Why not attach spool to DSMB before the dive?

[CosbySweater]

I've been taught this method, but I find it increases complexity for no benefit. We don't hold on to our DSMB, once we have enough gas in it we let it go. Now you're being pulled up while your gear is pulling you down and you have to reestablish buoyancy and trim. It's just a terrible method IMO.

I like to keep things simple where that's possible. Prepare the DSMB for deployment and then use second stage exhaust gas, another reg or LPI to inflate the DSMB. It only takes a couple of breaths at depth and the buoyancy barely has time to change. Additionally, my trim doesn't suffer and I'm not vertical, kicking up, while trying to establish buoyancy again. So not only is it easier, faster and more convenient, but you'll look much cooler doing it

The main advantage is that there is no change in buoyancy while you are prepping or filling the DSMB and you need only make one buoyancy adjustment during the entire process. These are distinct advantages over other methods and allow for a few precious seconds to ensure neither the DSMB nor the reel line are tangled in any gear, without ascending in the water column. For hunters who take their whole garage underwater with them, this is essential.

The only moment your buoyancy changes is when you release the DSMB, at which point a quick burst from the LP inflator will reestablish neutral buoyancy. You cannot maintain neutral buoyancy using the method you describe without first emptying some gas from your BCD prior to DSMB inflation, and then adding it back in after DSMB release (two buoyancy adjustments). The method I described above removes one of those buoyancy adjustments.

I respectfully disagree with you. With practice, this is the simplest, most efficient, and arguably the safest way to shoot an SMB from depth, IMO. But, everyone knows opinions are like a-holes....

 

[inquis]

I tried the "transfer from wing" approach after reading a similar post some time ago. Being near the end of the dive, hardly anything came out.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I've been taught this method, but I find it increases complexity for no benefit. We don't hold on to our DSMB, once we have enough gas in it we let it go. Now you're being pulled up while your gear is pulling you down and you have to reestablish buoyancy and trim. It's just a terrible method IMO.

I like to keep things simple where that's possible. Prepare the DSMB for deployment and then use second stage exhaust gas, another reg or LPI to inflate the DSMB. It only takes a couple of breaths at depth and the buoyancy barely has time to change. Additionally, my trim doesn't suffer and I'm not vertical, kicking up, while trying to establish buoyancy again. So not only is it easier, faster and more convenient, but you'll look much cooler doing it

Well… you know the number one rule of diving… you have to look good doing it… if you ain’t looking good… you ain’t doing it right…

 

[admikar]

The main advantage is that there is no change in buoyancy while you are prepping or filling the DSMB and you need only make one buoyancy adjustment during the entire process. These are distinct advantages over other methods and allow for a few precious seconds to ensure neither the DSMB nor the reel line are tangled in any gear, without ascending in the water column. For hunters who take their whole garage underwater with them, this is essential.

The only moment your buoyancy changes is when you release the DSMB, at which point a quick burst from the LP inflator will reestablish neutral buoyancy. You cannot maintain neutral buoyancy using the method you describe without first emptying some gas from your BCD prior to DSMB inflation, and then adding it back in after DSMB release (two buoyancy adjustments). The method I described above removes one of those buoyancy adjustments.

I respectfully disagree with you. With practice, this is the simplest, most efficient, and arguably the safest way to shoot an SMB from depth, IMO. But, everyone knows opinions are like a-holes....

What I would like to know is what configuration you are diving with if you have enough air in your BCD to fill 1/3 of DSMB?

 

[boriss]

The main advantage is that there is no change in buoyancy while you are prepping or filling the DSMB and you need only make one buoyancy adjustment during the entire process. These are distinct advantages over other methods and allow for a few precious seconds to ensure neither the DSMB nor the reel line are tangled in any gear, without ascending in the water column. For hunters who take their whole garage underwater with them, this is essential.

The only moment your buoyancy changes is when you release the DSMB, at which point a quick burst from the LP inflator will reestablish neutral buoyancy. You cannot maintain neutral buoyancy using the method you describe without first emptying some gas from your BCD prior to DSMB inflation, and then adding it back in after DSMB release (two buoyancy adjustments). The method I described above removes one of those buoyancy adjustments.

I respectfully disagree with you. With practice, this is the simplest, most efficient, and arguably the safest way to shoot an SMB from depth, IMO. But, everyone knows opinions are like a-holes....

There's no change in buoyancy with the method I described. No change in trim, no change in anything. To use the method you described, I'd need to go to completely vertical trim just to get that much gas from my wing at the end of the dive. This would be even more of a problem on CCR or if I were in a drysuit.

I tried the "transfer from wing" approach after reading a similar post some time ago. Being near the end of the dive, hardly anything came out.

There are pills for that

 

[Diving Dubai]

that sounds like a good idea. I do that for some of my DSMBs. Got a pick though? What do you do with the bungee after you deploy?

My Bungee is attached to the Karabiner I have at the end of the spool which attached to the DSMB or what ever else I'm using. I've found that by holding the spool in one hand, and the DSMB in the other and pulling them apart the bungee easily comes off (which is more applicable to you peeps in dry gloves)

I also use a crack bottle so part of that movement is opening the valve with a quick flick of the wrist and off it flies. Highly useful when in a "bit" of a current with a scooter hanging on its leash.

