Expertise Needed: Lift bag & safety sausage mounted on BP&W

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CharlieDontDive

Contributor
Messages
76
Reaction score
39
Location
Philadelphia, PA
# of dives
100 - 199
Looking for some advice regarding mounting a safety sausage & lift bag to my Halcyon BP&W.

I was recently on a charter boat diving a wreck of NJ. During the dive, a buddy pair completely lost the wreck so, unable to find it again, they used a safety sausage + reel to make a safe ascent. It wasn't an emergency of any sort, but the sight of a red SS popping to the surface understandably threw the crew into "oh sh*t" mode for a minute. During the ride back to the marina, a discussion began about use of safety sausages & lift bags. The boat's divemaster recommended that all divers should carry both items: the lift bag to use as a surface marker for an unplanned (but non-emergency) ascent, and the safety sausage for an emergency-type ascent. Both utilizing a reel, obviously.

The divemaster who made this recommendation then showed us his BP&W and I immediately thought "oh wow, that's awesome. His setup was like so:

  • Safety sausage mounted on insight right of his BP&W
  • Lift bag mounted on insight left of his BP&W
  • Picture for reference, red circles are roughy where he had each mounted
The purpose is to have both items ready for quick deployment: a diver only needs to reach slightly behind him to either the right or left, depending on which one he needs. Both of this guy;s LB & SS seemed compact & unobtrusive (to my recollection), and their positioned was such that they did not interfere with any other gear. I want to say each one was in some sort of bag or compression sack with the opening facing downward, but...I may be remembering that inaccurately.

I wish I'd gotten the guy's name to pick his brain further, or at least snapped a pic of his rig. But, alas.Tried contacting the charter but no luck yet.

So, my inquiries for you, dear reader:
  • Are you familiar with this type of setup?
  • How exactly would I go about replicating the DM's setup?
  • How should I mount these items in the locations described?
  • Any recommendations for a specific brand/model of SS & lift bag?
  • Would this setup have included a small reel with each item, or should I keep a single reel separately for use with either?
  • If you are NOT familiar with this type of setup: any advice on how to make the SS & lift bag a part of my kit? Currently I dive with a safety sausage and reel clipped to my BC. It's rather intrusive and gets in the way when I reach for my camera or dump air from my BC.
Thanks for reading! Cheers.
 
I keep my lift bag and 1 finger spool in my right pocket and a back up lift big in the stuff pouch of the BP cover with a secondary spool clipped to the butt D ring.

I deploy the bag from the pocket as it’s easier to put it back once on the surface.

I have a dry suit bottle on the left side of the plate.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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