What Are Some Good Dsmbs?

[elbig]

I used a 1 meter(3.3 ft) dsmb once..the seas kicked up to 6 feet and it started raining -the boat could not find me for 20 minutes. It was drift dive so being visible at surface is very important. I MUCH prefer 6 ft as a minimum. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Dan G]

It’s spring loaded, but if not used and is subjected to saltwater, it seems to clog and needs to be manually pulled out. Just need to clean it and work it to loosen up the spring.

I used a 1 meter(3.3 ft) dsmb once..the seas kicked up to 6 feet and it started raining -the boat could not find me for 20 minutes. It was drift dive so being visible at surface is very important. I MUCH prefer 6 ft as a minimum. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the input and information. Since I have a 6' that I already carry on every dive and can inflate at the surface, would it make more sense to get a 36" or 46" as my second? I like the compactness of the 36" and the ease of inflation, however if it is not going to provide much of a marker for me, perhaps the 46" makes more sense.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I used a 1 meter(3.3 ft) dsmb once..the seas kicked up to 6 feet and it started raining -the boat could not find me for 20 minutes. It was drift dive so being visible at surface is very important. I MUCH prefer 6 ft as a minimum. Just my 2 cents.

This is a valid point which is why I still keep my 6 ft as a backup when conditions call for it. Granted, it is harder to inflate it completely and have it stand erect unless it is going quite a ways from depth and expanding a lot (make sure there's an OPV!). I find it more challenging during a safety stop when there are swells that reach us at that depth and the slight change in depth (and therefore, tension on the line to the DSMB) causes loss of tautness and the dsmb to easily flop over. Moreover, I've observed on many occasions folks carrying a 6ft and deploying it, but fight to keep it up and in execution, half of it is actually underwater when it is up, therefore making it not 6ft. I have spoken to a few other divers who have experienced this, including some tech divers. Anyone else here?

I've observed the Halcyon in use (others and others reporting my usage) that it is consistently a better performer as opposed to the examples referenced above because it's also slimmer and easier to fill, aside from the swell situation at the surface during safety stops that I referenced.This is probably just a function of the shape/dimensions more than anything else so if it's possible to get a thinner 6 ft one, go for it. (That's one reason I wasn't a huge fan of DAN's...That one is even wider than Innovative's!)