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What's the best practice for this? I would assume the reel-based since the marker would be deployed ahead of you surfacing thus making it safer but wanted to ask.
They are two different processes for two different purposes. Use the one that is appropriate to your situation.
In the first case, the diver has surfaced some distance from the boat and wants to make sure he or she is seen. This is usually an unforeseen situation. The diver has expected to come up closer, so the SMB would not be needed. Seeing things were not as anticipated, the diver pulls out the SMB and inflates it. If I were in such a situation and knew the boat had seen me, I wouldn't bother with it.
In the second situation, the diver is still doing an ascent and is sending up a DSMB (D = delayed) on advance of surfacing. This may be in the case of a safety stop. In this case, it helps a boat find you if it is not sure where you will surface, and it warns other boats to stay away.
It also serves another purpose. You will notice that the diver in the video (who, I am very sad to say, died a few weeks ago) is carrying extra tanks. He is completing a technical dive and will be doing at least one and probably several stops that are much longer than safety stops. It is very hard to do this in open water with nothing to look at. He has essentially created a portable ascent line. I will bet he has knots in it every 10 feet or so to help him identify depth. As they hold their stops, perhaps for a total of an hour or more, they will drift with the current, and if there is what's called a "live boat" picking them up, the boat will be able to follow them as they drift.
Expanding on boulderjohn’s post, inflatable signaling devices that don’t have an over pressure relief valve are commonly called safety sausages. These should not be inflated under pressure since the expanding gas could cause them to burst. They are usually smaller and less expensive than SMBs.
A SMB (Submersible Marker Buoy) can serve the purpose of a safety sausage, but may also be inflated at depth when used with a reel. They can be used to indicate your position at a safety or decompression stop as John explained, mark an object (Marker Buoy), for backup floatation, or as a small lift bag.
Not sure if the terminology of safety sausage always means the device has no over pressure relief valve, but that is unimportant. No so long ago whale dick was being thrown around as an appropriate term.
There are very few occasions where it will not be useful to be able to deploy the "device" from a safety stop (or deeper) and have it tethered on a string, a reel or a spool of some sort. Sending up the marker to the surface before you arrive allows you some time to complete a safety stop, not hurry your ascent so that you can signal the boat and it may very well prevent you from being run over from a boat.
I gnerally carry one with a string and one without for a back up and surface signaling.
Tim
"They called themselves Guerrilla Divers.
Composed of elite divers with Macho mentalities, back when men were men, and FEAR was a lispy companion of the common Man. It was a time before insurance liabilities, lawsuits or beauracratic regulation of the "sport". Guerrilla divers didn't need "Buoyancy Compensator Vests". In fact, "Anyone who needs a BC deserves to drown" was a popular adage. Exploration and the Hunt came first, excitement and fun followed. Safety was the stepchild of fitness, good reflexes and a cool head.
This was a time of great Adventure." www.sfdj.com
Tim
"They called themselves Guerrilla Divers.
Composed of elite divers with Macho mentalities, back when men were men, and FEAR was a lispy companion of the common Man. It was a time before insurance liabilities, lawsuits or beauracratic regulation of the "sport". Guerrilla divers didn't need "Buoyancy Compensator Vests". In fact, "Anyone who needs a BC deserves to drown" was a popular adage. Exploration and the Hunt came first, excitement and fun followed. Safety was the stepchild of fitness, good reflexes and a cool head.
This was a time of great Adventure." www.sfdj.com
Tim
"They called themselves Guerrilla Divers.
Composed of elite divers with Macho mentalities, back when men were men, and FEAR was a lispy companion of the common Man. It was a time before insurance liabilities, lawsuits or beauracratic regulation of the "sport". Guerrilla divers didn't need "Buoyancy Compensator Vests". In fact, "Anyone who needs a BC deserves to drown" was a popular adage. Exploration and the Hunt came first, excitement and fun followed. Safety was the stepchild of fitness, good reflexes and a cool head.
This was a time of great Adventure." www.sfdj.com
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Originally Posted by Splitlip
