Want to practice SMB deployment alone - Safe?

[mulla]

Hi All,

I've been lurking in the board for a while now, but couldn't seemed to find an answer to my question so I thought I might register and ask. Sorry if it has been posted elsewhere.

I'm a new diver with roughly 15 logged dives, with a mixture of boat and shore dives.

Have recently purchased an SMB and spool and watched some youtube videos on how to deploy it and sure does look easy enough when the pros are doing it. I have yet to try deploy it underwater myself but have done a few dry runs on how to hold it correctly with one hand and not to stick your finger into the spool etc.

I am wondering what the "danger" level is if I wish to practice deploying an SMB in shallow waters ~3-4m depth on my own? Plan to just jump in off a pier and duck under and practice while stationary.

Reason why I ask is, I wanted to just get into the water and deploy, retrieve and redeploy over and over again for as long as my air supply will last. I believe this would be similar to watching grass grow for any buddy.

Wish to get my deployment skills up quick, but if you guys believe this is not a safe practice I'm happy to just make one or two quick deployment runs each time I do a proper dive with a buddy.

 

[superspeed]

Sounds like a lot of accents and descents, thats really that only thing that sounds a bit unsafe to me, even at that depth i would be worried about 0-10ft-0-10.........

 

[TSandM]

Which SMB do you have? If it's one of the 3 footers, you can actually deploy it and then go negative and haul it back down. That's what we do when we want to do repeated deployments, rather than ascent each time to retrieve the bag. I'm with the prior poster -- repeated ascents, even in the shallows, can leave you feeling pretty rotten. BTDT.

As far as whether it is safe to be alone in the water under a pier -- the one thing that would worry me would be being under there with all that structure and line you aren't used to handling. A buddy could come in rather handy to cut you loose, if you got majorly tangled.

I did the same thing in my swimming pool (by myself) so I'm not going to jump up and down and say it's unsafe to be in the water alone. But ideally you do it where there are few, if any hazards.

 

[novicediver]

What is the bag for? Is it just a surface marker?

 

[mulla]

Hi All,

Thanks heaps for the response and tips.

It's just a surface marker / safety sausage.

Length - 1500mm ~5ft?
Width - 180mm

Comes with over pressure valve and one way valve at the base, can be orally inflated, 2nd stage reg or bcd hose. Planning to orally inflate when I practice, sounds the easiest?

I was planning to be negatively buoyant and kneeling on sandy surface when I do this. I don't think I have the skills to deploy while neutral just yet. Wanted to get familiar with the "hand" motions of deployment first.

Would the 1500mm / 5ft smb be too difficult to pull back down without surfacing?

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a swimming pool with sufficient depth to practice. Have a 1.1m depth pool where I live but didn't think that'll cut it. I don't think public pools would allow me to shoot a "missile" up to the surface every 5 mins potentially hitting someone in the face :S

Any idea / suggestions on how I could get plenty of smb deployment practice without boring my buddy to death?

Thanks heaps once again

 

[Bob DBF]

Any idea / suggestions on how I could get plenty of smb deployment practice without boring my buddy to death?

Find someone who wants to practice SMB deployment and take turns.


Bob
-----------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[pixiefish]

Hi All,
Unfortunately, I do not have access to a swimming pool with sufficient depth to practice. Have a 1.1m depth pool where I live but didn't think that'll cut it. I don't think public pools would allow me to shoot a "missile" up to the surface every 5 mins potentially hitting someone in the face :S

Are there not any local dive clubs that have pool practice sessions you could go along to??

 

[Cave Diver]

Hi All,

Thanks heaps for the response and tips.

It's just a surface marker / safety sausage.

Length - 1500mm ~5ft?
Width - 180mm

Comes with over pressure valve and one way valve at the base, can be orally inflated, 2nd stage reg or bcd hose. Planning to orally inflate when I practice, sounds the easiest?

I was planning to be negatively buoyant and kneeling on sandy surface when I do this. I don't think I have the skills to deploy while neutral just yet. Wanted to get familiar with the "hand" motions of deployment first.

Would the 1500mm / 5ft smb be too difficult to pull back down without surfacing?

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a swimming pool with sufficient depth to practice. Have a 1.1m depth pool where I live but didn't think that'll cut it. I don't think public pools would allow me to shoot a "missile" up to the surface every 5 mins potentially hitting someone in the face :S

Any idea / suggestions on how I could get plenty of smb deployment practice without boring my buddy to death?

Thanks heaps once again

Hi Mulla,

First off it's great that you want to practice with safety items and get comfortable with them. To address some of your concerns, it really doesn't take much air to make the marker go to the surface. Since you're just practicing, put just a little bit in it that way you can easily pull it back down without the need to continually surface and retrieve it.

Once you get comfortable with the basic motions, you can practice putting more air in it and gradually reeling yourself up the line to the marker on the surface. Remember air expands as it rises, so the deeper you are, the less you'll need for a full bag at the surface.

While you're practicing that, it would be a good time to work on those neutral buoyancy skills as well. The line hanging in the water provides a great reference and that's one skill that will help you get some of the most enjoyment out of diving.

Finally I'm always a bit concerned when fairly new divers want to practice things solo. I know sometimes it's hard to work schedules out with a buddy, but at the very least consider having someone with you on shore as a 'bubble watcher' that can assist if something were to go wrong.

Good luck with your practice and welcome to the board!

 

[TSandM]

Yes, the easiest answer is to get somebody else excited about learning the skill.

If you are using a bag that big, I wouldn't try to fully inflate it before letting it go -- full, it would be difficult to pull back down. Just put a couple of puffs of air in it, and that will be enough to take it to the surface, but still allow you to pull it down and launch it again.

Please, don't do this kneeling. For one thing, if you are kneeling, the bag is much closer to the all the bits and pieces of your BC, and it's easier to get stuff caught. If you are lying on your stomach or floating (even balanced with your fin tips) and keep your hands out in front of you, you are FAR less likely to get the line tangled and end up with an involuntary ride to the surface. And if you don't believe this can happen, it can -- Rick Inman on this board took a ride from 70 feet to the surface once, and wrote a report here about it.

 

[g1138]

Think about how much lift capacity it has. I have a 5ft lift bag that's 40lbs lift
At 10ft I pretty much have to fill that baby full to get it to sit upright.

At 3-4ft you're gonna have a hell of a time maintaining your buoyancy or even staying at the bottom when you're filling that thing.
How are you filling yours btw?
I fill mine's using my primary reg, through the bottom of the bag, and even that's hard. I start rising before my SMB's even ready to be deployed
If I were to orally inflate it be near impossible to keep a 5ft window of depth.
I wouldn't recommend filling with the inflator hose either, because that would take away your BC's buoyancy control. You may need that once you release your SMB

Definitely get a buddy, preferably someone who is experienced with an smb.
I think 10-15ft is an ideal depth to practice at because that IS where you'll be deploying one most likely.
The shallower you go, the harder it is IMO.