Safety Sausage Size

[weaponeer]

My DAN style SMB rolled up, minus my finger spool, measures-
7.5" wide
3" roll

Doable in a standard BC pocket.

 

[Splitlip]

I see conflicting specs. What is the rolled up length and diameter of the DAN, XS-Scuba, and OMS 6'+ SMBs?

It is one thing to lug a large SMB around for a drift dive, salvage, or decom; but there is a limit to what I am willing to carry for a recreational boat dive. You are close enough to shore on most Northern California boat dives that you can ditch your gear and swim to shore, worst case. Cortez Banks is another story — about 45 miles West of San Clemente Island, which is another 52 miles west of San Diego.

"lugging" is not a word I would use.
Mine is about the size of a 1 pt. water bottle when rolled. It will fit in a pocket.

I know people who have made the swim to shore from rec dives here, but they all would have preferred to have the boat pick them up. Get to enjoy the post dive festivities keep their gear too.

Come on Man. What kind of post is this?

 

[Splitlip]

My DAN style SMB rolled up, minus my finger spool, measures-
7.5" wide
3" roll

Doable in a standard BC pocket.

Why bother, if you can ditch your gear and swim to shore?

 

[Akimbo]

"lugging" is not a word I would use.
Mine is about the size of a 1 pt. water bottle when rolled. It will fit in a pocket.

I know people who have made the swim to shore from rec dives here, but they all would have preferred to have the boat pick them up. Get to enjoy the post dive festivities keep their gear too.

Come on Man. What kind of post is this?

Everyone would prefer it, including me. I have seen some specs where the rolled sausage is 11" wide and 6" in diameter. That is more than makes sense for me unless I was salvaging something. A smaller one would do the job and might actually get carried. Besides, a 6' sausage is of little value viewed from a chopper. Worst case, nobody sees the sausage and I am still on my own.

A rolled sausage 3" in diameter and 7" wide is much more reasonable, which is why I asked. It depends on the conditions. I carried a 1¼" diameter x 6" double-ended smoke/flair can plus a strobe 10 years ago at Cortez Banks. I would spring for a PLB or EPIRB in a housing today. It is all about risk assessment. The calculus changes if I was diving the Gulf current or in the North Sea. It's not like a sausage is even on the radar screen, figuratively speaking, when it comes to rescue at sea.

 

[mddyver]

[QUOTE Alternately, would it be more prudent to forgo the safety sausage and use my money for a proper SMB and a finger spool?[/QUOTE]

I'm going to assume you are diving No Cal conditions with boats anchored and no drift diving. Based on that, I would get the longest SMD model you can get, if you only want to choose one.

Here's what I dive with on all open water ocean dives.

1. 36" SMB with 100 ft. finger spool. I launch this on drift dives for the crew's benefit or if I get blown off the anchor. OK in good conditions, not so good in 3-5 swells, but at least I have something the captain may see or other boaters can avoid.

2. 9ft Carter, 80lb SMB. More practical in bigger swells. The wind tends to knock it down, but you can make it stand up by putting weights in the bottom of the velcro opening or you can hang weights from the bottom. I'm sure it can be inflated from depth but for me it's not worth the task loading. Never bothered.

3. Dive Alert. Attaches to LPI hose and makes high pitch noise at 140 dB. Don't do this unless everyone covers their ears and you put your head underwater. Must have. Turn up your stereo real loud one day and blow on a whistle for 3-5 minutes. See how you feel.

4. Whistle. Must have. Just in case 3. doesn't work or you are OOA.

5. Signal Mirror. Must have. Practice using this on the surface. It's really effective in case 1-4 are fubar.

6. High Intensity Strobe. I mount this on my BCD on my right shoulder for night time detection. Can also double as a navigation marker on a night dive.

I've also carried marine flares and surface dye markers, but only do this on rare occasions.

IMOH. 3, 4, and 5 should be in everyone's bag. Period.

In addition 2. should be on your list.

1. and 6. if you do a lot of offshore diving and like night dives.

Mike

 

[jbb]

FYI:

jbb is talking about two different animals in his (edited?) post.

