I use a DSMB to signal to the skipper that myself and my team have left the wreck and are now on our way back. It so he knows where we are.
Will shooting off a DSMB help protect you from oncoming boats or is this wrong?
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I don't understand the controversy. Of course shooting an SMB will "help protect you." How could it not "help" to at least some small extent? Just like all of the other safety gear and procedures we have been taught to employ. But none of them is assured to protect you from anything. You use everything you can to keep yourself safe, and at least some of it is likely to help at some time.
Isn't this like your third thread on SMBs? What is the obsession? Just use the thing and hope it helps, like you do with all of your other safety gear and procedures.
Isn't this like your third thread on SMBs? What is the obsession? Just use the thing and hope it helps, like you do with all of your other safety gear and procedures.
In my experience, a deployed SMB may be more effective in attracting boaters to your location than deterring them from approaching
I suspect the OP is a bit focused on this, because he had an experience that unnerved him, and then he learned there was something in diving about which he had never heard, that might have been helpful in the situation.
When I attended my first gas management lecture, given by NW Grateful Diver as the first one ever in our area, I walked out of the room completely stunned and wondering, "What ELSE didn't they tell me?". I think the OP feels that way.
When I attended my first gas management lecture, given by NW Grateful Diver as the first one ever in our area, I walked out of the room completely stunned and wondering, "What ELSE didn't they tell me?". I think the OP feels that way.
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As with most scuba-related questions, the simplest and truest answer is "it depends" ... in this case, it depends on the circumstances under which it's deployed and how the people on the surface/boat respond. The most common reason to deploy a bag isn't protection from other boats ... it's to let YOUR boat know where you are. This is especially important if you're drifting, since the time it takes to surface can pull you a significant distance from where your boat might be waiting for you.
On the other hand, bright floating objects tend to attract boaters who don't know what they are ... which would be most boaters. I've often described boating activities as "stupidity on parade" ... because in most states there is absolutely zero training required to own and operate a boat ... and people will do the dumbest and most unexpected things ... like see an orange marker floating on the surface and decide it'd make a neat slalom marker. Or worse, go grab it and start hauling it into their boat (which would force you to let go of the reel or get hauled up with it).
The thing it will do, if you have a boat waiting for you on the surface, is give your boat crew the opportunity to fend off the idiots. We used to have to do that all the time in Lake Washington when we were doing planned decompression dives and using SMBs to mark our position. Seemed like every second or third boat just HAD to change course to go over and get a CLOSE look at the SMB ... and do the deer in the headlights act when the crew on our waiting boat would yell to try to fend them off. They don't seem to understand that their propellor could do some significant damage to someone coming up from beneath the marker. And FWIW - using a dive flag has exactly the same effect on these people.
Bottom line ... you're not using it to fend off other boats. Don't even approach it with that in mind ... it's the rare boat operator who will see one and understand that there's a diver coming up underneath it (or care). You're using it to signal the people on YOUR boat as to your location. That at least gives them a chance to fend off the idiots on your behalf.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
On the other hand, bright floating objects tend to attract boaters who don't know what they are ... which would be most boaters. I've often described boating activities as "stupidity on parade" ... because in most states there is absolutely zero training required to own and operate a boat ... and people will do the dumbest and most unexpected things ... like see an orange marker floating on the surface and decide it'd make a neat slalom marker. Or worse, go grab it and start hauling it into their boat (which would force you to let go of the reel or get hauled up with it).
The thing it will do, if you have a boat waiting for you on the surface, is give your boat crew the opportunity to fend off the idiots. We used to have to do that all the time in Lake Washington when we were doing planned decompression dives and using SMBs to mark our position. Seemed like every second or third boat just HAD to change course to go over and get a CLOSE look at the SMB ... and do the deer in the headlights act when the crew on our waiting boat would yell to try to fend them off. They don't seem to understand that their propellor could do some significant damage to someone coming up from beneath the marker. And FWIW - using a dive flag has exactly the same effect on these people.
Bottom line ... you're not using it to fend off other boats. Don't even approach it with that in mind ... it's the rare boat operator who will see one and understand that there's a diver coming up underneath it (or care). You're using it to signal the people on YOUR boat as to your location. That at least gives them a chance to fend off the idiots on your behalf.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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It could be used but I have to really keep in mind that it has the potential of attracting other boater to me. That is a very good point to remember. I was "ASSUMING" I was completely safe or protected, not the case.
What I was missing was a couple of other keys things that other experience divers do to minimize the risk of surfacing in the path of an oncoming boat. Which is to" LISTEN" and look in the shallow depths before surfacing for boaters. Its a good habit to develope and I can be grateful in the fact that I got this tip from member of scuba board.
This is something I never really stopped to do. I no it came up as controversial but it was only because I could not put it all together as everyone was trying to explain it to me.
No controversy, i am just a little slow " I guess I have a relaxed brain."(Rocky" the movie)
AdivingBel
Diver
I was just kidding. No flame intended. Just seemed like an inordinate number of threads across a number of forums for the complexity of the topic. I will say, please be careful advising others, especially new divers (one of the threads was in the New & considering forum) about using a procedure in a rote fashion (do it every time) without giving thought to your surroundings, SOPs of where you're diving, and who you're diving with. IMHO a big part of being a good, safe diver is situational awareness. Know the rules and procedures for where you're diving. An SMB (surface inflated) is a no brainer except in very extenuating circumstances (can't think of one at the moment, but I'm sure someone can). It's easy to carry, easy to operate, and makes you more visible on the surface (generally a good thing).
A DSMB is a different animal. It's more bulky to carry, it requires some degree of skill to operate, it means different things to DMs/captains etc. depending on where you are diving, and it takes a bit of effort/time to stow once it is used. It's necessary for certain types of diving. It can give you some degree of comfort if you are surfacing in a heavily trafficked area (it's not a dive flag replacement in many areas). It's a good skill to have in your "toolbox." Part of that skill is knowing when it is needed and when it's not. Surfacing away from the group on a drift dive, go for it. If a boat load of divers on a shallow reef dive all shoot their blobs at the end of the dive because "they do it every time," by the time everything is reeled/spooled/deflated and back on the boat, you'll probably miss the second dive. Not to mention if the boat crew doesn't know your "blob plan" they may react differently than you intend.
Again, I apologize for my "heavy handedness." (I thought it was funny). Since my post has been deleated, I'm not sure why I'm posting this. Maybe for my own closure. And yes, I do get the irony of posting about "situational awareness" while getting modded in the "Basic" forum.
(The posts went across several forums. I guess I forgot where I was.) Safe diving. 
? They are reeled in at the same time the diver ascends. Once the diver is on the surface it's done, clip it, throw it on the boat. It doesn't take any time.
AdivingBel
Diver
If everyone is proficient in its use. I have seen folks that like to hand up their sausage and roll it up on the deck. If everybody is doing that and the boat/crew isn't used to it, it can make a mess. I'm not saying don't use it, just be prudent and understand the situation where you're diving.
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