dive flag

Drove from TX to WV to do some visiting with the folks, and took my gear with me.

WV state law says the flag has to be secured onto what your diving, I dove a wall in a lake, and there was NOTHING to secure it to, your not allowed to pull it around via rope. Problem was, visibility was about 4' and surface temperature was around 70 degrees, I had a 3 mil on, you get to 20' and the temp drops to around 60, around 30' its too dark to see, so I ran the wall from end to end at about 15', problem is there was NO place to tie of the flag, out of frustration I tied it off to a tree short enough that the flag would stay next to the shore, where we were, however, by law, that was a no no.

So my question is how the heck do you get it to stay put when your in a situation like that!?

I figure next time I'll just tie some lead off to the end of it and throw it in, problem is the wall there was 85' deep and my rope was only 50', is that the best way to do it, really long rope and just put it on the bottom?

on a funny note, I had about 3 people ask me if I was looking for dead bodies while taking all the gear back up the road to the truck. Everytime someone asked me what I was looking for, I said water.... they got mad

found 3 beer bottles, some cloths, and a tennis ball tho.

FIXXERVI6 once bubbled...
Drove from TX to WV to do some visiting with the folks, and took my gear with me.


on a funny note, I had about 3 people ask me if I was looking for dead bodies while taking all the gear back up the road to the truck. Everytime someone asked me what I was looking for, I said water.... they got mad

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LOL... Did you find any water??? Some people have no sense of humour, I may have to borrow that line of yours for the "stupid people asking stupid questions".

Dale

Have a wreck reel with 250' of line and 40 lbs. of lead on the end fastened to the bottom of the floating dive flag. Surface swim to the general area you will be around, and let the lead rip to the bottom. Let out about 5 feet of line, lock the reel and go diving.

If you want to be really fancy, mark the line on your reel with colored bands so you know how much you have let out. I used adhesive heat shrinkable tubing cut into 1/4 inch pieces. Every 5 feet I marked the line using the resistor color code. For example if I let out enough line to see a blue band and a yellow band, I know that I have let out 75 feet. You will use lots of yellow, cause you are marking every 5 feet, but its cheep stuff and only takes one or two evenings to prep. It will add a small amount of bulk to the line, and you will need to take up some space to do this, as you will need to let out all of the line in order to band the line every 5 feet. But once it’s done its permanent and very useful in lots of areas other than an anchor line. If you have to shoot a bag and hold a deco depth in a drift, its easier to do so by OKing the line at the depth marking you want to hold, letting the reel act as a counter weight for the bag.

Yikes.

I feel lazy now for just marking my line with ink.

I can see the value of the extra work though as my ink marks are fading out over time.

dc4bs once bubbled...
Yikes.

I feel lazy now for just marking my line with ink.

I can see the value of the extra work though as my ink marks are fading out over time.

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I've have a few comments about the colored bands. Most people don't know what the resistor color code is, and I have to tell them that it's the same here as it is in China, Russia and so on. It's a wonder why no manufacturer has decided to include this as an option? It would sell in every part of the world regardless of language.

BBROYGBVGW

Isn't that it? What pneumonic do they use to remember it by in todays PC world? I have wondered that every so often.

Knavey once bubbled...
BBROYGBVGW

Isn't that it? What pneumonic do they use to remember it by in todays PC world?

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In the pc world? Who needs a memory aid anymore?

I use http://a1computers.net/pcresist.htm

Marc

FLL Diver once bubbled...


In the pc world? Who needs a memory aid anymore?

I use http://a1computers.net/pcresist.htm

Marc

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Hehe,

That site has the more politically correct way to remember it. When I learned it...well, it was an all guys class. Of course, when I learned it, there wasn't a website to go to and look it up either! And I am not that old...

Let me guess you were diving mount storm lake. WVDNR is a rpinta when it comes to diving. They are very ANTI-DIVER. I am surprised it is not Illegal to scuba dive in WV.
Anyway Because law prohibits you from towing it, your best bet is to run a line to the bottom and tie it to a rock then run a reel off the line. Natral navigation works to if you are good at it but If you surface 101 ft from the flag they will ticket you. I've never been ticketed there but LDS caution you because they get that complaint all the time. Also just because you fly a flag dont mean boaters abide by the law. If some boaters get to close to you dont complain to WVDNR they will just find a way to cite you. Be honest with you it is actually kinda scary diving there because you are always on the look for park rangers.
Glad to hear you did not get cited. FWIW I am a native of parkersburg. I have dove mount storm with my brother. He has also dove summerville lake. We usually went to ohio because they were more diver friendly.

BTW what part of TX you in. I am currently residing in DEl Rio. If you are every in Del Rio PM me and we can do a dive in Lake Amistad.