless at the surface, so inflate your smb, drop weights and relax, if you can drop your weights, get a bigger smb..

Please do not take offense to this, but considering you are new to diving, I'd find myself a new instructor or possibly a mentor which would be even better.

First, the idea of using a 100# lift bag is way to much over kill. 30# is plenty.

Second, reeling out the line ahead of time is not only wrong, it's extremely dangerous. Attach the bag to the line on the reel. Unlock the reel. Hold the opening of the bag over the exhaust of your second stage and let a couple of breaths go into it. That is plenty of air for the bag because it will expand as it rises. Release the bag and let the line play out slowly maintaining a slightly negative bouyancy. When the bag get's to the surface you will feel the line go semi-slack. If you let the bag ascend to fast it will pop up at the surface, dump it's air and come back down. Another option is to use an SMB instead of the bag, they tend to have baffles that prevent the dumping.

Once the bag is on the surface you can then start swimming up and reeling in the line. Kind of like fishing in reverse.

As with anything else, practice makes perfect. So get a bag and go out to your local water hole and play. I carry both a bag and an SMB.

 

[TheRedHead]

Not to loose the reel if the entanglement is inside the reel..

It's better to lose the reel than to become a missle. Get yourself a good reel and practice. I personally like Dive Rite's Deco reel. I agree with Quarrior in that it is an extremely dangerous practice. And you don't want to drag line all over a reef.

 

[SmileMon]

Quarrior, I don't take offence, we are all here to exchange opinions and learn.

I see you're not from Florida (and don't know if you dive here much so no offence intended), in a drift dive situation (most of the dives in Florida are) its not a bad idea, when you have a 100 pound bag is big enough to be spotted even with relatively big waves..

Regarding letting it raise slowly, its a bit hard if you fill the lift bag with big amounts of air, you want it to be inflated enough to be seen from the boat.

I know its a dangerous practice, but so is breathing off your BC as a counterlung (or as a diluent for your deco gas), ascending quickly to 40' so you can breath of your deco bottle and a lot more practices.

I think those skills should be practiced and become part of your natural survival skills as when you'll really need them, you will be proficient enough in using them in a real emergency.

 

[jtivat]

Please do not take offense to this, but considering you are new to diving, I'd find myself a new instructor or possibly a mentor which would be even better.

First, the idea of using a 100# lift bag is way to much over kill. 30# is plenty.

Second, reeling out the line ahead of time is not only wrong, it's extremely dangerous. Attach the bag to the line on the reel. Unlock the reel. Hold the opening of the bag over the exhaust of your second stage and let a couple of breaths go into it. That is plenty of air for the bag because it will expand as it rises. Release the bag and let the line play out slowly maintaining a slightly negative bouyancy. When the bag get's to the surface you will feel the line go semi-slack. If you let the bag ascend to fast it will pop up at the surface, dump it's air and come back down. Another option is to use an SMB instead of the bag, they tend to have baffles that prevent the dumping.

Once the bag is on the surface you can then start swimming up and reeling in the line. Kind of like fishing in reverse.

As with anything else, practice makes perfect. So get a bag and go out to your local water hole and play. I carry both a bag and an SMB.

Yup that sums it up!

 

[jtivat]

Quarrior, I don't take offence, we are all here to exchange opinions and learn.

I see you're not from Florida (and don't know if you dive here much so no offence intended), in a drift dive situation (most of the dives in Florida are) its not a bad idea, when you have a 100 pound bag is big enough to be spotted even with relatively big waves..

Regarding letting it raise slowly, its a bit hard if you fill the lift bag with big amounts of air, you want it to be inflated enough to be seen from the boat.

I know its a dangerous practice, but so is breathing off your BC as a counterlung (or as a diluent for your deco gas), ascending quickly to 40' so you can breath of your deco bottle and a lot more practices.

I think those skills should be practiced and become part of your natural survival skills as when you'll really need them, you will be proficient enough in using them in a real emergency.

A long SMB would be even more visible, and I don't care who you are or wear you dive never ever ever unspool line from a reel before deploying a Bag or SMB!

Your instructor is wrong period!

 

[captain]

Not sure. you have one bladder with a limited number of valves. Lets say the bladder is punctured/ripped open. (without going into how one can still manage by positioning the body). You have no more buoyancy device.....

What he is saying is he doesn't need it to begin with, it only a convience, so if he loses it it is not a problem.

 

[TheRedHead]

I see you're not from Florida (and don't know if you dive here much so no offence intended), in a drift dive situation (most of the dives in Florida are) its not a bad idea, when you have a 100 pound bag is big enough to be spotted even with relatively big waves..

I mostly drift dive - in Cozumel instead of Florida and the best marker is a 6 to 8 foot DSMB - the 8 ft OMS is really nice (can 500 Cozumel DMs be wrong?). If I'm diving a deep wreck in Florida, I'll take a 50 lb Halcyon lift bag with an over pressure valve. It won't collapse on the surface.

SmileMon, I've never seen anyone unspool line before shooting a bag.

 

[SmileMon]

I didn't mean to start this. sorry.

I guess this is one of those to each his own.

I believe that in some situations its an ok solution, and for some situations its a bad solution.

We don't need to prove eachother wrong, I think both ways have room in our little ocean.

 

[Quarrior]

I didn't mean to start this. sorry.

I guess this is one of those to each his own.

I believe that in some situations its an ok solution, and for some situations its a bad solution.

We don't need to prove eachother wrong, I think both ways have room in our little ocean.

Please understand, we are not trying to bash, rather we are concerned for safety.

Unreeling line before you launch the bag or SMB is a deadly accident waiting to happen and that is our only concern.

The rest of it is all personal preference and technique.