Would You Use a DSMB in this Scenario?

[dumpsterDiver]

Resurrecting this thread just to say that I'm not so terribly slow at shooting an SMB as I thought I was. My dive computer doesn't have a stop watch, so I had to guesstimate by just checking the dive time, accurate to a minute.

- Negative, kneeling on the bottom in shallow (< 20') water (to test my new reel), it was quick-quick -- well under a minute. Finding the DSMB in the BC pocket was the hardest part.

- Neutral, hovering about 8' off the bottom (still able to use the bottom as a visual reference) was a little slower, but not much -- still probably under a minute, definitely not considerably over.

- Neutral, hovering well off the bottom (no visual reference) was quite a bit slower, but still couldn't have been much over a minute. I kept checking my depth at every step, which probably slowed me down.

It also seems, though, that I don't always manage to get the SMB decently inflated (particularly from shallower). I'll keep on practicing on every dive where shooting an SMB isn't inappropriate.

Much of this activity can be accomplished simultaneously with your ascent. So the actual deployment, should cause minimal delay of your normal ascent. If you have a buddy, it helps to try to let them set the ascent rate, because you can easily be distracted by the deployment activities and float up or down.

 

[xyrandomyx]

Much of this activity can be accomplished simultaneously with your ascent. So the actual deployment, should cause minimal delay of your normal ascent. If you have a buddy, it helps to try to let them set the ascent rate, because you can easily be distracted by the deployment activities and float up or down.

Thanks, I did make a mental note of your suggestion to deploy while ascending. All my dives this weekend were pretty shallow, though, so I couldn't really test it out (would probably have been almost at the surface before I had the SMB deployed). I will try on my next deeper dive. It did still seem a good idea to see roughly how long it took me to deploy, at least partly just to judge my proficiency (or, more accurately, just how much proficiency I'm lacking at the moment).