Shooting an SMB

[oreocookie]

I think, after watching a few videos showing how to do it, the best thing is to go out and try it. That's pretty much what I did... i watched some youtube videos when i was considering getting an SMB, then when i started my divemaster internship, i was handed and smb and spool and told "you'll need one of these". Nobody really taught me how to do it, they just expected us to be able to do it. I have mine clipped to a hip d-ring, so when i unclip it, i'm holding onto it, as soon as i remove the double-ender from the spool, my left thumb goes through the hole in the spool, and i unfurl the smb with my right hand.

 

[Deftfox]

I thought deploying orange SMB meant all is well normal ascent. Deploying a yellow SMB meant emergency something is wrong. This allowed Boat crew to act accordingly. But correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Centrals]

I thought deploying orange SMB meant all is well normal ascent. Deploying a yellow SMB meant emergency something is wrong. This allowed Boat crew to act accordingly. But correct me if I am wrong.

Not really.
You and the crew must have agreed on it first.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I'm very curious also. Where I dive the general feeling is a damned if you do and damned if you don't. It really seems to put a target on you and make them aim straight for you.

I was diving in Lake Travis yesterday with a boat flying the diver down flag and the alpha flag and yet jet skies were buzzing past the boat within 25' of the bow.

Lakes attract a lot of boaters with minimum skill and too much power to weight ratio. Jet Ski operators are typically the least skilled / educated. Add liberal use of alcohol and its scary. As for the alpha flag, I bet 9 out of 10 people on the lake would not have a clue as to what it meant. Maybe 50/50 on the dive flag. I am always going to avoid ascending anyplace but my anchor line or the shoreline on a lake with power boats if at all possible. The ocean going crowd tends to have a little more knowledge.

 

[TSandM]

Whether I deploy an SMB depends on the circumstances of the dive. If I am shore diving and return to shore, I don't do it. I don't shore dive where there is significant boat traffic in the shallows (less than 20'). I'll shoot a bag if I am shore diving and have to surface BEFORE returning to shore, but I do it more as a way of having an upline than as a way to discourage boats.

If I am diving off an anchored boat, I will come up the anchor line, and not shoot a bag. If, for some reason, I can't come up the anchor line, or if the boat is not anchored, I will shoot a bag on initiation of ascent, because it will give the boat the earliest possible warning of where I am.

As Bob says, most of the charters here in Puget Sound are live boat. Currents can be strong and quite quirky. I can remember a dive where six teams got in the water, and some finished the dive within a few feet of where they entered, and others got swept almost a quarter mile downstream. Bags are invaluable for the boat to track teams in that kind of environment.

 

[Searcaigh]

Shore dive, no need, boat dive, then as TSandM mentioned no need if coming up the anchor line.

If for some reason I can't find the anchor line, or there is none (drift dive) I generally shoot my SMB as I approach my safety stop, rarely before it unless I am marking a point for a subsequent dive.

More or less self taught, and I am amazed at how many divers in my locality never carry one, for me it is an essential piece of kit that could be life saving.

 

[Scuba Cat Diving]

We have to use SMB's every time we dive in this area, so boat traffic can keep away from the divers, they are sent up at 5m. Usually the guide does it, but on liveaboards where buddies may ascend in teams each are given their own, and instructions on how to use them. They all have to practice on the check out dive under-supervision if they have not used one before.
So it depends on where you dive and the rules / accepted practices in that area.
I show all my students how to send them up on the advanced course.

 

[racerx_]

What's that last step on the video? After shooting it he seems to clip the double ender back on the reel, but I don't understand why

 

[DMDavid]

What's that last step on the video? After shooting it he seems to clip the double ender back on the reel, but I don't understand why

It keeps the string from spooling out any further.

 

[racerx_]

Well that's what I figured, but I don't see how. Unless there's a loop in the string, can't the string still just freely move through the 'eye' of the double ender clip?
When securing the reel predive the double ender attaches to the loop at the end of the reel then clips off, so I'm confused how in this case its stopping the string from unraveling..