My DSMB is stored in a velcro pocket on my waste belt, I can get it out while still driving the scooter then letting go of scooter quickly deploy. 15 secs would be the max. I spent a lot of time (and a fair bit of money on hardware) to perfect a system that worked in big currents and was simple and reliable.

My dive store is littered with brilliant dive gear improvements that turned out to be rubbish underwater. However all my gear is setup to be optimal for the type of diving (boat, off shore with big currents) so my ideal config may not suit others. I just offer them as an option to think about rather than a the de facto solution

 

[blueskies_up_ahead]

Always carry two SMBs (dive in tidal waters). Use proper "man-sized" Halcyon SMBs which are inflated using the suit inflate hose. Used to use spools which were connected prior to the dive. Kept one SMB in each pocket.

Since moving to CCR I've realised that this is too fiddly as there's way too much going on during an ascent. Also need the gas and don't like spools if you drop them - they're off and unless you go back down to pick them up, they're a load of work to recover.

Now use a large heavy Kent Tooling reel with a CO2 bottle inflated SMB. This is trivially easy to deploy; unclip, un-bungee, unravel, clearup, look around, tug the inflator string. CO2 cylinder goes off but only has enough gas for the inflation at the surface so at 30m/100' its 1/4 inflated, so doesn't yank out of your hand and you can easily handle it, even hold it until you're ready.

The big reel is easy to wind up during the ascent. Small reels are fiddly, especially with winter gloves.

The backup SMB still lives in my pocket, but I've replaced the spools with the small Custom Divers reel.

When at the deco stops, I tend to let the reel bounce free and use it as a reference. Can squeeze the line if ascending/descending rather than change the gas in my wing.

Need to learn how to knit the double ender so it doesn't shake off the spool:
View attachment 657749



Then there's the "cave tie" to keep the thing all together, especially if clipped off to an SMB:

View attachment 657750

Ok, so this is a bit old but hopefully that won't matter. I just scrolled through half this thread looking for something like this picture / setup. So I've watched videos about how to safely connect a double ender to your reel so it will not accidentally open. No questions there. Now I bought a DSMB and reel and it was recommended to me to leave the line attached. Makes sense. But how do I now safely (!) clip the whole thing off my d ring? What I have right now is the reel connected to the DSMB with a simple loop as you would do underwater. Then a double ender through the metal ring of the DSMB and through one of the holes of the reel. But that can easily come undone. I cannot "tie" the line around the double ender as I would with just the reel though, since the line is connected to the DSMB. I cannot make out how it is done on the above picture. Can someone explain? I've looked for videos without success. I don't think it matters, but the reel is from Apeks (so with a shrinkwrapped "tip" of the line and pre-made leader).

 

[quietlife4me]

This video made sense to me…

 

[Wibble]

Ok, so this is a bit old but hopefully that won't matter. I just scrolled through half this thread looking for something like this picture / setup. So I've watched videos about how to safely connect a double ender to your reel so it will not accidentally open. No questions there. Now I bought a DSMB and reel and it was recommended to me to leave the line attached. Makes sense. But how do I now safely (!) clip the whole thing off my d ring? What I have right now is the reel connected to the DSMB with a simple loop as you would do underwater. Then a double ender through the metal ring of the DSMB and through one of the holes of the reel. But that can easily come undone. I cannot "tie" the line around the double ender as I would with just the reel though, since the line is connected to the DSMB. I cannot make out how it is done on the above picture. Can someone explain? I've looked for videos without success. I don't think it matters, but the reel is from Apeks (so with a shrinkwrapped "tip" of the line and pre-made leader).

Spool knitting is the answer -- see page 13. It's often called a cave clip.

This shows the step-by-step process:

DIR- GUE - Spool to SMB attachment

Surprising to some, but GUE's "principles" do leave some things open to flexibility. Some divers prefer to keep the spool and SMB pre-attached. Other divers prefer to leave them separated for various reasons. One reason I think I recall an instructor mentioning was flexibility; maybe when...

scubaboard.com

If you're hanging around for some time at deco, it's best to tie off the spool. You cannot just clip the double ender to the spool otherwise it's likely to bounce off with the wave action. Thus you need to knit the double-ender onto the spool so it won't jump off:

Why not attach spool to DSMB before the dive?

Always carry two SMBs (dive in tidal waters). Use proper "man-sized" Halcyon SMBs which are inflated using the suit inflate hose. Used to use spools which were connected prior to the dive. Kept one SMB in each pocket. Since moving to CCR I've realised that this is too fiddly as there's way...

scubaboard.com

 

[blueskies_up_ahead]

Spool knitting is the answer -- see page 13. It's often called a cave clip.

This shows the step-by-step process:

DIR- GUE - Spool to SMB attachment

Surprising to some, but GUE's "principles" do leave some things open to flexibility. Some divers prefer to keep the spool and SMB pre-attached. Other divers prefer to leave them separated for various reasons. One reason I think I recall an instructor mentioning was flexibility; maybe when...

scubaboard.com

Ah perfect, thank you! As a follow up to that: does it matter to have two boltsnaps there (one knitted to the reel and one attached to the DSMB)? My DSMB has a metal ring and my line is attached to that. But from what I see, I could do exactly as shown in the picture sequence and then use that same double ender to clip to my d ring. Possibly clip the "knitted" side of it to the DSMB metal ring for extra safety. Objections?