So far I've only used a reel to shoot a bag, but recently I picked up a 100' spool. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet, just wondering if anyone has any tips before I have to cut myself out of my own line 
Using a spool to shoot a bag?
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mike_s
Contributor
see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accessories/192093-question-re-safety-sausage-finger-spool.html
see the video in post 2
also try putting 'spool' in the search feature and you'll get all kinds of hits. search titles only to be more specific.
see the video in post 2
also try putting 'spool' in the search feature and you'll get all kinds of hits. search titles only to be more specific.
Well, you're used to shooting a bag, so the actual procedure of doing that isn't new.
The big things with spools, for me, are that you have to be careful not to get your fingers into the center channel of the spool as it's unwinding. I assume you're diving with gloves, and most likely dry gloves, and the spool will grab the gloves and yank you upward. With Delrin spools, you can actually let go of them (assuming minimal to no current) and they'll go up a little ways, and then unspool down toward you, where you can catch them. You can't do that with SS spools.
Another thing is how to manage the line as you ascend. You have a couple of options -- You can clip the spool off at depth and ascend the line, and then pull the spool up from the surface. Or you can use the double-ender as a guide and wind the line up on the spool as you ascend. That's a little more task-loading, but makes things nicer when the dive's over.
Be careful about clipping the spool off -- the gate of the double ender should always be on the outside of the spool. Otherwise, it's EXTREMELY easy to knock the clip off and have the spool unwind itself. It's embarrassing to get back to shore and discover you've left 100 feet of line behind you that you now have to clean up (no, that wasn't ME doing that on Saturday ).
The big things with spools, for me, are that you have to be careful not to get your fingers into the center channel of the spool as it's unwinding. I assume you're diving with gloves, and most likely dry gloves, and the spool will grab the gloves and yank you upward. With Delrin spools, you can actually let go of them (assuming minimal to no current) and they'll go up a little ways, and then unspool down toward you, where you can catch them. You can't do that with SS spools.
Another thing is how to manage the line as you ascend. You have a couple of options -- You can clip the spool off at depth and ascend the line, and then pull the spool up from the surface. Or you can use the double-ender as a guide and wind the line up on the spool as you ascend. That's a little more task-loading, but makes things nicer when the dive's over.
Be careful about clipping the spool off -- the gate of the double ender should always be on the outside of the spool. Otherwise, it's EXTREMELY easy to knock the clip off and have the spool unwind itself. It's embarrassing to get back to shore and discover you've left 100 feet of line behind you that you now have to clean up (no, that wasn't ME doing that on Saturday
).
As indicated above, with a delrin spool you can let it sort of dance in front of you as it goes up. Otherwise, just hold it lightly between the tips of your thumb and forefinger.
Cold water spools have also become available recently. They have a larger center hole but also have an inner rim extenidn out aboput 3/8" from the center with holes in to clip the double ender to it. When you launch the bag, you hold the double ender clipped to one of the holes on the inner ring and the line feeds off the other side of the spool.
I prefer to reel the line back on the spool as I ascend. Just hold the spool in one hand and wind it back on the spool with the other with the line running through one end of the double ender and then clip it off when you reach the next stop depth.
When inflating the bag, I hold the spool in the left hand controlling the line and the tension and hold the end of the bag clamped between the knuckles of my fore and middle fingers of my left hand with the inflator between my thumb, ring and little fingers on the left hand. I can then vent gas from the wing into the hag with no buoyancy change. Once the bag is released, I am negative, but can fin to maintain depth for the few seconds it takes to replace the gas in the wing with the inflator.
A variant of this is to press both inflate and dump buttons at once on the inflator to essentially vent gas directly into the bag, but how well this works varies form inflator to inflator and it tends to be less exact than venting and adding separately.
Cold water spools have also become available recently. They have a larger center hole but also have an inner rim extenidn out aboput 3/8" from the center with holes in to clip the double ender to it. When you launch the bag, you hold the double ender clipped to one of the holes on the inner ring and the line feeds off the other side of the spool.
I prefer to reel the line back on the spool as I ascend. Just hold the spool in one hand and wind it back on the spool with the other with the line running through one end of the double ender and then clip it off when you reach the next stop depth.
When inflating the bag, I hold the spool in the left hand controlling the line and the tension and hold the end of the bag clamped between the knuckles of my fore and middle fingers of my left hand with the inflator between my thumb, ring and little fingers on the left hand. I can then vent gas from the wing into the hag with no buoyancy change. Once the bag is released, I am negative, but can fin to maintain depth for the few seconds it takes to replace the gas in the wing with the inflator.
A variant of this is to press both inflate and dump buttons at once on the inflator to essentially vent gas directly into the bag, but how well this works varies form inflator to inflator and it tends to be less exact than venting and adding separately.
OP
I wear 5mm mitts, and I was wondering how I was going to try to maintain some control of the spool while the bag was ascending. It's not one of the cold water spools with the larger center hole. From your responses it sounds like a fairly simple procedure (with the absence of current or entanglement, of course). I like the idea of winding the line up as I ascend; just need to get some time in. I'm not sure why I've been a little less motivated lately - it might have something to do with wearing mitts in 36 degree water. Maybe I should take a second look at those dry gloves...
nereas
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So far I've only used a reel to shoot a bag, but recently I picked up a 100' spool. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet, just wondering if anyone has any tips before I have to cut myself out of my own line
I have a stainless steel 150 ft spool, and it is perfect, because you can use the drop method, where you connect it to your bag, and then just drop it, and let it unspool itself, before you inflate.
When you are back at the surface, then you can gather the line back in like a cowboy on a horse. And when you get back home, you can re-wind it. Then there is no risk of entanglement. The spool weights the line for you.
For deco, you are supposed to remain on the anchor line (Plan A). If you are shooting a bag, that means you are now on Plan B because Plan A failed. A spool is the easiest way to deploy an upline, and dropping the spool is the very easiest way to do so.
Other opinions will vary, however since it is your life, and since it is your Plan B, consider carefully before you adopt otherwise.
It's nice to enjoy your buoyancy control by letting the spool hang in front of you untouched as you deco. But if things were to go sideways, the spool is a place you can hang on to, even a tad negative, and rest, or wait, or get control (or pee!), or whatever. Which is why I like to take it up with me.
nereas, in Puget Sound, we rarely dive off anchored boats. It's all live boat pickups and free ascents. So shooting a bag IS plan A.
nereas
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Well, our currents are predictable to a large extent, and with a few exceptions, divers aren't dropped into strong ones. This, of course, is for recreational boats. I don't know what the tech boats doing the very deep dives in the shipping lanes do.
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