I hate dive flags!!!

[BuoyantC]

Ironic, but I found towing my kayak is easier than one of those common yellow dive flag/floats. I'd hate to have it stolen though! Some friends use an inner tube with a milk crate lashed in the middle and a retractable clothes line reel mounted in the crate. It keeps a reasonable amount of tension on the line and retracts as you surface. I don't think there is enough tension to "pull" you up, but mostly they are shore diving and just swim in shallow. Moight not work for all locations.

 

[Coldiver1]

What's a retractable clothes line reel look like and how much line does it have. I t make sense to have the reel topside.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Yes I think dive flags create more problems than they solve. Most of the dives we do the flag is tied to a rock or tree branch and then we do our dive and then retrieve it when the dive is done, so it is a prop more than anything. I carry a smb and if I need to surface away from the flag I'll shoot it to the surface first. At one of the dive sites we frequent we will tie off the flag and leave it there during the SI, it is disturbing how many boats will drive by very close to the flag totally oblivious to it or to take a closer look at what it is. So in turn any dive site that has any amount of boat traffic I tend to treat it as a semi overhead environment.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Yes I think dive flags create more problems than they solve. Most of the dives we do the flag is tied to a rock or tree branch and then we do our dive and then retrieve it when the dive is done, so it is a prop more than anything. I carry a smb and if I need to surface away from the flag I'll shoot it to the surface first. At one of the dive sites we frequent we will tie off the flag and leave it there during the SI, it is disturbing how many boats will drive by very close to the flag totally oblivious to it or to take a closer look at what it is. So in turn any dive site that has any amount of boat traffic I tend to treat it as a semi overhead environment.

If you want boaters to respect the dive flag, then why would you deliberately fly it when there are no divers in the water? In Florida it is illegal to fly a dive flag from a vessel if nobody is diving.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

If you want boaters to respect the dive flag, then why would you deliberately fly it when there are no divers in the water? In Florida it is illegal to fly a dive flag from a vessel if nobody is diving.

So are you saying the boaters knew there were no divers in the water and that's the way they were just about running over it? Yes there are always divers in the water when we are at this particular site with flags all over. In NH you have to take a boaters education course before you can drive a boat and this material is covered in the class and on the test. Maybe when I see boaters respecting the flag I will trust it and put my life in the hands of the flag, But until then I will use it as a prop and take care of myself.

 

[nimoh]

I agree, don't see anything wrong with leaving the flag in the water during a surface interval