Safety Sausage

[n733lk]

Is there a "preferred" safety sausage out there?

Thanks!

 

[local76sparky]

I can not answer your question specifically but I do know that the sausage I have, I do not like. Mine is a DAN sausage and you have to take your reg out of your mouth to blow air into it. I will be buying one that will allow me to use an octo to blow air into it. Not a fan of "having" to take your regulator out of your mouth. just my .02 though.

David

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

You know what they say- Bigger is better......

 

[mk706]

I like the Halcyon DAMs with the power inflater adapter and dump valve. You can inflate them either orally or off an LP hose. Imagine there are others with similar fittings.

 

[k ellis]

I leave my dry suit hose attached to my BCD and when warm water diving should I need it I use the DRY suit hose to inflate it. Usually even at depth this happens so quickly that by the time it takes off its inflated enough to break the surface and be seen without affecting my buoyancy much.

 

[drdaddy]

DAN Signal Sausage

 

[g1138]

If you meant safety sausage in terms of one you can deploy at depth then I'd say anyone that has an oral inflate, open bottom with baffle (to prevent air from escaping), and over pressure valve. Don't get one that says "Emergency" unless you only plan on using it as such.

I'd recommend any SMB that's 5-6ft tall and 3-5in in flat diameter.
The reason for this is because even 10lbs of lift capacity is hard to hold upright during a neutral safety stop. A 6ft 40lb SMB is impossible to hold up, and if it's laying flat it'll be no easier to see than a 3ft-6lb smb held upright.

So with the SMB dimension I described above, you can inflate it at depth with a full breath and get 2-3ft of SMB standing up on the surface, one which you can hold standing up while neutral. Once on the surface, you can now inflate it to it's full height and signal away.

Also Orange is generally to be the most easily seen color in a general vicinity, while Yellow is better seen in the distant horizon or during low light conditions.

 

[Searcaigh]

Mine is orange on one side and yellow on the other.

 

[Tortuga68]

Mine is a DAN sausage and you have to take your reg out of your mouth to blow air into it. I will be buying one that will allow me to use an octo to blow air into it. Not a fan of "having" to take your regulator out of your mouth

I'm pretty sure you can also inflate it using your LP inflator hose (if you use one and it has a standard QD fitting). If it's the current DAN SMB, I think they have a duckbill vent on the bottom as well...

I'm not a fan of using an octo/secondary to inflate - I'd suggest using your exhaust bubbles from yoru primary reg, or some people like dumping air from their BC into the SMB (since you'll theoretically stay neutral).

OTOH, being comfortable with your reg out of your mouth isn't a bad skill to have for a diver. Anyway, try different methods and see which suits you best

 

[robertarak]

I own and have used several DSMBs. My favorite by far is the DSS 3ft.

https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?product=85

VERY easy to deploy, half breath at depth and stands up on the surface very well. All that in a compact, easy to store unit. It goes on EVERY dive with me.