How To Tie Line to Dive Flag/Buoy

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The float you have is not particularly good. It will be accidentally pulled under and then be dragged across the bottom.....

the advantage of the polypropylene line is that it is buoyant and *tends* to float up. A cave line will be easier to tie off, be more compact with less drag. Being less buoyant, it will be slightly more likely to end up hog tying you or a buddy (depends if you are into that type of thing or not:wink:) or fouling on objects on the bottom. It really comes down to a personal preference. Learning to manage the line is the key.
 
alright. Some interpretation required since this is on a big DSMB and uses a normal reel, but same concept applies.
Alright, so imagine the small D-ring from the DSMB is the hole on the lead weight on the stick. You need to use something like a quick link or a shackle to be able to hook the swivel on there. It also is a good time to add a reasonable sized bolt snap on there so you can clip it off to things. Well worth the effort IMO.
You can see the swivel bit below. It's less critical on things like a DSMB or on the specific buoy that you have linked, however on non-cylindrical things that don't turn so easily, they're immensely useful. You can see the prusik knot in the line. On your specific reel, you may want to create that loop with a splice instead of a knot since PP line doesn't really hold knots well, but that's how the concept works.

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that's a not a prusik.... it's a cow hitch or luggage tag knot. A prusik has three turns usually used by climbers on a standing end of rope when you want to the knot to slide (or not slide) along the rope. Just nitpicking again... Sorry...the sailor in me can't help it!:acclaim:
 
that's a not a prusik.... it's a cow hitch or luggage tag knot. A prusik has three turns usually used by climbers on a standing end of rope when you want to the knot to slide (or not slide) along the rope. Just nitpicking again... Sorry...the sailor in me can't help it!:acclaim:

there is that, and since it isn't done with a prusik loop it also doesn't count
 
Diving with a float is new to me. Coming from California where we find such things goofy and sad, I'm now living in Florida - where we find such things required and essential.

First off - I'll never understand the Claw.... what a terrible way to manage line.

Second, I dive with a scooter most of the time, so I knew I'd want to ditch the vertical bottle float type flags that are popular here with a bullet float like a Free Diver uses.

I went to Mako and they hooked me up with a rigid float set up. I have about 40 or 50 dives on it here, and its been nothing short of brilliant. The reel is awesome, the float is frictionless in the water when I scoot, its never flipped over, stows easy... I could go on.

I added a stainless split ring to the rubber weight belt so I could clip off the reel when I'm carrying this around.

I still hate floats... Can light, scooter handle, camera, float.... all with two arms. Not a fan of taking it in and out of the surf... but if I gotta use one, this is it.

- Ken


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