The DAN marker IS a DSMB with a mesh pocket. The 2 color ScubaToys marker is an SMB (no OPV etc) with 2 colors, Not as thick or robust as the DAN.

The ST is meant to be inflated at the surface.

No, the scuba toys I was refering to has an open bottom and a dump valve. They have two different ones that they carry.

Large Safety Stop Signal with Dump Valve reviews and discounts, ScubaToys

Dump Valve
Brass clip to attach to reel or line
Extra D-ring at bottom of bag
6 Feet Tall
8 3/4" across
Yellow on one side, Orange on the other
Velcro Closure Straps for easy storage
Use as a Safety Signal, Lift Bag, or Safety Stop Anchor
45 lbs of lift​

whatever...

 

[Splitlip]

Gotcha!

I had not seen that one before in 2 color. Only their surface marker.

Still, per many protocols, orange is a marker while yellow is "distress" and/or "message".
As somebody who shoots one regularly, I stand by my statement that you do not attach anything to them for deep or midwater deployment. In fact in a couple other threads, I suggested cutting off Velcro and bungee built in to them, because they can be impediments.

But as you say, "whatever". It's mostly about personal preference. And we are here to share information.

 

[jbb]

Gotcha!

I had not seen that one before in 2 color. Only their surface marker.

Still, per many protocols, orange is a marker while yellow is "distress" and/or "message".
As somebody who shoots one regularly, I stand by my statement that you do not attach anything to them for deep or midwater deployment. In fact in a couple other threads, I suggested cutting off Velcro and bungee built in to them, because they can be impediments.

But as you say, "whatever". It's mostly about personal preference. And we are here to share information.

Well how about a lime green one that will be designated as "hey, pick my *ss up!"

I haven't run into anyone using particular colors for dsmb or smb but I don't dive tech. If at some point it really makes a difference I will get another smb. But for now I like the dual color as orange provides superior visibility during the day and yellow better visibility at night or low light conditions. I googled smb and found a site with a 10ft long with 22" circumference - maybe a little over kill as I think you would probably need a helium bottle to keep it inflated.

 

[Splitlip]

whatever.

All's good. Orange or yellow for the most part in the States.

But I always carry a light to illuminate the SMB..if God forbid, I have to be out there in the night.

Can't imagine a marker 10 x 2! It certainly could not be inflated at depth!
How many pounds was it?
edit:
You said circumference. I read diameter.

I have shot 6ft x 7 inch from depth.

I still suggest not adding any gobbly gook to a DSMB. But that is just me.

 

[gnulab]

I just saw a 16' one on the OMS webpage

I bought this.

And it's almost impossible for the fully inflated beast to stand upright at the surface.

There was an article, magazine article specifically, about the effectiveness of various signaling devices that can grab attention of a boat crew. Dive alert won since it can be heard 1.5 miles away. Via extrapolation, I thought, a 16' SMB will make me visible 2-2.5 miles away.

Size wise, for those who uses a backplate/wing setup, folding it according to the size of the backplate, fits nicely behind your back, and I was using the small size Halcyon backplate.

I tested the beast out in a 5 meter pool while diving double aluminum 80 ft. I fully inflate the SMB and deflate my BCD, with remaining air 140 bar (aka, still negatively buoyant), and still I can't have the beast stand upright. Mind you that my setup is almost equivalent to 20kg.

To make it stand upright at its highest point, that is little of the SMB is submerged, the sausage needs to have some sort of support at its sides; or inflate it to high pressure, stiff enough that the sausage can stand upright on its own. Both are impossible to achieve I'd say. That beast is rated to have 48kg of lift capacity, so how much weight will be needed just to have it upright? I don't know, but definitely a lot of weight!

For it to be humanly able to make it upright, I'm guessing probably 2 meters above the water surface is the sweet spot. There goes my $. Until I came across Rescue Streamer, and then I struck me that this beast can expand my visibility horizontally, useful for helicopter search!

So, size does matter, but there's a limit to it. I'd say 2 meter is best, perhaps stretch it to even 2.5 or even 9' (2.7m) is still doable.

Hope that helps.
Henry

PS. I've yet to ask OMS, what's the actual use of a 16' DSMB.