DIR- GUE Spool to SMB attachment

[NothingClever]

Surprising to some, but GUE's "principles" do leave some things open to flexibility. Some divers prefer to keep the spool and SMB pre-attached. Other divers prefer to leave them separated for various reasons. One reason I think I recall an instructor mentioning was flexibility; maybe when doing a certain kind of dive a diver might anticipate a possible use for the spool other than attached to the SMB.

I pre-rig my orange SMB to my reel so I’m not eating away at my planned BT. I leave my yellow SMB separate from my back up reel so I can send it up the same line (primary reel) if necessary to deploy a second DSMB.

I see the value of leaving both separate during training so that the trainee learns appropriate problem-solving.

 

[seeker242]

Thanks, I NEVER use a spool. I just carry a reel and smb if I think I will have to deploy from the deep. Sometimes it takes a lot more line than a spool will hold to send an smb up from deeper wrecks. Does GUE recommend reels over spools when common sense says a spool is not going to work from the deep in currents, as in the example you mentioned.

GUE recreational typically does not go deeper than 100', so a larger spool is considered fine. It's not like you are staying stationary and the SMB is going off into the current anyway. You will be drifting along with the current. It can string out if the current is shifting half way up, or just because of drag, etc. but that should not string out the whole spool, not when you have double the line of the max depth. I carry a 200' spool on rec dives. This is fine for any rec dives I would do, regardless of the current.

Tech 1, AKA 170', requires a reel in required gear. However, there is nothing that says you are not allowed to carry a reel on rec dives.

 

[Heat Miser]

Leave them apart, once you have them together its not that easy to separate them again underwater, especially if you are wearing gloves.

Therefor you can't use the spool for anything else you may need it for, line to the anchor, line through a cavern, line through a wreck or line to a yellow SMB: used here in Australia to signal to the surface an emergency/problem.

 

[Wibble]

Spool knitting...

N.B. Halcyon blob which has a bolt snap.

Once done, clip the other end of the double-ender anywhere.

 

[flymolo]

During fundies the spool and smb are kept unassembled for the purpose of adding task loading while deploying the smb. It can be surprisingly difficult to assemble and deploy an smb while staying within a tight buoyancy window and remaining in trim if you haven’t trained that way.

I don’t believe they would advocate for keeping them separate on a dive where you would expect to want an smb up as quickly as possible.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Thanks, I NEVER use a spool. I just carry a reel and smb if I think I will have to deploy from the deep. Sometimes it takes a lot more line than a spool will hold to send an smb up from deeper wrecks. Does GUE recommend reels over spools when common sense says a spool is not going to work from the deep in currents, as in the example you mentioned.

GUE doesn't care about spool vs reel. Only requirement is having 1.5x line vs shot depth. Most divers will have it pre-rigged on a 150' or 200' foot spool (halcyon makes a 200'). For deeper depths, they will bring a 400' Primary Reel. I would just keep the dsmb still rigged to my 150' spool, but 400' reel would be available if absolutely needed.

The only class where spool and dsmb can't be pre-rigged is in fundies. I think I assembled a spool and dsmb once in tech 1 as a skill, but every other dive we just kept it pre-rigged.

 

[vinsanity]

Spool knitting...

N.B. Halcyon blob which has a bolt snap.

Once done, clip the other end of the double-ender anywhere.

View attachment 682971

Thanks for the pics. I know how to store them separately, but was wondering how you attach the line to the spool for storage with the SMB attached.

Half related question. What's the GUE opinion on the inline spinner on the spool? Has anyone seen them come apart? Trying to decide if I should cut mine off or go with it.

 

[flymolo]

Thanks for the pics. I know how to store them separately, but was wondering how you attach the line to the spool for storage with the SMB attached.

Half related question. What's the GUE opinion on the inline spinner on the spool? Has anyone seen them come apart? Trying to decide if I should cut mine off or go with it.

Not necessarily a GUE opinion, but as a cave diver I think it's pretty unnecessary. If you just reverse the spool every x (15,20,30) or so wraps, the line won't twist.

 

[Wibble]

Thanks for the pics. I know how to store them separately, but was wondering how you attach the line to the spool for storage with the SMB attached.

The last photo shows it all assembled. The double-ender is clipped 'wherever'.

 

[vinsanity]

The last photo shows it all assembled. The double-ender is clipped 'wherever'.

Yes, that's why I was thanking him. The part I was missing (until his pics) was that even with it attached, you can still feed part of the line out through a hole to clip it and prevent it from unrolling.