Why the choice of oral inflate SMBs?

[Tortuga68]

if you're worried about "wasting gas" to fill your bag, I'd posit that maybe you're cutting your gas reserves a bit too thin ...

Nobody is saying you're gonna die, it's just inefficient

Given that Halcyon bags are sold with inlet valves that are compatible with LP inflator hoses, I suspect it's an acceptable method

Not all Halcyon gear is DIR compliant

---------- Post added April 1st, 2014 at 09:42 AM ----------

I do it that way because the bag has about 40 lbs of lift, and I want to keep it well away from my body, reducing the potential for the line to snag something that would then drag me to the surface. Sometimes I'll be deploying this bag from pretty deep ... 130 feet or so ... on a deco schedule ... so I really don't want to run that risk

If you're worried about getting "dragged to the surface" by your SMB from 40m, I'd posit that maybe you're putting too much gas in it ... as you would know the great thing about deploying deep is you only need a little gas that expands as it goes up, so your bag doesn't have, or need to have, 40 lbs of lift until it gets close to the surface

 

[TSandM]

Discussion with 2 GUE instructors -- there is NO prohibition of purging or LP inflator hose use.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If you're worried about getting "dragged to the surface" by your SMB from 40m, I'd posit that maybe you're putting too much gas in it ... as you would know the great thing about deploying deep is you only need a little gas that expands as it goes up, so your bag doesn't have, or need to have, 40 lbs of lift until it gets close to the surface

... and you're spooling out line till it gets there ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Tortuga68]

If you're worried about "spooling out line" due to horizontal drift, I'd posit that maybe your reel doesn't have appropriate capacity for the conditions ...

---------- Post added April 1st, 2014 at 02:23 PM ----------

I'm not at all sure that it's forbidden...

there is NO prohibition

Funny that the only person using words like "forbidden" & "prohibition" is our own former DIR borg

 

[LiteHedded]

Discussion with 2 GUE instructors -- there is NO prohibition of purging or LP inflator hose use.

there is in the classes. or at least in my classes...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If you're worried about "spooling out line" due to horizontal drift, I'd posit that maybe your reel doesn't have appropriate capacity for the conditions ...

I've done enough dives to understand that sh!t happens ... no matter how good you are, none of us are perfect. Best you can do is develop techniques to minimize the risks ... you'll never completely eliminate them.

Funny that the only person using words like "forbidden" & "prohibition" is our own former DIR borg

... former? ...

there is in the classes. or at least in my classes...

Neither of my two GUE instructors had a problem with it ... they explained the pros and cons and had us practice both ways. But that was a long time ago and neither one of them is still teaching GUE classes.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[LiteHedded]

purging your reg into it seems like a bad bad idea to me.
maybe it's at the discretion of the instructor. neither of mine have allowed it. but admittedly I've taken less gue classes than some...

 

[Tortuga68]

I've done enough dives to understand that sh!t happens ... no matter how good you are, none of us are perfect. Best you can do is develop techniques to minimize the risks ... you'll never completely eliminate them

I don't think you need to X dives to understand that... not sure if you are agreeing with me about reel capacity or disagreeing about fully inflating an SMB at depth though. Anyhoo...

You have to admit that Lynne has toned the borgness down a bit since her early days here

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Most GUE divers tone down their borgness once they've gained some experience and perspective (sadly, not all). We used to invoke the "30 day rule" ... meaning that a new Fundies grad wasn't allowed to talk about it till 30 days after the class was over ... it kept the puppy-enthusiasm to a manageable level ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

I've had some discussion with several instructors over the last couple of days.

The oral inflate technique is taught in Fundies because small bags are the easiest for novices to learn to deploy, and they are sufficient for the conditions in which novice divers ought to be diving. Small bags can be effectively and safely inflated orally, without the task-loading complications of disconnecting hoses or switching regulators. When larger bags are required, either because of strong current, rough water conditions, or for lifting projects, the divers should have had enough experience with bag deployment to be able to manage the task loading of other techniques.

So, the bottom line is that, in Fundies, a bag which can be orally inflated is required, and the student must learn to inflate the bag orally.