DIR- Generic Your depth for shooting an SMB

[Wibble]

Don't forget to release it when the reel jams at that depth.

Thankfully the bag doesn’t have much gas volume in it at that depth. Fire off the two CO2 cartridges at 60m/200ft and you can still hold it. Same for hose inflation, crack bottle or other inflation methods.

Needless to say that if there’s problems then you’d use you backup SMB

 

[DiveTucson]

I would say the answer is “it depends” it’s all related to diving conditions, current, topside support, etc.

I have sent a bag from deeper than 200’ and have sent a bag form my 20’ stop. It all depends on the circumstances of the dive.

 

[PfcAJ]

Don't forget to release it when the reel jams at that depth.

If it jams it jams. Not the end of the world.

The risk of a jam and having to shoot another is way less than the risk of losing the boat in a 4ft current. Great way to end up in NC when you started in Florida.

 

[NothingClever]

I prefer to shoot deep and use my reel/spool as an index during ascents in the open ocean.

However, not surprisingly @Trace Malinowski brings up a great point about ascents along river walls (potential snags) that I hadn't considered.

 

[Nick_Radov]

Question for Tech 2 divers. When you are doing your dives below 200, do you do free ascent to your first stop and then shoot and smb? or do you shoot an smb from max depth and climb it all the way up? For 200 ft dives you need a cave reel instead of an ascent spool but all the DIR videos I have seen show ascent with a spool.

It's going to depend on site-specific circumstances. Diving offshore in the Northeast Pacific Ocean the currents can be strong, so we try to send up a DSMB as soon as we start the ascent so that the boat crew can track us. Even if you're down at 200 ft you can use a little spool with 150 ft of line (small enough to fit in a pocket) and then just follow it up to the first deco stop.

But other areas are going to require different practices.

 

[Wookie]

First deco stop.