Who carries a Safety Tube?

[Guba]

In Cozumel, it appears that some DMs use specially marked tubes that their boat operators recognize. That way, if more than one charter's groups are diving in the same area, the correct boat captain knows when to move in for pickup. Some of those sites have lots of groups criss-crossing and it's sometimes hard to follow who is where.

Some DMs don't like patrons to shoot tubes because it might create confusion for the boat crews.

 

[petrieps]

I'm a minimalist and believe in self reliance. But I always bring a safety sausage, two knives (shiny), a whistle (tied on) and a bottom timer just incase your computer dies and you need to use the tables.

Several years ago we were on my friends boat in between dives and all of a sudden a diver starts climbing in the boat. He was so good on air and his dive so long the charter boat left with out him. Had we not been there he would have been floating alone 2 miles off shore. That's a scary enough thought to bring a safety sausage. I bet he never dives with out one now.

 

[Randy43068]

I never use the sausage, but almost always carry a lift bag. It's pretty big, and bright orange. It's my marker for the surface.

 

[beester]

In Cozumel, it appears that some DMs use specially marked tubes that their boat operators recognize. That way, if more than one charter's groups are diving in the same area, the correct boat captain knows when to move in for pickup. Some of those sites have lots of groups criss-crossing and it's sometimes hard to follow who is where.

Some DMs don't like patrons to shoot tubes because it might create confusion for the boat crews.

That makes sense and is something that a habit that we also follow diving north sea wrecks. My SMB's are al clearly marked with a big W.E. Maybe the boatcrew noticed my SMB after a couple of dives or maybe we weren't diving on sites that were too crowded.

 

[The Light Eternal]

My Lds just ordered the DAN one for me. One of those things you carry just in case.