SMB: Collecting your line on or after ascent?

[g1138]

In light of the recent trend in SMB posts I have to ask:
When you deploy an SMB, how do you handle the line on your reel or finger spool?
Do you collect your line as you ascend, or ascend then collect your line from the surface?

Any comments and reasoning for either would be much appreciated.
Please also clarify if you use a reel or a finger spool.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Rainer]

Finger spool only for me.

If you're comfortable taking in the line as you go, that's preferable. If you're under stress and it's just going to add to all that you have to manage, there is very little harm in just leaving the spool at the bottom and ascending without taking up the line (you can just pull it up afterward).

 

[Scott]

<< Finger spooler

Agree with Rainer. My first choice is too take up line as I ascend but would ditch it if I had to deal with more important issues and gather it at the surface.

Had to do that in real life. Just deployed the SMB, just as it hit the surface I had to respond to OOA situation.

 

[knowone]

Had to wind 15m on to an enclosed reel with my thumbs one day.

Stuffed the last couple of metres and SMB into my BCD.

Deco, went just like that.


Collecting or spooling or winding or pulling from the surface is

RIDICULOUS.

because.

 

[Spazzy]

Deploy the DSMB then reel it in as you ascend - loose line is an entanglement risk.

A spool works well and is almost impossible to jam when deploying. A spool is smaller and compact and no hassle to take on every dive. A reel can be locked off easily for deco/safety stops.

 

[Hickdive]

Deploy the DSMB then reel it in as you ascend - loose line is an entanglement risk.

A spool works well and is almost impossible to jam when deploying. A spool is smaller and compact and no hassle to take on every dive. A reel can be locked off easily for deco/safety stops.

What are you going to tie yourself to mid-water?

If you're busy with other issues underwater i.e. something has gone wrong and dealing with that as your priority then leaving it to gather on the surface, when you've got all the air and time in the world, isn't a problem.

A delrin spool with the line boltsnapped off on it will hang nice and vertical anyway from a DSMB. If you manage to get yourself tangled in that then you're probably having a really bad day.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Wind it up as you go. It's preferable to deploy it at a point in which you will be taking advantage of pauses during your ascent. Most often a DSMB is shot from a mid-range gas switch such as a 50% Nitrox switch at 70 feet. However, some divers will deploy a marker buoy during their deep stops, during a pre-determined depth during their deco schedule, or at a safety stop or shallow deco stop. The more proficient you are the more opportunities you have to deploy a DSMB based upon the environment and depth during your ascent schedule.

The deeper you are the more the gas will expand during ascent filling the bag. The shallower you are the more gas you will need to add to the bag and the more buoyant positive force you'll need to overcome to control the release. It's always a good idea to look up and make sure the way to the surface is clear before you release the bag.

Leaving the spool and ascending the line is always an option - whether during an emergency, because you feel too stressed or task-loaded to deal with it during ascent, or just because you prefer to do it that way. I've tried both ways during normal dives and it is far easier to spool up during the ascent if you are deeper than 15 or 20 feet. In shallow water, it's fairly easy to pull the line up with your team and keep it from entangling anyone. If your skills are weak, this might be the best way until you develop proficiency with buoyancy changes during ascent while managing line.

Since it's just more of a pain to retrieve the line on the surface. One trick is to carry a standard spool with a short bit of line like you'd use for small jumps or gaps in a cave (25' - 30') in your pocket. Having space on the spool for lots of line will allow you to reel a dropped spool and double ender to the surface easily. Plus, having a short bit of line that's considered disposable often can be helpful when ties break when divers are underwater or getting to a save a dive kit is inconvenient. It's right there in your pocket.

The key to easily managing the spool and double ender during ascent is practice. Pauses every ten feet also help with the ability to stop for 30 or more seconds and anticipate the amount of line you should wind up for the next ten feet of movement while also giving you an opportunity to dump gas from BC's and drysuits.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

As like others I prefer a spool ....depending on environment! Off of NJ you do not want to do a free ascent (current/drifting). Some divers use a Jersey Up-Line but I prefer not to (big,bulk,entanglement hazard). So another option i teach divers is with a wreck reel (primary reel 400'). When you deploy the SMB look for a good spot on the wreck to loop your reel under, keep tension tight and come up on the other side. If your in 70' of water you will need a minimum of 140' of line. Obviously if there is current you will need more depending on how much line is out . With this method you can reel back in your line once at the surface and leave nothing behind . I have had to use this on a couple of occasions where the anchor line broke free and it works great.

 

[Tortuga68]

In light of the recent trend in SMB posts I have to ask:
When you deploy an SMB, how do you handle the line on your reel or finger spool?
Do you collect your line as you ascend, or ascend then collect your line from the surface?

I use either a Manta Mini reel or Halcyon coldwater 100' or 150' finger spool, depending on the dive - mostly the reel for tech/deco (deeper) dives and the spool for shallower NDL dives

Deploy from between 40m and 5m, depending on the dive - usually before the first stop

DSMB is either a self-sealing Buddy or 3.3 Halcyon oral inflate as you already know Halcyon for travel and/or shallow dives (smaller, easier to inflate) and Buddy for deeper/tech dives (more visibility at surafce/lift if required for redundancy)

I've never been in a situation where it wasn't practical to collect the line as I ascended - generally speaking I can reel in line faster than the maximum ascent rate appropriate anyway, so why not

I can foresee a scenario where I had already deployed my DSMB and then had to, say, bring another diver to the surface - in which case I would be happy to clip/lock it off and pull it up later

The only time I've done that so far is when my Vyper got bent during a deco dive and I clipped it to my finger spool and left it at 6m for 10 minutes to clear while I went up to the boat, having already completed the (actual) required deco stop (as oppossed to the unnessescary 20 minute stop the computer wanted me to do)

 

[diver 85]

reel it up(collect it) as you come up--otherwise there's gunna be a lot of stuff floating around you & others in the water....