SMB - Sausage usage, am I correct?

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Tom Winters:
Hey, you go firing off a bag kinda deep in a current on a little spool and you can plan on watching that bag disappear. I like the spools but I also have a reel with me for deep ocean shoots.

What would the max depth recomendation be for my 100' spool?
 
max depth would depend on the current present... but you really don't need to be sending up the bag from depth unless you are doing mandatory deco stops. Let it go at your 15' safety stop.
 
miketsp:
One tip I learned on another thread here on SB and I tested with good results.
If you have any air in your BC, empty that into the bag using the deflator button on the inflator hose. After this maneuvre you will still be neutral as the buoyancy you lost from the BC you gained from the lift bag. Then if you need to, top off the bag and release it and give the BC a quick squirt after release. I personally found this easier and safer.
In my case I use my surface dive alert to top off the bag.
It doesn't make any noise underwater but bubbles nicely. :wink:

Thanks, very informative........will try it next time. Makes so much sense now. The first time I shot the bag, it caught my octo and my buddies had to jump on me to keep me at 20ft. Make sure it's all clear and no divers above you..........
 
miketsp:
One tip I learned on another thread here on SB and I tested with good results.
If you have any air in your BC, empty that into the bag using the deflator button on the inflator hose. After this maneuvre you will still be neutral as the buoyancy you lost from the BC you gained from the lift bag. Then if you need to, top off the bag and release it and give the BC a quick squirt after release. I personally found this easier and safer.
In my case I use my surface dive alert to top off the bag.
It doesn't make any noise underwater but bubbles nicely. :wink:

That is fine for Open Circuit or Semi-Closed. The posters bag looks like it is a Closed Circuit. I think the only options for them are to orally inflate or use an inflator hose. Halcyon does now make a Semi-Closed 20# bag though.

Mark
 
There is a very simple way to deploy a SMB. It's great for newbies or pros.

As most will only be doing this from their safety stop, you need no more than 30 ft. of line. It can be thicker and easier to manage, yet still keep the finger reel small.

Drop the reel from about 25'.
Put one shot of air in the SMB and let it go to the surface.
Reach out and take hold of the line at your chosen depth.
Make yourself barely negative and hang on the line, the SMB will stand straight up.
Reel up the line as you ascend.

Chad
 
Do you carry two spools, one for deeper shots also?

edit : spools vs bags


Chad Carney:
There is a very simple way to deploy a SMB. It's great for newbies or pros.

As most will only be doing this from their safety stop, you need no more than 30 ft. of line. It can be thicker and easier to manage, yet still keep the finger reel small.

Drop the reel from about 25'.
Put one shot of air in the SMB and let it go to the surface.
Reach out and take hold of the line at your chosen depth.
Make your self barely negative and hang on the line, the SMB will stand strait up.
Reel up the line as you ascend.

Chad
 
Chad Carney:
There is a very simple way to deploy a SMB. It's great for newbies or pros.

Drop the reel from about 25'.
Put one shot of air in the SMB and let it go to the surface.
Reach out and take hold of the line at your chosen depth.
Chad
That's a good description of the method I use, except that my setup is even simpler, with neither spool nor reel. A 4x44" "See Me" surface signal sausage rolls up nice and compact. Then I wrap 30' of 2 mm cord around it, with a boltsnap on the end as a weight.

Rather dropping a reel, I just let the boltsnap drop, stripping the line off of the sausage.

A couple puffs of oral inflation, or jamming the oral inflation tube into the throat of a Dive Alert will inflate it nicely.

While just hanging around, I'll pull up the line, grab the boltsnap, and start winding the cord around it ---- kind of slow, but it gives me something to do during the hang.

Although there isn't an overpressure valve, any excess air will just bleed out through the fabric. I always assumed that the sausage would explode during ascent until a Cozumel DM told me otherwise, and then I did a practice launch of a filled sausage from 100'.

Clearly, this method is suitable only for something that goes up only from 20 or 15' safety stop. However, this short range "I'm over here, Don't Run Me Over" sort of signal is what's needed in Cozumel and Maui boat dives.
 
detroit diver:
Do you carry two spools, one for deeper shots also?

I rarely even see a 30' stop, so I have no need of a float for deco stops of just a few minutes. Many spearfishermen are used to making hangs without a bag. With practice hanging under a ceiling by no more than 2 ft can be done, it's just not fun or relaxing. I typically clear any stop below 20' before popping the tube float.

Chad

I used my flashlight as a weight at first, but the finger reel is the bomb!
 
Charlie99:
Although there isn't an overpressure valve, any excess air will just bleed out through the fabric.
Really? I didn't know that. I'll give it a try and print out your post for my LDS just in case it blows. :wink:
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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