SMB deployment question
- Thread starter razorseal
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admikar
Contributor
I prefer slow, 2-3 minutes ascent after safety stop more than 5 minutes safety and zooming up.
GF and SurfGF should be mandatory reading at this level.
Under the "Should have known better" department: I was shooting with a new spool from ca. 35 ft and dropped the spool. What I SHOULD have done was let it go, finish shooting the DSMB, and wind up all the line during ascent and SS. What I DID was to chase the spool down to 55' while gathering arm after arm of line while watching it continue to unspool. I ended up with an incredibly tangled mass of line that took forever to deal with back in the room. The only silver lining was proving the line on this new spool is indeed attached to the spool at the bitter end. Doh.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Been there, dropped that. 
5 min SS is 40% longer. That's a pretty good ROI. Also, as others have stated, crawling to the surface really helps. For me looking at the graph on a SW after a dive showed me I was moving way too fast in the beginning.
Edit: just thought about it, I don't have a spare, just one double ender with the spool.. you get the idea
That's why I carry a spare double ender.. hasn't happened yet, but this is a way out (and no one has to know!!).
Edit: just thought about it, I don't have a spare, just one double ender with the spool.. you get the idea
I carry 2 double-enders - one on the DSMB and one on the spool during normal diving. I had connected the DSMB to the line on the spool and clipped the 2nd double ender to a D-ring out of the way in preparation for filling the bag. That's when I clumsily dropped the spool, so I don't know that any extra piece of gear would have solved this Operator Error problem!
Hmmm, I watched that video but didn't follow why that double ender on the line would help. The aluminum alloy spool was already out reach before had time to react. I guess I'm missing the point of the technique in the video.
I was recently on liveaboard with a new buddy who would give thumbs-up as soon as the computers showed the SS was done, even if the boat was nowhere near us. I tried to explain that (1) more time underwater meant safer out-gassing and (2) I'd MUCH rather be hovering at 10ft rather than bobbing on the surface.
Sorry, I posted again after I watched the video... and still didn't get it. My spool was out of reach pretty quickly, and I'm too thick to see why having the double-ender would help. Either it's in my hand (with the spool and line down below) or I let go and the double-ender slides down the line to join the spool. I'm just being stupid, I guess, and am probably missing the bit about having a loop in the line or something.
EDIT: Now I sort-of get it. the double-ender keeps going down at the same time as the spool, and after the line has run out the double-ender keeps going down and brings the spool back up to your hand. Sounds great, as long as the spool down't weigh more than the double-ender, right?
The video would be a lot clearer if it were done in the water, and Guy had actually dropped the spool and shown how to retrieve it. I believe the key is to keep holding onto a section of the line as you let the double ender slide down toward the dropped spool. All the double ender does is keep the line from going completely slack. With less slack in the line, it's easier to start pulling the line up until you've gotten to the spool.
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