Toss your wimpy "safety sausage" and go BIG!

[RJP]

Halcyon recently came out with a SUPER BIG alert market to complement their previous BIG model.

I have the aptly named "SUPER BIG" model. 6 feet long and about 8" in diameter this marker WILL be seen. With enough lift (>50lbs) to be used as an actual lift bag, the "Super Big" alert marker can do double-duty as either lift bag or safety/signally surface marker.

On a recent Truk Odyssey liveaboard trip we had a chance to witness two groups of divers from a local dayboat surface away from the buoy and need to do their stops in a current. They all had standard "safety sausages" deployed and even though water wasn't terribly choppy (2'-4' maybe) their boat had a hard time keeping track of them as they drifted around. In fact we had to yell over to their boat to help them locate several of the divers. I've not needed to use mine as a signaling device, but this occurrence was enough to confirm I made the right choice buying the "SUPER BIG" version!

I have used it as a lift bag/surface marker in my tec class and it performed perfectly. Closed circuit and OPV so no worries about over filling it and/or having it spill at the surface.

Halcyon Surface Marker Buoy's at www.DiveSeekers.com 1-888-SCUBA-47


Safe diving - Ray

 

[AbyssalPlains]

OMS makes the same thing, only you can use your second reg to inflate it instead of having to disconnect your BC hose, and it's half the price of the Halcyon.

 

[RJP]

OMS makes the same thing, only you can use your second reg to inflate it instead of having to disconnect your BC hose, and it's half the price of the Halcyon.

OMS makes a fine product too. No doubt.

You can inflate the Halcyon orally as well. And since it's CLOSED there's less chance of it spilling at the surface and it would be easier to use when you are at the surface as a signalling device since it will hold air until you let it out. Halcyon also has highly reflective tape on it as well as a slot for a cyalume stick.

Diving here in cold water in NJ I wouldn't use my second reg to fill a lift bag for fear of a free-flow. Seen it happen. No need to have to do a valve shut-down drill WHILE you're shooting a bag!



At the end of the day, the important thing is that a diver has something of this sort with them if they're diving out in open water. The bigger the better.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Of course, if you want to go really big, then try this one. Not sure how you would inflate or if it wound stand up, but you would have the biggest tool on the boat for sure.

 

[mike_s]

Halcyon recently came out with a SUPER BIG alert market to complement their previous BIG model.

I have the aptly named "SUPER BIG" model. 6 feet long and about 8" in diameter this marker WILL be seen. With enough lift (>50lbs) to be used as an actual lift bag, the "Super Big" alert marker can do double-duty as either lift bag

while I'm sure it's a nice bag, kinda hard to use as a lift bag for a controlled ascent when the dump valve is on the bottom of the bag?

(or does it have a 2nd dump valve at the top of the bag that I can't see?

 

[RJP]

while I'm sure it's a nice bag, kinda hard to use as a lift bag for a controlled ascent when the dump valve is on the bottom of the bag?

(or does it have a 2nd dump valve at the top of the bag that I can't see?

My bad - hadn't thought through what I was typing.

What I meant was that it would provide sufficient lift to use as redundant bouyancy in the case of a BCD and/or Drysuit failure...where you would shoot the SMB to the surface and ascend on the line.

It might be good for some liftbag operations where you were simply sending something to the surface. It would NOT be very effective to use as a liftbag where you wanted to be able to make a controlled ascent WITH the bag/item being lifted, due to the location of the dump valve.

 

[redacted]

OMS makes the same thing, only you can use your second reg to inflate it instead of having to disconnect your BC hose, and it's half the price of the Halcyon.

10 inches and an H has got to be worth $80 more.

The OMS marker has a duck bill valve so it will not dump on the surface. But it does take a little practice learning how to fill it from your regulator. As a 50 lb lift bag, the dump valve is on the bottom but the handle on the top allows you to pull the top down to dump gas and control the ascent a bit. But for such a light load, it usually is not much problem.

 

[mike_s]

My bad - hadn't thought through what I was typing.

What I meant was that it would provide sufficient lift to use as redundant bouyancy in the case of a BCD and/or Drysuit failure...where you would shoot the SMB to the surface and ascend on the line.

It might be good for some liftbag operations where you were simply sending something to the surface. It would NOT be very effective to use as a liftbag where you wanted to be able to make a controlled ascent WITH the bag/item being lifted, due to the location of the dump valve.

yeah... I've got a SMB with the dump valve at top and have used it for light lifting before.... but having the dump valve 6' about the load is a little weird also as you have to be "high" on the float and not have much to hold onto.


I've often seen some brands advertise their SMB being used as a lift bag, but their dump valve on was on the bottom... when I asked them about it they were like "uhh... we didn't think of that". (makes you feel warm and fuzzy that they even know anything about their product! )

good idea on it being redundant lift (to pull yourself toward surface) in case of a bladder failure though.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I bought one of these thinking it would be a viable alternative to a lift bag for establishing an up line. It is, but it has some serious limitations.

1. It can be orally inflated, but you can't blow very much gas very fast through the QD inflator and check valve - the only means to orally inflate.

2. You are consequently forced to inflate with a LP infaltor hose - either from one you remove from your DS or wing, or with one you bring along for that purpose. I experimented with using a 4" QD hose on a stage reg. That allows a fairly fast inflate - but not as fast as with a freeflowing second stage into the bottom of an open or semi closed circuit bag. And you cannot dump air from the wing into the bag as is the case with an open or semi closed circuit bag. the end result is that you have limited time before the gas in thebag begins to overcome inertia and start to pull you up, so to get what is in effect a very large and high lift bag full by the time it reaches the surface you have to launch it really deep. Plus, because it is so tall and so large, you need to apply a fairly large amount of tension (negative buoyancy) on the line to keep it standing up on the surface.

The end result of my efforts to see what it could do was to determine that a semi-closed circuit lift bag is a lot easier to shoot and that a large SMB like that makes more sense as something you inflate once you are on the surface.

Now...if Halcyon or anyone else made it in a semi-closed version, I'd be all over it and I'd sing it praises everywhere.

Hanlcyon also missed the boat with the inflator angled across the width of the bag. If they ran it vertically, you could fold the bag in 1/4th's lenghtwise and then roll it up for storage on the bottom of your back plate through two bunge loops. But the way the inflator currently runs you have to roll it lenght wise and the resulting roll is short and fat and stores no where real well.

And yes...the dump valve on the bottom is just proof that a company that caters to cave divers may not be the best company for developing lift bags and SMB's. It is for all practical purposes just for dumping the gas from the SMB when you are done with it.

 

[RJP]

It is for all practical purposes just for dumping the gas from the SMB when you are done with it.

Well, it also serves as an overpressure relief valve, in the unlikely event that you could overinflate it...