Safety sausage

[Divingblueberry]

Hello everybody

I have a question that is directly triggered by my first diving trip to Cozumel.

For some reason, I haven't bought a safety sausage yet. (probably because it wasn't even a subject of discussion during my OW :-S). Long story short, I surfaced during a thunderstorm (visibility 10 feet max). Fortunately, I was the the DM and the boat found us withing 5 minutes. However, I cannot brush off the idea that I might have surfaced alone, without having a safety sausage. Hence the idea to buy one and get the skills to deploy it.

Are all the safety sausage you find on Leisurepro or Amazon alike ? What to look for, what to avoid ? (sorry if this is a question frequently asked but I couldn't find a post related to that).

Thanks very much for your input or pointing me in the right direction.

DBberry

 

[Centrals]

Size does matter if you want to be seen.
My preference: self sealed, dump valve and inflated with the use of the 2nd stage.

Practice n practice n practice.

 

[Divingblueberry]

Thanks @Centrals

That is very helpful.

I was told to stay away from a 6' because of the lift it gets when inflated (especially for a newbie). Is a 4' better ?

(Being who I am, as soon as I get it, I'll go weekly in the pool to practice.)

 

[Centrals]

If you only inflate it on the surface.......lift plays no part.
There is no need to fully inflate the smb under water because it will expend as it shoots to the surface. To deploy a smb under water you will need line or spool//reel if from deeper water.
To shoot a bag under water can be tricky or even dangerous if you get yourself tangle with the line.

 

[boulderjohn]

Everything depends upon how you plan to use it.

If your only purpose is to use it as a signalling device at the surface (and everyone should have that in case of an emergency), then you want something big enough to be high visibility. Take as long as you like getting it fully inflated. A minute or two extra doesn't matter.

If you want to inflate it under the water and send it up before surfacing, then you will want to consider things like ease of inflating, etc.

 

[jgttrey]

There's a difference between a "safety sausage" and a true DSMB. The former is generally small and designed for surface use. It usually has no overpressure valve and is sealed at the bottom, so while you can launch it half full from 33', for example, it is not optimal for deeper deployment. Nor is it generally of a size you'd want if you were using it for deco.

A real DSMB is generally wider and taller. 6' is a good length. These will have overpressure relief valves so you can launch at depth. In a pinch you could also use as a lift bag because you can vent gas as needed. Inflation is generally with a second stage or low pressure inflator, not oral. Much more useful, but also not as compact and you'll have to figure out where to stow it.

Buoyancy only matters in that big bags can be a pain to launch from shallow depths because you have to put a ton of air in them so they'll stand up, which means you're having to hold it down for a while before launching. A really tall bag also wants to fall over. Not a problem at 6', but I have a buddy with a 10' bag and it's a big PITA to launch if shallow and you really have to hang on it to get it to stay vertical.

Learning to launch underwater quickly, safely and while controlling depth takes some practice. I'd recommend getting some help with that.

 

[Snoweman]

This is one of the two I own. I prefer it to the closed bottom one I own.

New! 6ft Orange SMB

There are some great videos that show you how to set up a spool.

 

[Mr. Sunday]

On easier open water no deco dives like Cozumel I use a Halcyon 3' with a 100' finger spool. I typically deploy during safety stops. This is my preferred model after owning a few as is has a unique valve that allows oral inflation without depressing. Small detail but makes it easier to deploy imo. I go to the 6' for everything else.

 

[CommanderKeen]

We had to use a SMB during our OWD course. We’ve been told to deploy that buoy during the safety stop to been seen by boats.

I use the a pretty simple version:
https://ww2.scubapro.com/en-GB/FRA/...flags/products/signal-decompression-buoy.aspx

It has an open end (self closing) at the bottom wich can be inflated using your additional second stage(Octopus).

We got a 30ft line with a little weight attached to it. But I think I will replace that thing with a reel soon. Which is probably easier to handle.

From a newbies perspective underwater deployment is kind of tricky. Especially if you try to stay bouyant. You have to make sure that there is no chance of entanglement before inflation. I tried it several times in the pool and was kind of surprised how much drag this SMB generates.

Maybe the more advanced SMBs using a blow off valve are better to operate. I probably would put in an extra $ to get one of those.

 

[Larryjd1]

There are some great videos that show you how to set up a spool.

This is great advice.

When I clipped my new 100' finger spool to my BC for the first time, I didn't know that if you don't "setup" your spool that you stand a good chance of having a 100' mess.

Here is a video I used after I untangled:


You can search for others as well, including this one on deploying which is interesting if for no other reason than this person's buoyancy control: