SMB or Sausage Set Up

[tjmills]

Looking for some advice. I am looking for a surface marker set up and wondered what recommendations you guys might have. Basically 99% of my diving is Caribbean with Drifts and shore dives. I don't do wreck penetration yet and not sure I will in the near future. I have a cheap sausage that I always take with me but I would like one that I could shoot at depth during safety stops to mark my position as well as be able to connect to the bottom of my BC on the surface when needed.

The cheap one works....if I help it ..... but it does have some serious erection problems and is difficult to inflate at depth. It's the kind that the inflator valve must be pushed in before inflating with your mouth. I would rather have one that I could inflate from the BC/Reg as well as at the surface.

Any recommendations? Advice?

I don't want to get into the discussion of how difficult it is to shoot it or how dangerous it can be. I think I understand the challenges and issues this can cause. Simple is better but I don't want it to loose its charge on the surface either.

 

[timle]

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=LargeSafety

I got this one. Nice but pretty large to carry - hopefully it will fit nicely in my back pocket when my backplate gets here.

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FingerSpool

Team it up with this spool to shoot from depth if I get blown off a dive or just to mark my position before I surface.

 

[Cacia]

hi--me again! I like the Halcyon with a nice finger reel clipped off with a ..whats it called? a two way? about 75 dollars. OH, and shooting it is exhilarating!
View attachment 28033

View attachment 28034

 

[double80s]

You will always have "floppy" problems if you are shooting your smb from 30' and above. Even at 60' it can be challenging and the size of the SMB plays a big part in it. Bigger = more air. The reason most floats have oral inflation valves is so you can fully inflate it from the surface...if necessary.

You can try using an open bottom float or one that can be inflated from a LP hose. I use to use a small smb that was oral inflate only. A good lung full of air at 60' or so provided enough air to get it close to full. If I was in an emergency situation I would have finished inflating it at the surface. Now I use an open bottom float that I fill with my reg. It is self sealing and holds the air untill I dump it with the dump valve. It also serves as a lift bag.

Happy diving.

 

[tjmills]

Ya know.....its hard to read what you wrote because the picture is so distracting.

How does it inflate?

BTW: thanks for the picture. Can you describe how the reel is attached to the SMB? It looks different than I have seen in the past. The double clip is attached to the spool only? Tied to the SMB?

hi--me again! I like the Halcyon with a nice finger reel clipped off with a ..whats it called? a two way? about 75 dollars. OH, and shooting it is exhilarating!
View attachment 28033

View attachment 28034

 

[tjmills]

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=LargeSafety

I got this one. Nice but pretty large to carry - hopefully it will fit nicely in my back pocket when my backplate gets here.

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FingerSpool

Team it up with this spool to shoot from depth if I get blown off a dive or just to mark my position before I surface.

When you say "pretty large to carry" define what you mean exactly. I was actually looking at this one. I don't have a bp and need something I can clip on.

 

[Cacia]

mine inflates on the low pressure inflator. I actually put it up at the end of a drift the duration of my safety stop so that the boat is there when I surface. It has a high pressure overflow valve. My cheapie one ruptured. I use them almost every dive so I bought a good one finally. I think if my camera ever starts to flood and i owe a stop, I will shoot my camera to the surface on it and hope the captain grabs it in time..... Just
love to plan...

 

[douglasville diver]

This is what I'm not sure of , if I inflate my ss @ say 60 ft with one breath of air would that breath increase as it rose through the water colume so over inflating @depth would not be good , right?

 

[tjmills]

Yes the air would expand as it rose. Having an overfill valve on the SS is important for that reason.

 

[timle]

mine has an overpressure valve so inflating at depth is no problem.

The SMB rolls into a 9" x 2" x 3"
The reel is 3" diameter and 1.75 inches deep.