Safety Sausage what color is recommended yellow or orange

[Melanie White]

I am curious which color is recommended. I have read yellow maybe a sign of distress. So making sure I pick correctly.

 

[caruso]

Get one that is red on one side and yellow on the other.

 

[tbone1004]

some people use different colors for different signals, I think that's dumb.

I have two dsmb's in two different colors.
I have a small 1m dsmb that is orange. I use that to signal where I am when I am underwater, or to send up a signal to the boat with a written slate on it.
I have a monster 2.5m sausage that is bright yellow because it's easier for the boat to see at dawn/dusk where orange can blend in. Orange usually easier to see during the day. SOLAS tape is key on either though

 

[Coop42]

Hi Melanie,

This has been discussed a number of times on scubaboard, and some of the threads have become quite long.

;-)

See: Safety sausage and Yellow or orange safety sausage?

In short, in the Caribbean it doesn't seem to matter what the colour is. Throughout much of Europe the convention is orange = 'there's a diver here' and yellow = 'there's a diver in trouble here'.

Everywhere in the world bigger is better as that makes it easier for you to be seen.

There's also the distinction between the safety sausage, DSMB, and SMB. "Safety sausage" is a generic term and can be applied to both a DSMB (which is inflated and released from depth) and an SMB which is inflated while on the surface.

It's surprisingly complicated for a skinny bag of air...

 

[Coop42]

Get one that is red on one side and yellow on the other.

So, with red on one side, and yellow on the other, does that make it 'orange on the average'?

 

[Snoweman]

I am curious which color is recommended. I have read yellow maybe a sign of distress. So making sure I pick correctly.

Have you given thought to the other aspects of size, inflation type, over pressure valve, weighted bottom, etc?

 

[Melanie White]

Have you given thought to the other aspects of size, inflation type, over pressure valve, weighted bottom, etc?

Mine I will inflate orally on surface
Hubby wants one he can send up at safety stop
Both will be at least 6 foot

 

[Trace Malinowski]

@DanaHunt and I were talking about this just last week. He is a young captain who can see very well, but from his perspective, he can spot an orange bag break the surface more quickly than a yellow bag. Other captains have told me the same thing. I learned about the yellow "HELP!" bag concept when I was diving in England in the mid-90's. Funny that our emergency bag (when assigned as such) is more difficult to spot. I deployed a yellow bag when I became separated from my student during a trimix class in what turned out to be estimated as a record 7 knot current by the skipper. The boat crew never spotted it. I surfaced near a guy's dock in the 1000 Islands. He got in his boat and told the dive boat where I was.

 

[Melanie White]

Have you given thought to the other aspects of size, inflation type, over pressure valve, weighted bottom, etc?

Not really dont know where to start
This was not covered in out open water.
Any opinons on which one?

 

[Melanie White]

@DanaHunt and I were talking about this just last week. He is a young captain who can see very well, but from his perspective, he can spot an orange bag break the surface more quickly than a yellow bag. Other captains have told me the same thing. I learned about the yellow "HELP!" bag concept when I was diving in England in the mid-90's. Funny that our emergency bag (when assigned as such) is more difficult to spot. I deployed a yellow bag when I became separated from my student during a trimix class in what turned out to be estimated as a record 7 knot current by the skipper. The boat crew never spotted it. I surfaced near a guy's dock in the 1000 Islands. He got in his boat and told the dive boat where I was.

Thanks any opinon on which one to get?