Where to buy a spool??

[Zeina]

A collective "spaghetti" incident in the Maldives led me to consider that I needed some tool to help me master the inflation / ascent of my safety sausage from down where my (drift) safety stop was happening.

The idea is to avoid being pulled up to the surface together with your sausage, because you are entangled in its line (or that of somebody else's in the group, for that matter).

Here are my conclusions:
1- Stay away from other divers when they are inflating their sausage :balloon:
2- Get a reel, or a spool

At first, I thought that it was best to buy a reel (following our DM's example).
But then, I read a couple of threads on scuba boards, that led me to think that what I needed was a SPOOL, and not a reel.
Now, I am confused. Should I get a reel, or a spool? :confused:
I do not intend to use this for wreck/cave diving. It is solely for the purpose of the safety stop, in the current (50 feet should be OK).
2 criteria are important:
- I don't want to spend a fortune on this
- The bulk must be minimal (reel/spool + sausage must fit in my BC's pocket).

Please help!! :help:

[100days-a-year]

Try www.northeastscubasupply.com good luck.

[Tavi]

Hi Zeina,

I got mine from Canadian Extreme (http://www.canadianextreme.ca/spools.html) :thumb:

[metridium]

Bought mine from Lloyd Bailey's (www.lloydbaileysscuba.com). Call if they're not listed yet.

[GearHead]

Another vote for Canadian Extreme (http://www.canadianextreme.ca/spools.html). I couldn't find a better price anywhere.

[wetman]

Mines from Canadian Extreme as well.

steve

[Zeina]

I guess Canadian Extreme wins :clap:

Thanks all!! :)

[roakey]

Send mail to scubaturek@underctek.com, he's got some safety spools done and is about to start a run of gap reels.

Roak

[Dryglove]

I just purchased one from canadian extreme.Great price.

[joel_pratt]

I bought an extreme exposures safety spool from 5th Dimension at http://fifthd.com/cgi-bin/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=5AG&Category_Code=GS

I have been VERY happy with it and it is very compact and solid.

Joel

[Spectre]

I have a reel that I use for a guideline around wrecks, search patterns, and as an emergency ascent line with my lift bag. It'll be too big to fit in a pocket, as well as being more expensive then a spool.

I had to shop for and buy a spool last week for my cavern class. I looked at the Canadian Extreme spools, and my instructor told me to avoid #18 line, and no go with anything smaller than #24; so I went with the extreme-exposure spools.

Of course, that is for caving, but it depends on your future plans. I'm glad I didn't pick up the Canadian extreme spools when I was thinking about getting one for my ascent line a few months ago, because I would have had to replace the line on them for this use, and I'm not sure they would be big enough to hold enough #24 line.

[otter-cat]

What's the difference between a reel and a spool?

[FredT]

A reel generally will have a handle and a crank.

A spool is simply somthing to wind and store line on, with a few holes on the outside edge to clip it off.

Reels can jam, but are used to hold the long lines used in penetrations. Spools are generally for shorter lines, in the less than 150' length range.

A spool makes shooting a bag much easier, and considerably safer. It's drawback is that it's harder to re-wrap the line underwater. Since a bag is generally only shot at the end of the dive, or when doing a recovery most of the time it's re-spooled on the surface or during a deco stop anyway.

FT

[jeffsterinsf]

Spool is like a spool for thread, but usually "flattter and fatter." You generally can deploy them with them spinning on a finger, and wind the line back on by hand

Take a spool, add an axle, handle, locking mechanism, and line guide, and you get a reel -- more like a fishing reel kind of thing.

[roakey]

Spools: http://www.extreme-exposure.com/images/spools_pt.jpg

Reel: http://www.extreme-exposure.com/images/pathfinder-2001.jpg

Roak

[Zeina]

It is compact, and not too pricey :)

I am ONLY going to use it to shoot my safety sausage from around 30-15ft (on the way to safety stop), because I tend to dive in areas with lots of current :D
No wreck or cave diving (yet).

The Canadian Extreme spool comes with a 110' #24 line.
I thought the line was pretty thin.
I don't really intend on holding on to it for the safety stop, but still, I wonder if it is sturdy enough...
Also, 110' is way too much for my uses. I might try to shorten that to around 50'. Any thoughts?

I haven't tried it yet. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[Zeina]

Should I replace the #24 line on the spool with a thicker one?

[JamesK]

You could always just but a Dive Rite finger spool. It only has 50' of line on it.

Either that, or you could check Here (http://www.selchie.com/accessories.htm) and see how much he wants for his spools.


For your needs, what I would do is find the least expensive spool I could buy. Then if the line was thick enough for you, just cut it to the length you want. If it is not thick enough, go to Home Depot and buy some braided nylon line in the thickness you want.

[divernva]

#18 will be a little thin. #36 would probably be okay too since you only need 50'.

I've only seen #18 braided line at Home Depot. All the other braided lines are a little too thick for a spool.

Ken

[JamesK]

My local Home Depot has #18, #24, and #36. You can even get it in pretty colors too! LOL!

[Zeina]

I'll check my local Home Depot out.
Thanks!!