SMB with 6 meter canvas strap

[holymutha]

Hi,

I am not a fan of using a reel with far too much line on it. I also think it gets tangled up too often. What I would really prefer is the SMB with a 1" canvas strap that clips on. I only ever use the SMB at safetry stops so 5-6 meters is all I need. I have had trouble finding online vendors that sell this strap either alone of packaged with an SMB. IF anyone knows where I can find this please send reply with a link. Most appreciated.

J.

 

[SlvrDragon50]

A 5-6m canvas strap is going to be awfully bulky...

Use a spool and only put like 8m of line on it.

 

[nimoh]

Most people only deploy a smb from their safety stop, and quite possibly in your diving there would never be a reason to deploy one from deeper.

However, here is a hypothetical situation. You are diving a wreck in current at 90 feet and get blown off, losing your buddy. So you make your blue water ascent drifting the whole time, then at your safety stop you deploy your SMB, but it is too far away from the boat for them to see you, and they can't start searching for you until all of the other divers return. Had you deployed your SMB immediately after being blown off the wreck, they would have been able to track your drifting, or possibly picked you up in an inflatable.

There are more scenarios that may or may not be realistic with respect to your diving, my point is just that perhaps practicing and getting better deploying an SMB with a spool is preferable to losing the ability to deploy from depth.

 

[lucca brassi]

it is super simple SCUBA: SMB Deployment - YouTube rope just but must be kept under tension all magic

 

[Imla]

Here is what you are looking for: Surface Marker

I started with this one, and "upgraded" to a spool when I felt good and ready

 

[lucca brassi]

Here is what you are looking for: Surface Marker

super complicated ,impractical, wrong and even dangerous

- best is full closed SMB , that on video may collapse when hit surface when air escape out

- you have to look to surface before you lunch buoy

- when he started filling of buoy he have full hand of these tapes it's weird to not entangle in that case

- tape is much bigger then reel , tape storage is harder

- tape is also stressful for wrapping itself

-limited with depth ( SMB could be helpful with diving in to the blue for visual reference )

just few thoughts...

 

[PsyWulf]

Here is what you are looking for: Surface Marker

I started with this one, and "upgraded" to a spool when I felt good and ready

Bad solution looking for a problem. Looks like a far worse entanglement issue in a bad website

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I have to agree, it does seem to be a solution in search of a problem.

Deploying from depth is easier than from s/s because you only need to partially fill the SMB and if you yo-yo a bit at depth, the pressure differential is negligible. The same amount of yo-yo at s/s can literally put you on the surface. Properly used, there is no additional entanglement hazard with a thumb reel, the only downside is you have to spend a little more time winding and you can drop the reel (been there, done that). I do remove a little line from my reels, I don't like them to approach 100% full. I find 85' on a 100' reel prevents some issues from uneven winding.

 

[Splitlip]

I've got spools and reels for my bags. But the best in my opinion are the Mantas. When you need three hands to shoot a marker, the Manta's anti spool device is tits on a ritz.
Cool story about Manta. 11:00 AM I had my gear spread out on the garage floor for a 1:00 pm departure. My daughter whipped her Jetta in and crushed my reel. I replaced the bolt in the knob, but the spool was all jacked up.
I took the reel with me at 1:00 for my JDC trip intending to leave them the reel. By then the delrin spool kind of recovered it's shape, so I clipped it off on my plate for grins. Well both dives my buddy's reel went south and I shot my marker with a reel that was run over a couple hours before.
Here is the best thing. After the dives I gave the Manta over to the shop where I purchased. They sent it off to Manta. A week or 10 days later I got it back. "we inspected and tweaked. It's all good. BTW, here's a Manta t-shirt. No charge."

 

[Akimbo]

I use an SMB with 25' of 1" Nylon webbing wrapped around it, which is plenty for the vast majority of my decompression stops. I unwrap it about 30' letting the webbing dangle below me under the weight of the bolt snap. I blow a small puff of air into the bag to make it stand up and unfurl itself. I inflate it about 20' letting the webbing slide through my hand. Works great.