Suggestions for a small SMB

[jagfish]

Interesting. I asked a bunch of Coast Guard guys what color they see best when I was choosing a kayak. Everyone said Orange without hesitation. Perhaps that is because it is the Coast Guard Color, maybe it is the sea conditions here on the Northern California coast, or maybe these men just don’t like yellow. I know Orange was a little better color for spotting large boats in the North Sea than Yellow, but that was over much greater distances than is relevant here. Mostly what they really liked was an EPIRB or PLB… no color preference was expressed.

About 5 years ago, there was a great website that had done some research on the topic of colors (and size?) and posted pictures along with the writeup. I can't find it now. The gist was:
Neon Yellow was by far the most visible all around.
Neon Orange was more visible than Yellow when the diver was between the boat and the sun.
Neon Yellow/Neon Orange (one side of each) was the most visible when it was rotated alternating sides pointed at the boat.

On the comments about Yellow being emergency...
I live in Japan, so far, I've dove PI, Thailand, Tahiti...no sign of emergency yet and I use it religiously for boat diving. Funny, I dove at Tech Asia with Yellow SMB, and I've seen posted that others who've dove there claim a yellow SMB would be requesting O2 to be sent down. Not my experience.

My rule of thumb anyway is to discuss with the Captain/DM before entering the water what my plan will be, when to expect my SMB if it comes (can't find the boat line, etc) and what it looks like. Especially a truism when tech diving.

If you communicate before the use of any emergency device, the likelihood of confusion is small...whether it be horn, Epirb, flare, flags, etc...

Although I was not able to find that excellent site, here is one snippet from another sites:

"FLAGS
The folding flags were by far the most reliable and, at about £15, cost-effective location device we tested, particularly the day-glo yellow pennant, which was consistently spotted at more than 2km and up to 3km. Yellow was the most conspicuous colour in all sea states, even with breaking wave crests, and could be located in deteriorating light when it was impossible to locate pennants of any other colour.
Red and orange flags were located at up to 1600m. Two of our observers suffered from degrees of red/green colour blindness and had difficulty spotting these colours, particularly in intermediate light conditions. The A-flag performed least well in all conditions. Not surprisingly, flags were most easily located when the search heading was abeam to the wind direction, so that the pennant presented the greatest visible surface area." Location devices

 

[jagfish]

Another reference to Yellow:
"A bit about colours
With the joy of heinsight (if that is how you spell it) I would say that yellow is definitely the way to go. We had a bloke fall off a ship I was on out the front of Coffs Harbour some years ago. He was wearing Musto gear which is predominantly orange in colour. It was a miserable day with a bit of drizzel. Anyway, we did everything by the book- had lookouts continuously pointing to him and the only thing that we could see was the fluro yellow colour on the peak of his hat- the orange was crap, almost invisible after 1/2 a mile! The bit of yellow was about the size of a post card but did the trick.
Fished him out, dried him and despite turning into an engineer, I think he is OK now."
Posted - 02 September 2004 : 2:43:31 PM
Dive-Oz Discussion Forums - We've Gone Virtual!! - Yellow DSMB

...and this about fire trucks:
Lime-Yellow Fire Trucks Safer Than Red -- A Conclusion from Four Years of Data
http://www.usroads.com/journals/aruj/9702/ru970203.htm

 

[Splitlip]

I would't disconnect the BC hose--it's too short and would be too much trouble to get free of the corrugated hose. The drysuit hose is longer and more accessible, and can be left in place and tucked away if you're diving wet.

I don't dive dry, so I keep a dedicated inflater hose clipped off at my hip. For easier handling I attached a DiveAlert signalling device.I removed the guts from the QD on the Dive Alert, so no need to pull it back when inflating my Halcyon bags. Do it pretty much single handed.

Another option when carrying slung bottles; there are inflater QD's which screw directly to a low pressure port on the first stage.

 

[danvolker]

In S Florida, we always have a surface flag one of us is towing....but obviously, it is nice to have your own SMB in case you need one.....
My favorite SMB for normal use is the Brownies Bell-Bottom Dive Flag Bag.... It is MORE than just an SMB though.... Brownie's YachtDiver : Brownie's Third Lung : Scuba Diving Accessories : Bags I keep it in the pouch behind my back ( between my back and the steel backplate) . It allows you to put lobster or fish in it, and then inflate it and send it up. I have no idea why they have never really promoted it. With a regular BC, you just clip it to your belt ( or wherever you like) untill you need it.
Check out the link..this thing is GREAT!