Should I check out other dive ops?

[ggunn]

... your chances of finding yourself adrift alone are exceedingly slim unless you are someone who is known for paying absolutely no attention to your group. In which case you should stop doing that instead of hoping that an orange fabric tube will save you.

I emphatically disagree. Cozumel is drift diving, by and large, and although the term "drift" sounds very placid and leisurely, in many cases it is a significant understatement. If a diver runs low on air before the rest of the group or has to call the dive early for whatever reason when the current is ripping, he and his buddy will likely be swept quite a distance downcurrent from the group on the way to the surface. It has happened to me, and paying attention to the group didn't help.

I got certified long enough ago that DSMBs weren't part of OW training. It was only on my 3rd trip to Coz that I brought one and the first time I used it was for practice there. Come to think of it, every time I've used it was for practice in Coz.

Although it wasn't part of my training, either, I have carried an SMB while diving for at least 20 years and I never dive without it. I use it a lot, and not always just for practice. It is far better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[lowwall]

I do not like the package relying on a bungee to hold it together and keep it attached, keeping it compact is cool but relying on the bungee to keep it attached is no good - that bungee will fall off when you jump in the water some day - the picture below is fine BUT:

Instead of clipping that double ender to the spool, take the black line between the spool and smb, fold it in half and push it thru a hole in the spool towards the outside and clip your double ender to that loop, keep the loop small. When you are sitting in the boat and moving around, things rubbing into you - there is a chance that double ender will unclip itself pushing right against the spool. When it's clipped to the loop, I have never ever had one come unclipped. Just sitting on the couch you can try moving it all around and see the difference.

Just to be clear the bungie isn't holding everything together, the spool line is already attached to the DSMB.

But I will adopt your advice about clipping to a loop in the spool line instead of directly to the spool. Thanks.

It's already something I'm concerned with so I'm pretty careful with the double-ender. If I clip it the way shown it's difficult to knock it off by moving it around, but not impossible. OTOH, if it's clipped face down it's pretty easy to pop it off unintentionally. I also move it to a chest d-ring when I'm out of the water so I can keep an eye on it.

I actually hesitated a bit before posting because I was worried I was doing something foolish, but decided the worst that could happen was someone would straighten me out.

Like I said, my training predates the DSMB and it's tough to figure out how to carry it. The YouTube videos I watched when I got started were aimed at the DIR/tech crowd and they carried the spool and DSMB separately.

 

[lowwall]

I emphatically disagree. Cozumel is drift diving, by and large, and although the term "drift" sounds very placid and leisurely, in many cases it is a significant understatement. If a diver runs low on air before the rest of the group or has to call the dive early for whatever reason when the current is ripping, he and his buddy will likely be swept quite a distance downcurrent from the group on the way to the surface. It has happened to me, and paying attention to the group didn't help.

Good point. I fell into the trap of applying advice that would work for my personal situation to that of the median diver and/or OP.

I will suggest to the OP that he get some practice in a pool before trying to deploy from depth. Or at least under the eye of a DM if you've discussed it with them beforehand. The first time couple of times I ever handled DSMBs were retrieving ones dropped midwater by inexperienced divers in Thailand.

 

[ggunn]

Good point. I fell into the trap of applying advice that would work for my personal situation to that of the median diver and/or OP.

Anyone can get swept away by the current around Cozumel irrespective of their situation.

I will suggest to the OP that he get some practice in a pool before trying to deploy from depth. Or at least under the eye of a DM if you've discussed it with them beforehand. The first time couple of times I ever handled DSMBs were retrieving ones dropped midwater by inexperienced divers in Thailand.

A shore dive is a good place to practice; most pools are really not deep enough. You need to be neutrally buoyant in the water column well off the bottom and well below the surface for your practice to do you any good. Also, to the point of dropped spools I repeat my advice to unreel a newly purchased finger spool to make sure the other end of the line is attached to the spool. When I bought mine the line was not attached.

 

[Shawn C]

I remember your thread. The guy who got separated did so because he made a deliberate decision to break away from the group to photograph some sharks. You also said he actually had a DSMB, but he lost it while trying to deploy it.

I don't see how this illustrates the value of carrying a DSMB. Instead your experience reinforces the point I was making that "your chances of finding yourself adrift alone are exceedingly slim unless you are someone who is known for paying absolutely no attention to your group. In which case you should stop doing that instead of hoping that an orange fabric tube will save you."

My wife, myself and the DM all had DSMBs and two of us had them deployed and waving at various boats trying to get picked up. It still took us 30 minutes. He had, and lost his. It took him 1.5 hours to get spotted. I'm pretty sure that illustrates exactly the point of having them as part of your kit (and to learn how to use it before you find yourself in a situation where need to use it).

 

[lowwall]

My wife, myself and the DM all had DSMBs and two of us had them deployed and waving at various boats trying to get picked up. It still took us 30 minutes. He had, and lost his. It took him 1.5 hours to get spotted. I'm pretty sure that illustrates exactly the point of having them as part of your kit (and to learn how to use it before you find yourself in a situation where need to use it).

Interesting take. What I get from this story is that carrying gear you don't know how to use is not particularly helpful. It's certainly not a substitute for staying with your group in a DM-led drift dive.