Goumba Flags - The New Safer Diver Down Flag- Read our review!

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Richard FDC

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Where else but Florida, the World Center of Diving
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Goumba Dive Flag is giant step forward in diver safety – Read Our Review Goumba-Water-1.jpg

“If it aint broke don’t fix it.” We’ve all heard that old adage many times in our lives. The venerable old dive flag invented by Doc and Ruth Dockery back in 1949 (Read the story here:History of the Diver Down Flag | Florida Dive Connection - Florida SCUBA Diving News and Information )has served us well for many years so why try something new?

Anybody who has ever towed a dive flag knows the design of the flag is great but the methods used to display and deploy it often fall short of expectations. Over the years we’ve seen all sorts of float and mast designs made with the intent of keeping the flag upright, above water, and visible while being towed on a line by a diver many feet below. Most of them work well in ideal conditions but we don’t live in a perfect world and ideal conditions are rare. The stories of dive flag failures are endless. Strong winds and waves knock them over, flags slide off masts to be lost, floats get pulled underwater, and inflatable buoys get punctured. If the truth be known we divers just tolerate the flags we use because there hasn’t been a better alternative, until now.

Michael Greenfield, the inventor of the Goumba Flag had a better idea and decided to make it a reality. The State of Florida agreed and effective July 1, 2014 the Florida dive flag law changed to allow the use of a multi-sided dive float. (Read the story here: New Diver Down Flag Law Passed in Florida | Florida Dive Connection - Florida SCUBA Diving News and Information )The Goumba Flag was born.

What is the Goumba Flag? It is a rigid cube shaped float with the recognized dive flag graphic on four upright sides. US Coast Guard approved reflective film is used for the graphics and also across the top, making the entire float reflective and visible for miles. The ingenious dreidel like bottom design allows it to glide through the water with ease and a robust stainless steel ring provides for quick and easy line attachment. The float is manufactured here in the USA by the same people who make highway barricades so it is virtually indestructible. With 55 pounds of lift and attached grab straps it doubles as a buoyant safety device. Currently a rechargeable battery powered strobe is an option with other add-ons in the works. The Goumba Flag weighs just under 7 pounds and measures 13 inches tall and 14 inches wide with the specially designed bottom called a dreidel extending another 6 inches beneath it. Add it all up and it just might be the ultimate dive safety device.

Goumba-in-Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.jpgIs the Goumba Flag really better protection than a regular dive flag? We think the name says it all. Goumba is a slang term for a friend, companion, or trusted associate. In September of 2014 Allen “The Grouper” Sherrod spent over 51 hours underwater offshore Lauderdale-By-The Sea, Florida to set the Guinness World Record for the longest open saltwater SCUBA dive. The Grouper and his support team were at ease knowing the dive site was marked by Goumba Flags. The flags were always visible and when the wind and waves got rough other flags were a blur. At night the reflective wrap made the Goumba Flags glow, even with a dim light, and the optional strobes were beacons seen for miles. The Goumba Flags were clearly superior to standard float dive flags and marked the dive site remarkably well.

So, how does the Goumba Flag perform in the water? Towing the float on a line is surprisingly easy, thanks to the special Goumba-Water-2.jpgbottom design. Moving the Goumba Flag through the water requires no more effort than other dive flags and in larger waves the Goumba performs better than inflatable floats. The rigid design and superior buoyancy allow the Goumba Flag to ride over waves when inflatable floats will collapse, twist, or turn sideways, causing more drag and resistance. The angled surfaces of the bottom cut though the water with ease and in the various conditions we tested the Goumba Flag it was found to tow with no more effort than other flags we’ve used.

What didn’t we like about the Goumba Flag? The number one difference between the Goumba and other dive flags is size and portability. It does not break down and roll up so it requires a little more space for transport and stowage. When doing a beach entry in surf we were sure to take extra care to keep the Goumba at a safe distance and not allow the waves to bring it crashing in to the divers. When packing up from a dive take a moment to be sure all the water is out of the dreidel bottom. To have a dive flag with 55 pounds of buoyancy and visible night and day, even in rough water, these are small trade-offs we can live with.

The Goumba Flag is new and different but it provides a solution to an old problem that Doc and Ruth recognized way back when SCUBA diving was new. How do you warn boaters there are divers below the surface? You display a recognized symbol of SCUBA diving in a manner that is easily seen in all conditions. The Goumba Flag does all that and more. This is the new solution for diver safety.

Click here for more information on Goumba Dive Flags: GOUMBA™ Flags | Buy Dive Flags.com™ - Safe, Visible, Effective SCUBA Dive Flags
 

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I'm a member of the FTF club so no dive flag is a good flag. That's F The Flag club by the way. I do carry this in my pocket to avoid fines from the flag Nazi's when I see them on shore writing tickets.

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Who is going to pre-order without knowing what the thing costs? Seems like a nominal improvement (most boating morons still won't know what the flag means) at what will probably be a very spendy price point.
 
Is this the same weird little towable that the designer lobbied to the Florida legislature to make it the standard dive flag in Florida? Because a dive flag as it is is any less visible.
 
The preorder page says the estimated price will be $129. The strobe will cost extra.
 
Wow!!!!! $129. Dream on.
 

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