Safety Sausage or Surface Marker Buoy?

[joeabroad]

After my first few boat dives I followed everyone's advice and bought a mouth-inflated, 3-ft safety sausage. I now carry it with me but have never yet had cause to use it. I'm getting the impression, from things I read here and elsewhere, that these are considered inferior, and that what I really need is an SMB and finger spool. A friend from the UK was surprised to hear that I didn't have one and had never been trained to use one. So what's the deal here? I've seen divemasters use SMBs in Mexico, but not elsewhere. Is this a fad and more gear clutter, or or is the SMB now considered standard (in which case, does anyone want a 3 foot-long orange sausage?).

 

[aboalreem]

I always cary a saftey sausage with me and it is wise. You will never know when you will be drifted a way or even sometimes, I have used it in Mexico, sometime you do not want a boats above your head. So really you will never know when you need it.

 

[nolatom]

I've never used a Surface marker buoy on a reel, but do carry a safety sausage. The way I hear it is, if you have to stay at depth, you may shoot an SMB to the surface so the boat will know where to expect you. But if, for whatever reason (SMB or no), you get to the surface and the boat's nowhere near, you will likely want that long, bright sausage to wave around to make you more visible to the boat or to other divers.

I've used mine a couple of times on drift dives when the boat's roaming around picking up people off Jupiter or West Palm.

I am not what you'd call a wildly experienced diver, but that's my story anyway.

 

[RICHinNC]

The up side to the dsmb to me is the size and vizability. The down side is learning to shoot it correctly and also the size of it while rolled up.

I would also highly recommend a DiveAlert above surface signal device. These work even when the guy on the boat is looking the opposite direction of where you are.

 

[Whale Whisperer]

Yes!!! I think it's a very important piece of gear! I've heard so many stories where mishaps could have been prevented if the victims only had a safety sausage! A very small investment that could save you and your buddies life. I like my large marker because it's easy to see, it's got reflective SOLAS tape on the end with a clear pocket for a chem light and it has 42 lbs of bouyancy. I even used it during rescue class as an emergency bouyancy device for senarios! I had the victim throw their arms over it like a life ring.

I don't usually deploy my safety marker after every boat dive aside from Drift dives. I do deploy my marker if I can't locate the anchor line, especially if I'm diving a site I'm not familiar with or if visibility is bad. There could be alot potential hazards up there (sailboats can be sneaky)! In this situation I'll deploy my marker and send it up using my 50' cave line spool, and slowly ascend to 15' for my safety stop. This takes training and some practice, especially if you have a large marker like mine.

I also remember deploying it during a shore dive that went wrong. At the end of the dive my buddy and I ended up in the middle of a major (and very busy) channel in Apra harbor, Guam (Don't ask me how). I deployed my large marker at 30' and surfaced to find out that we were 300 yard from shore! It was funny because my buddy always made fun of me with all the safety gear I carry, but he wasn't laughing at me when a passenger boat was coming right at us! He was yelling at me to wait up for him because he didn't have a marker with him or even a whistle! After that he never made fun of me again!

 

[ReneeC]

I carry a safety sausage with a line and "spool" attached. I used a really big bolt with the line wrapped around it and the sausage wrapped around that.
This way it can double as a SMB should I need to alert the boat I where I am in an emergency. Just remember to learn how to inflate it under water!

 

[H2Andy]

safety sausages are longer and can be seen further on the surface (assuming
correct deployment) than marker bouys.

you need to learn how to shoot it properly and practice a few times before you
get it, but it's actually easy once you know how to do it.

i also carry a smaller sausage that i can deploy on the surface for situations
that don't require the large sausage.

 

[Lukiedukie]

Okay I have praticed shooting my SMB from 20' before and I have a few questions. How much air should I put in? If I only partially inflate my SMB I only get about 6-8" out of the water. Is this normal or will this height increase if I shoot it from a deeper depth (boyle's law) How is the safest way to add the gas to the bag? (second stage or exhale)

Oh yea here is a tip if you are going to deply a SMB for the first time. Make sure your finger is not stuck to deep into the hole of the spool when you add the gas. I went from 20' to 15 in a hurry whille I was trying to get my finger out.

 

[LSDeep]

i usually carry a sausage "just in case". the smb def makes sense on rapid drift dives (even if it is only for your boat to be able to follow easier and dont lose you) and is actually in many areas required by law for all diving activities.

 

[donacheson]

After my first few boat dives I followed everyone's advice and bought a mouth-inflated, 3-ft safety sausage. I now carry it with me but have never yet had cause to use it. I'm getting the impression, from things I read here and elsewhere, that these are considered inferior, and that what I really need is an SMB and finger spool. A friend from the UK was surprised to hear that I didn't have one and had never been trained to use one. So what's the deal here? I've seen divemasters use SMBs in Mexico, but not elsewhere. Is this a fad and more gear clutter, or or is the SMB now considered standard (in which case, does anyone want a 3 foot-long orange sausage?).

A safety sausage and SMB serve two different purposes - the safety sausage alone as a marker if you're adrift and an SMB to "tie" you to the bottom, often a wreck, in a current (1) to indicate to the dive boat that you're below (usually decomming or making a safety stop) and (2) to keep you in one place instead of drifting off toward the horizon. When wreck diving, the boat can't pull anchor until all the other divers are on board, and that can easily leave you adrift in a current for an hour or so if some or all divers are going into decompression. (If you want a nerve-wracking experience, try decompressing while drifting in a decent current, knowing that you're getting further and further from the anchored boat with each passing minute.)

As one earlier responder has pointed out, a big safety sausage with an up line makes a good SMB.

In some circles, it's considered good form to use only a biodegradable up line, such as sisal, so the wreck doesn't become littered with synthetic lines, such as nylon, which can ensnare the unwary diver. A related and not-fun experience is to get hung up in monofilament fishing lines on a wreck.