Safety Sausage or SMB for Vacationing Divers?

[TSandM]

An SMB, which can be deployed at depth, is useful in a lot of ways that a simple sausage can't be. If, for example, you are diving from an anchored boat and current blows you off the site, you can send up the SMB as soon as you realize you are not going to be able to make the boat, and they're likely to see it. Otherwise, you may surface quite a ways away, and not be able to get their attention, even with a large surface sausage.

Similarly, if you have to do a blue (or black, if it's night) water ascent, a bag and line makes a nice reference, and makes the ascent easier.

If I were you, I'd spring for the SMB and spool, and then learn to use it. It's a fun skill to acquire, anyway!

[Bearkeley]

Thanks all for the advice...I don't know if it's because of its 'safety' aspect, but it certainly has taken me a lot more time to shop than when I bought my bcd...and almost as long planning my upcoming vacation! ;-0

I researched all of your recommendations and the reviews and now, my issue is the size of the smb. Sounds like the 3.3 Halcylon is the most popular on the board for fair weather / near-shore divers like us, followed by a few others....problem I'm running into now is how to store it. I have my own bcd but it seems that this and other smbs would be too big to put in the pocket. Since I'm a vacationing diver (2 trips a year....6 - 10 dives a trip) with less than 50 dives under my belt , having things dangling on my bc like an smb might end up being a safety hazzard right now. Thigh pockets, however, seemed to be a great alternative to this concern (at a decent price out there), so would recommend that option for someone in a similar situation.

One other situation unique to me, however, is that I am tiny! At under 5ft tall, the thigh pocket is probably going to half the size of my leg, so although the idea sounds ideal....not going to be for me.... ;-( An option is to have my husband/buddy carry the smb (although he rents his gear...he's an averaged sized guy so renting isn't an issue unless we are lucky enough to find time to dive more often).

So....after hours of research, I've decided to stick with getting the Akona Safety Sausage....and buy my husband an smb for Christmas! ;-)

[DevonDiver]

Yep, thigh pockets are a great solution. Most jacket BCDs really don't have adequate and/or sufficiently accessible pockets, especially when inflated at the surface.

You can get stand-alone bellows pockets that can be sewn/glued to your existing wetsuit.
pocket.png

Alternatively, you might find a wetsuit repair/manufacture outlet that can sew custom neoprene pockets onto your suit for you. I got some of these made in Thailand... just big enough for my instructor slates.

Some tips on fitting here: Adding Pockets to Wetsuit

Another option is a pair of x-shorts, which can be worn alone, or worn over your wetsuit - giving some flexibility of use.

hl101.jpg

Another option (given what Bearkley says about height/leg length) is to modify a 'Backplate Tail' to fit a jacket BCD. Whilst designed to be bolted onto the bottom of a backplate, I am sure these things could be fitted (sewn/zip-ties) to the base of a regular BCD. They are designed for DSMB storage, are conveniently located and don't get in the way.

OxyCheqEmergencyDiveSystem.jpg
Lastly... another option if your jacket BCD has a nylon waist belt, is to fit a small looped mask pocket directly onto the belt. There's a wide selection of small-med sized pockets available that just loop onto a belt. These will fit most DSMBs. Secure it in the front of your torso (over the buckle). Downside is that it covers the buckle (delaying emergency egress) and isn't permanently attached... so you might forget to attach it on a bad day.

OmsMaskPocket.jpg

[TSandM]

You're right -- a bellows pocket is going to use up most of the real estate on the outside of your thigh. But you'd be surprised -- it isn't uncomfortable at all, especially if you use the X-shorts.

It's also not a big safety hazard to clip an SMB and spool to your BC, so long as you aren't diving somewhere where you are in a lot of line or around a lot of nets.