Inflating DSMB from QD hose

[NothingClever]

We keep saying ‘huge’ and other similar terms. I don’t consider a 6ft / 1.8m buoy to be huge but rather standard. I think those enormous ones from Highland and OMS at 10ft and 16ft fit that category.

I shoot low (35-45m) here in the Red Sea not so much because of a teleporting drift like in the Florida Atlantic but simply to signal to the boat that I’m ending the dive and show him where I am. It’s about gaining his confidence. Our captains and DMs here are easily spooked or perplexed by anything outside the confines of an anchored dive, poodle jackets and 50 minutes.

The duckbill DSMBs are OK but if not at full puff they can take on water if scootering.

I’ve seen the regulator exhaust technique with the duckbill port but I don’t practice it enough to be good at it (my exhaust seems to run up the outside of the DSMB) so I just stick to oral inflation.

Maybe I’m unskilled but the LPI method has always seemed like a bunch of faff.

 

[rjack321]

At that point in the dive why do you have enough air in your wing to inflate a DSMB?

On a genuinely deep CCR dive with 3 or more bailouts you might have quite a bit of gas in your wing to compensate for the weight of all that unused gas. But dumb to dump your wing in there as you're gonna be heavy and then need to hang on the bag. And all that faffing around makes for a shaky ascent. Although it is somewhat common to use the wing power inflator but hold down both buttons at the same time so the gas goes in the bag not the wing. I don't seem to have enough hands for this but some people like it. For me, it's easier to put a BC whip on a bailout and use a fully closed bag. The larger the SMB the deeper you need to shoot it, the really big bags have >50lbs of lift. That's 25+L of gas. Shooting that at 6m and you'll either have a barely filled bag or end up getting dragged to the surface. Shooting it from 5ATA that's 5L of gas, or 10lbs of lift. You can squirt in a tiny volume, check that everything is clear, then squirt the remaining 5L and release it without really moving.

 

[Snoweman]

Be ready to put new air in your wing as soon as you let go of the SMB!

Why? Wouldn't holding on to the line make up for the buoyancy loss?

 

[lsmike]

My 5' open bottom Edge-HOG has a duckbill valve in the conical open bottom that seals itself and won't dump at the surface. You can inflate it orally (bad idea at this size), with an inflator, or using your wing or auxiliary second stage.

I have this type of DSMB as well and it has the oral inflation valve, but with it being 2 meters (6.5 ft.) I take two or three full breaths to make it really stick out of the water.

What my instructor taught me was to use the exhaled gas from my breathing regulator. Usually one or two exhales and it fills up nicely without extra work and because I'm exhaling I can manage buoyancy. Also I don't need to take the regulator out of my mouth.

 

[tursiops]

Why? Wouldn't holding on to the line make up for the buoyancy loss?

Not while it is going up.

 

[lermontov]

When inflating my very large DSMB I was using my drysuit hose which is on the left side..

But yesterday while practising at the lake with a stage cylinder, I noticed that the stage was in the way of the hose.

Is it more common or better to use your wing QD hose for this generally ? I guess I could also have a QD hose on the stage but I was wondering if there was a general accepted practice ?

Im assuming your on OC ?

nothing wrong with a second LP hose on your stage - make it suitably long to work with. i normally dive with a ccr so i have an LPI on all my BO tanks so i have multiple options not just for my smb
different scenarios involve different methods

- coming up from a deep dive with a lot of deco ahead of you and a possible drift - make it a large smb , the wind may have picked up and now theres a bit of chop on the surface so youll want to be seen.
Practice getting you smb out and ready before you reach your predetermined depth launch so the transition is only a few seconds rather then when you reach it then getting it ready, ive found using a LPI is best.

diving in areas that have serious currents youll need to launch the smb at the same time as yours buddies- otherwise youll get split up and seconds do count -practice launching at the same time. Once you launch and the current catches it its like being on the end of a kite .

practice practice practice

 

[Edward3c]

Get one like this. Open bottom, seals once full. These remain fully inflated even after they are back on the boat. You can inflate it with a reg, lp hose, or orally.

Dive Alert Yellow/Orange Combo Surface Marking Tube w/Pocket { 5.4 ft | 1.6 m } | Dive Gear Express®

If the DSMB has a Duck-bill valve it isn't open ended, but sealed. When using a Reg to fill one a large quantity of water is injected with the gas as it bobbles in. that's why I like the LP hose type. I can fill mine either way and occasionally practise using the Reg.

Open ended DSMBs can have the gas pumped out of them by wave action, even when the end is weighted with lead or has magnets.

 

[hroark2112]

Not while it is going up.

I've done it from 60' and from 200'. Never had a problem.

As far as why I have enough air in my wing....on my most recent OC dives I've intentionally had around 4 extra pounds of lead because I had a buddy who would whine about being too light/heavy/hot/cold/wet/whatever so I would either take some lead off of her or have extra to give to her. On CCR dives I usually have a little bit of air in my wing, sometimes more than a little on deep dives carrying extra bailout/deco gas.

 

[PfcAJ]

I do not believe in inflating massive DSMB's from depth because they're a PITA to deal with as you've realized. I don't dive with a backup DSMB, I dive with a small 3ft skinny thing that I shoot from depth, and a big **** off monstrous thing that I only inflate at the surface as a "come find me, I'm lost". For that one, you have time to deal with it. Otherwise with the huge one, just inflate it from as deep as you can and you don't have to have that much gas in it with expansion.

Nah bro. Shoot the big one.

The little guys are harder to see and the longer it takes the boat to see you, the harder it is to find you.

I use the wing inflator. If you want to use the drysuit one it might be best to just go vertical so you have enough slack to allow you to work the smb out in front of you.

 

[Diving Dubai]

When inflating my very large DSMB I was using my drysuit hose which is on the left side..

But yesterday while practising at the lake with a stage cylinder, I noticed that the stage was in the way of the hose.

Is it more common or better to use your wing QD hose for this generally ? I guess I could also have a QD hose on the stage but I was wondering if there was a general accepted practice ?

The answer is always, use an AP Crack bottle dsmb. You'll never go back