Safety sausage questions.

[Freds@Aquanauts]

I use a sausage with a standard 6m line it comes with, in all of the situations that H2Andy described...Saw a potentially major accident with one once, a DMT inflated a sausage with said line at 26.5m...Whoooooopsie!!!He shot up like a rocket but luckily had the sense to let go very quickly!!!

Freds

 

[cleung]

The use of safety sausages also might depend on location as well. The divemasters in Cozumel (at least with Aqua Safari) use them routinely near the end of every dive to signal the boat for pickup.

 

[Dave_Rapp]

sometimes, you can put newish divers on the line for the safety stop. Helps to keep it "organized"

Isn't that what you use a yellow one for? At least I've seen yellow ones used for that purpose, marked with the divers name and "needs gas."

 

[Diveral]

Thanks for the replies.What if you are diving in a quarry with your buddy an working on skills,would you need to deploy it?My wife and I are going to a local quarry this weekend to brush up on some skills before going to Cozumel and we just purchased
sausages along with some other safty equipment.I want to get used to using it but I don't want to cause any concern for people topside,thinking I might be in trouble.

We are getting ready for a dive off of Cape Lookout NC. We will be practicing shooting buoys along with other skills in the quarry. You are going to see orange and yellow sausages popping up like daisys all over that quarry.

 

[double80s]

On a chartered boat, I would always discuss float usage with the captain prior to your dive. If you want to deploy your SMB for practice or any other non-emergency need, they probably would appreciate the heads up.

Be aware of current. Your SMB can become a water kite if there is a current. In these conditions, you should only deploy your marker if truely necessary. Oh, and always look up and around you before you shoot a marker. They travel to the surface very fast and your line could cause problems for other divers if they are above you or near you with a current.

 

[cowjazz]

What are the proper procedures for deploying a safety sausage?Do you need to deploy it at the end of every dive? What if you are doing a dive in a quarry,would you need to use it? Dumb question,I don't know but I am curious.

Not a dumb question at all. In fact, I'm impressed that you asked the question instead of blindly purchasing one, and not knowing how to use it properly.

By they way, ditto to the great responses to your question.

 

[D_O_H]

Great responses above.

As a practical matter, you will probably (hopefully!) not have the occasion to use your sausages in Coz. unless you want to use them. Assuming all goes well, your DM will likely send up a sausage for the group at the end of your dive.

That said, you definitely should both have sausages in case you get separated from your DM.

If you're just getting started with diving, I would recommend that you not practice deploying the sausage while at depth just yet. There are a lot of things that can go wrong while doing this. If you get separated from your group in Coz, I'd suggest ascending slowly and carefully, doing a 360 degree scan for boat traffic before slowly breaking the surface with your arm first then the rest of your body. Once you're on the surface and positively buoyant, you can then inflate your sausage to help the boat find you. This is what I'd suggest practicing.

--Scott

 

[Packhorse]

I hae only used mine twice at the end of dive. Once when diving for scallops in 2 meter swells and once when I surface along way from the boat. But I always carry it.
I have now added a .5kg weight and 20 meters of line to my kit so I can connect it to my SMB and use it as an anchored marker to mark aparticular spot such as a crack full of bugs. I can then swim back to the boat and then return to the spot and GPS it for the next time.

 

[Whale Whisperer]

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 reel, and slowly ascend to 15' for my safety stop. This takes 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!

 

[heliflyer]

Thanks again guys and dolls.I guess well practice inflating the sausages at the end of dive.I understand the possible problems that could arise in inflating sausage at depth,
added bouancy,also air expansion in the sausage itself,etc.I love this board