Safety Sausage Size

[Lee Taylor]

Amoung sailors, everyone wants the largest mast. You do the math.

 

[aquaregia]

Amoung sailors, everyone wants the largest mast. You do the math.

Fractional rigs are also popular with sailors right now

 

[flots am]

I'm looking at picking up a safety sausage because I'm currently doing my first offshore dives and they're sorta freaking me out. The LDS has both 45" and 72" models. Is there any reason to get the smaller one? Is it significantly more difficult to inflate the larger one?

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

For your purposes (surfacing away from the boat and inflating on the surface), I'd get the biggest thing that will fit into your BC pocket. Either a tall SMB or a tall safety sausage would work nicely.

If you'll be shooting it from underwater, the bag's volume (and lift) will be a limiting factor.

For example, I have a 9' Carter Personal Float that's very visible, but there's absolutely no way to inflate it enough underwater at a reasonable depth and have it surface with more than a few feet showing, because you simply can't hold on to it as it fills. If you're 6 lbs negative, there's a limit to how long you can hang on to a bag that's 30Lbs positive and climbing.

You might also want to carry a small 4' safety sausage that you can use to signal the boat under normal conditions, when you don't want to inflate the monster.

As with everything, it's a compromise. If you're genuinely lost and drifting, you want the biggest, brightest thing you can carry. OTOH, your storage space is limited.

flots.

 

[Mike Boswell]

I think you need a long one and a short one.

I bought the 6-foot model because it meets my worst-case lost-at-sea scenario, where I would be on the surface and would want maximum visibility.

But it takes a lot of weight to make a 6-footer stand upright, and unless you are carrying an extra 4-6 lbs of lead you won't be able to pull hard enough from depth to make it vertical. If your goal is to shoot it from depth on a drift dive and make it stand up while you do your safety stop, I would get a shorter one.

 

[flots am]

I think you need a long one and a short one.

I bought the 6-foot model because it meets my worst-case lost-at-sea scenario, where I would be on the surface and would want maximum visibility.

But it takes a lot of weight to make a 6-footer stand upright, and unless you are carrying an extra 4-6 lbs of lead you won't be able to pull hard enough from depth to make it vertical. If your goal is to shoot it from depth on a drift dive and make it stand up while you do your safety stop, I would get a shorter one.

What works nicely is inflating the bag on the surface and using a double-ended clip to attach all your weights (either weightbelt or weight pouches) to the bottom of the bag.

The bag will then stand right up straight with no help, and it makes you much more buoyant. Both of these are good things if you're waiting for help.

flots.

 

[Rhone Man]

The primary purpose of the SMB is to make you visible on the surface. I have only deployed mine twice, and was very glad to be carrying a big one (6 foot). If they made a bigger one, I'd carry that. It is pretty nerve wracking waiting, hoping the boat will see you in rough seas, and you don't want to be relying on the crew having the eyes of eagles.

If you need to shoot it from depth, a big one may be impractical, in which case I suggest you carry two, or get a sexy one with its own gas cylinder.

 

[TSandM]

Actually, it's easier to shoot a big one from depth, because you don't have to put as much air in it. It's much harder to do it near the surface.

We use SMBs a lot just to let the boat know where we're coming up (almost all our PNW charters are live boat, as are many of our private boat dives) and the 3' ones work pretty darned well for that. If you were diving in very rough water, or thought you might come up a long way from the boat, the bigger one would be better.

And thanks for the tip about clipping your weights to a big bag to make it stand up. I've never been in that situation, but it's a good tip to have in the back of my mind if I am.

 

[aquaregia]

If they made a bigger one, I'd carry that.

I just saw a 16' one on the OMS webpage

 

[Jax]

Actually, it's easier to shoot a big one from depth, because you don't have to put as much air in it. It's much harder to do it near the surface.

We use SMBs a lot just to let the boat know where we're coming up (almost all our PNW charters are live boat, as are many of our private boat dives) and the 3' ones work pretty darned well for that. If you were diving in very rough water, or thought you might come up a long way from the boat, the bigger one would be better.

And thanks for the tip about clipping your weights to a big bag to make it stand up. I've never been in that situation, but it's a good tip to have in the back of my mind if I am.

The 8', 9" diameter XS Scuba SMB (doubles as a 25lb lift bag) actually has instructions that at the surface, clip your weight belt into the straps to hold it upright. If you inflate it fully at the surface, it stands up nicely.

 

[Jax]

Another thing I haven't heard discussed is shining a light up from the bottom of the SMB -- a backup light, carefully bungeed or tied into the fill area so the light shines into the SMB, will give you a very bright surface marker for darkening conditions.