SMB (sausage) color codes

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zimmo

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Location
puget sound
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All,

There's been some discussion lately over in the basic forum about SMB's, and some people have mentioned that different colors mean different things in their region. For example someone said that yellow = OK, just want to be seen and red = I'm in trouble, come save me. Someone else said it's the reverse where they dive.

Is there any generally accepted code here in California?
 
None that I've heard of. The closest thing I've seen are SMB's labeled "Emergency".
Clipping off a Slate to an SMB is generally understood to mean that something needs attention from the surface support team. The support team then collects the slate and responds accordingly to the directions listed.

If you would like to apply a system to your dive team then go for it. But that's where it would stay.
If there is a system in place you should be notified by your dive boat or dive organizer, but it never hurts to ask.
 
I've never heard of one. In my experience a SMB (of any color) just means "hey I'm here". If you want it to mean anything else you better deal with that before the dive.
 
First of all any emergency SMB is useless unless an emergency plan has been pre arranged before the dive even starts. So many divers say over their shoulder before they splash "if I send a yellow SMB, send me down some gas". Ok what gas? Where do we get the gas? How much do we need? Do you think we have a safety diver dressed and ready to splash in case of a yellow SMB? If you truly expect to need to use an emergency SMB you better iron out all these details and then decide and communicate to the boat crew what color it should be.
 
Yellow is wait , Red is stop.. dontcha learned anything... ?
 
I only have 1, it's orange, and I've never had to use it yet. Always figured it's a way of saying "Hey, I'm over here!" and if I need help, I'll use the whistle. Also I figured I could send it up on my safety stop if I was concerned about boat traffic. But then again, I'm a pretty new diver, so I'm still learning :)
 
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