Dive flag-Swim with it or anchor it?

[Cacia]

for me, it depends on whether it is enforced or not enforced and whether there is boat traffic.

 

[craborn]

I agree Rick. It depends on what and where you are diving. I dive lakes about 95% of the time. I USUALLY dive half a tank down and half a tank back. I drop several flags down my direction of travel. If I am spear fishing, sometimes I do not know where I am going to end up going so I pull one. It is personal preference. I would warn you that dragging a flag can be hazardous for getting tangled. ALWAYS wear a knife. CLay

 

[Floridawannabe]

I dive lakes and with lakes you have a LOT LOT of trees. I always take a Diver alert dive bag just for this purpose. THen I anchor my dive flag near by where I am. I have had my flag snag in a tree at 30 ft and me at 60 ft so I either leave the flag or call the dive. That is lake dives, Florida is another story because there are no trees in the ocean, I tow my flag or I tow my Kayak with the boat flag on it.

 

[ScubyDoo]

do most of you pull the flag around with you or anchor it to the bottom and just stay more or less within the prescribed distance?

It depends on the dive your planning. If your only diving a small area, all you need to do is anchor the float in the middle of the dive area. If you want to dive a larger area...tow it. My flag/float is the type that has a small pocket in it for stowing misc. gear while your diving. I usually put a couple of extra lead weights in there to stablize the float. The underside of the float has a clip which I clip my reel too. I always take the reel out with me, and if I should decide to anchor the float, I simply take one of the extra weights and slide it over the reel line, and leave the reel and weight on the bottom.

If others havent already touched on it, never attach a flag/float to your person while diving....just carry the reel loosely in your hand. Theres always some jet ski cowboy who thinks your float is his own personal rodeo barrel to zip around, and possibly decide to grab onto and take home. The last thing a diver needs is to be yanked up to the surface by a jet ski...or a boat. :34:

 

[Nemrod]

The inner tube floats with covers are nice dive floats and you can carry equipment in them and salvage you may pickup, trash etc. I currently am using the bob float type flag, no inner tube, just a weighted float with a flag on it. I sometimes when diving from my kayak tow it, in fact, I rarely anchor it except temporarily while I swim the anchor line and then pick it up. I use a small kayak anchor which weaighs a couple of lbs. I have towed my 14 foot inflatible with 35 horse engine also in the same manner. The kayak and the inner tube generally provide very little drag and neither does the bob float.

As to flags and boaters, there will always be idiots so be prepared. pelican Industries I think makes an aluminum device similar to what you see for extension cords. You just wrap the line over it. I use cave line or a small poly line, brightly colored--nothing super heavy is needed. In any case i would never clip the line off to me but instead just hold it. The small kayak anchor is nice because you can set it down to explore and area and then come back and pickit up. They only weigh a few pounds (1 to 1.5 lbs to as much as 3 lbs) and generally fold up and have a cloth/nylon bag.

Now I have taken to diving from our Boston Whaler leaving my wife on deck to scream and holler at the yahoos. N

 

[EuphoriaII]

Wow, I just realized this thread is still going nearly a year later

FWIW, I have been leaving the flag anchored. I haven't had a circumstance yet were I needed to venture that far away from the flag (in a freshwater lake) but if I ever feel the need to venture further away, I'll keep it in tow.

Now that I've had a few ocean dives, I'm losing interest in these cold murky lakes so most of the time I'll have a boat somewhere above me with a flag.

 

[tiburon72157]

typically here in socal, instructors conducting a class use a float/flag for obvious safety reasons with new/less experienced divers. otherwise, you rarely see anyone else ever using one. no doubt due to local conditions and boating regulations.

 

[bowditch]

I anchor the flag with an 8# weight and use a 45' reel. When I want to move further, I move the 8# weight. If there are fishermen in the area, I work it out with them that I will always stay on the upwind side of the flag and avoid certain areas.