Shooting a bag (DSMB) in strong current conditions

[rsingler]

You also wouldn't hold the boltsnap in another hand. Boltsnaps get clipped to d-rings.

@JohnnyC Is this a reasonable way to have an L-sweep with your line to avoid entanglement in current? Holding the boltsnap in the right hand as a pulley while it unrolls from the left in deep water? In the OP's video, she makes the L with her gloved hand. I wouldn't want to do that barehanded with a long spool. Boltsnap instead?
But I agree about all the extra motions and switching.

 

[JohnnyC]

@JohnnyC Is this a reasonable way to have an L-sweep with your line to avoid entanglement in current? Holding the boltsnap in the right hand as a pulley while it unrolls from the left in deep water? In the OP's video, she makes the L with her gloved hand. I wouldn't want to do that barehanded with a long spool. Boltsnap instead?
But I agree about all the extra motions and switching.

I may be misinterpreting his comment, but I took it to mean the boltsnap wasn’t connected to the line. If he’s using it on the line to maintain distance from the spool to the vertical line that makes more sense, but why wouldn’t he do that in the video? Why wouldn’t he do the same procedure every time?

As to whether or not it’s ok, I don’tt See why it wouldn’t be, but it’s another thing to keep track of in the midst of all of the other extraneous stuff he’s doing.

 

[rsingler]

I don't think he's promoting it. I had seen it done this way, and since I respect your opinion, I wanted to follow up on your comment that boltsnaps belong only on D-rings. I think I just misinterpreted that statement.
But yes, in his case, I thought I was going to see him "L" out the line with the snap in his right hand, but he didn't.
Thanks!

 

[JohnnyC]

I don't think he's promoting it. I had seen it done this way, and since I respect your opinion, I wanted to follow up on your comment that boltsnaps belong only on D-rings. I think I just misinterpreted that statement.
But yes, in his case, I thought I was going to see him "L" out the line with the snap in his right hand, but he didn't.
Thanks!

Yeah, I interpreted it as he just hangs on to the bolt snap while he’s doing other stuff which is just weird. If you’re not doing something with it, it should be secured. I fully admit my interpretation of his comment in the video comments could be faulty.

 

[Motojack]

Macan,

Thank you for taking the time to post this. The video is very instructive & your student does an excellent job. I wish my aow instructor had gone the extra mile to include more advanced buoyancy, finning & smb instruction as you do! I like your idea of using a 3ft smb & stowing a 6ft for surface deployment in emergency, as I still struggle with buoyance when I need to use a second breath to inflate my 6ft.

 

[Macan]

Macan,
Thank you for taking the time to post this. The video is very instructive & your student does an excellent job. I wish my aow instructor had gone the extra mile to include more advanced buoyancy, finning & smb instruction as you do! I like your idea of using a 3ft smb & stowing a 6ft for surface deployment in emergency, as I still struggle with buoyance when I need to use a second breath to inflate my 6ft.

Thanks for the kind note. Here’s another short video of my Tec student practicing DSMB deployment midwater in Doubles and a Deco Tank (Technical Diving). The skill is to smoothly and seamlessly deploy a DSMB in less than 1 minute, in real world midwater conditions, while maintaining horizontal trim and neutral buoyancy. The Tec student is still in the learning stage and is working to further improve on the overall execution. Like and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you like it. Thanks!

 

[Pilotmaverick]

You and i have a very different idea of "midwater". 2m of the bottom is not midwater.
In my eyes it is midwater when you are to far up that you can use the bottom as reference.

 

[Yellowdog]

Thanks for posting this. A very interesting thread for me. I launched my first this month in Cozumel with the DM watching. Definitely wish smb deployment had been part of my OW and or OWA training. One more video on set up and reason to attach smb at the surface rather than as part of the smb launch process. Makes sense to me.

 

[Divectionist]

Loose line, even 5m of it, in the water is bad news. Keep it on a spool.

True, so I picked up a small spool - will give it a go during the next safety stop.

 

[Dan_P]

Thanks for sharing.
And great job for an AOWD!

If I had to get into the niddy-griddies (do let's, right?), I have a couple of questions on the motivation for procedural choices.

I agree 100% that it makes sense ot have the spool and smb connected in the pocket so I don't have to fidget around with putting it together every time I need to shoot, but:

1) Why choose to remove the bolt snap first, then unfold the smb?
By far the more "dangerous" potential loss of control at this point, is the spool with its 21-30m of nylon hell wrapped around it, not the smb itself. The bolt snap secures this.
I can choose to unfold the smb first, then remove the bolt snap and inflate.

2) Why opt for the neck tug to secure the reg, when I can just opt to keep the smb in my left hand and on my left side at all times, thus making sure it won't snag on my reg?

3) The L-line sweep does tie up both hands and may cause a lot of friction - why install it?
Worst case, which is relatively rare, the spool snags. If that happens, it "catches up" and drops down to you straight away.
And if it doesn't it's because it's snagged so bad an L-line won't help anyway. Right?

Again, good going, and cool to see divers diving