I keep a lift bag in a sleeve attached to my backplate (before I got the plate, it was attached to my jacket's tank thingy). I also have a sausage and spool with me (both attached to my back D-ring now).
The lift bag actually gets a reasonable amount of use on saltwater dives out in the Gulf. You never know when you're going to find a lost anchor or whatever. The regulars I dive with often know me as the guy for light salvage. They'll hand off anchors to me or call me over, and more than once I've tapped a student on the shoulder and told them to move along and I'd get their prize to the boat for them. Last trip, I even recovered a plastic net (there was quite a bit of lead woven into it). I believe the instructor on that trip brought that one home.
Anyway, I've always got the lift bag with me because you never know when you'll get to use it. Same thing for the spool. I've used it for searches, navigation, hanging off the anchor line in a moderate current, and who knows what else. (I will say that some double enders are less reliable than others -- I've had spools unroll on me, and I've even lost two or three altogether.)
The lift bag actually gets a reasonable amount of use on saltwater dives out in the Gulf. You never know when you're going to find a lost anchor or whatever. The regulars I dive with often know me as the guy for light salvage. They'll hand off anchors to me or call me over, and more than once I've tapped a student on the shoulder and told them to move along and I'd get their prize to the boat for them. Last trip, I even recovered a plastic net (there was quite a bit of lead woven into it). I believe the instructor on that trip brought that one home.
Anyway, I've always got the lift bag with me because you never know when you'll get to use it. Same thing for the spool. I've used it for searches, navigation, hanging off the anchor line in a moderate current, and who knows what else. (I will say that some double enders are less reliable than others -- I've had spools unroll on me, and I've even lost two or three altogether.)
