How to float a strobe?

[Celt]

he isn't talking about wrecks (yeah, what is the purpose od diving there, right???? - that was sarcasm..)

Apologies to the OP I assumed he was marking an entry and swimming a guide line, wreck or some underwater feature where he had to return the way he went in. My mistake.

 

[Celt]

Sorry I’ve misunderstood the idea behind this tread.

 

[ChuckP]

I cannot think of a single wreck below the level of the sea bed where I would have to float my strobe in the water column to see it. It only makes sense to use a strobe In darkness or poor vis and both require a reel. You don’t need to see the strobe to see the flash. Maybe your using the wrong strobe.

I can think of all sorts of situations where a strobe 5-15' foot off the bottom in the water column is a great idea.

It's not always life or death if you make it back to the anchor line, sometimes it's a convienence. I've dove even in Nassau sometimes the water is just cloudy enough and the bottom is feature less enough that a strobe would be perfect. Bonaire, Curacao - mark where you go over the wall.

To get the full 360 effect, the thing has to be standing up - laying on it's side loses half the value. Half value inside a wreck is fine, outside in a big area, it could easily be better.

 

[stuartv]

Apologies to the OP I assumed he was marking an entry and swimming a guide line, wreck or some underwater feature where he had to return the way he went in. My mistake.

Let me explain again the example I gave in post #24, in more detail.

I was doing a night dive in the Bahamas. The dive site depth was 25'. The site is called Smuggler's Plane, which is where an airplane crashed. It's somewhat of a debris field in the middle of an otherwise featureless bottom of seagrass and sand.

They boat staff hung a strobe on the anchor line so that it was 10 or 15' off the bottom.

The anchor was close enough to the wreck site that you could see the site from the anchor itself. But, if you were on the wreck, it could be difficult to see the anchor laying off in the grass.

The anchor line stretched off into the distance. By the time it got to 10 or 15' from the bottom, it was a fair ways from the wreck site. I could not see the strobe from anywhere on the wreck site itself. Maybe the strobe wasn't very good. Maybe the water was too turbid. Doesn't matter.

So, I would have liked to put a strobe on the anchor itself. If I had done so, and the strobe was, thus, laying on the bottom, I would not have been able to see it there, laying down in the grass, from a lot of areas of the wreck site. But, if it were floating 10 or 15' up from the anchor, I think I would have been able to see it from anywhere on the wreck site.

Could I have run a reel? Sure. But, that would have been overkill, in my opinion. A big pain compared to just being able to swim around the wreck site freely and easily see which direction to go when it was time to head back to the boat.

Without a reel and without a strobe (that I could see), it was not a big deal. The site was not that large. I could circumnavigate the whole site, if I had to, until I saw the anchor and chain. But, having a strobe that let me know at all times which way to the exit would have been nice. In fact, it would have saved my buddy and I from what happened, which was that my buddy was leading, and when it was time to go he swam off in the wrong direction. I thought he was going in the wrong direction, but I second guessed myself for 2 minutes or so, and followed him. We figured it out and made our way back to the anchor and then the boat. But, a strobe would have been helpful.

The other example, which I gave in the first post, was, specifically, diving for Meg teeth. 100' deep. During the dive, the current slacked. So, the link on the anchor chain that WAS 20' off the bottom dropped to the bottom itself. During the dive, you could run a reel (and most do). But, that can be a serious pain when you're also managing a scooter and a goody bag and picking up fossils. While digging, everyone stirs up the bottom, so a strobe laying on the bottom can easily be obscured from even 10' away. But, the layer that is kicked up is only in the bottom 5 to 10'. So, a strobe that is at 20' above the bottom can make it where a diver can ascend from the bottom a bit, look around, and see the strobe - where the anchor line itself might not be really visible.

You don't really get that far from the anchor line on these dives. So, you don't necessarily need to run a reel (which, as I said, can be a big pain). A strobe could make it where you can reliably see and get back to the anchor line, saving you from having to manage a reel in addition to all your other tasks. That is, IF the strobe can be assured of being up off the bottom.

 

[stuartv]

I cannot think of a single wreck below the level of the sea bed where I would have to float my strobe in the water column to see it. It only makes sense to use a strobe In darkness or poor vis and both require a reel. You don’t need to see the strobe to see the flash. Maybe your using the wrong strobe.

That is awesome that every wreck you know of has a spot where a strobe can be hung and still be visible in all directions.

I was diving the wreck of the Jodrey, up in the Saint Lawrence River in September. The "entry" was the top of the crow's nest. I hung a strobe there. But, because of the structure, there was a portion of the strobe's light that was blocked by the crow's nest structure itself. So, depending on where you were on the wreck, your view of the strobe could be blocked by some portion of the structure that it was hung on.

If I had been able to clip it and let it float up, I think it would have had visibility from 360 degrees.

The "down line" to get to the crow's nest was actually a rope running down a wall. When you get to the end of that rope, it is tied to a log on the wall. From there, you turn around 180 degrees and, on a decent viz day, you can see directly away from the wall and see the crow's nest to swim over to it. I could have hung a strobe on the rope there, on the wall. But, the distance from the wreck was enough that, once you got away from the crow's nest, elsewhere on the wreck, it would be that much further to the strobe, so that much harder to see. Or, another way of looking at it, that much distance that you would have to be closer to the exit before you could see the strobe.

But, that is just one example. Maybe all the other wrecks have a better spot for hanging a strobe.

 

[Celt]

That is awesome that every wreck you know of has a spot where a strobe can be hung and still be visible in all directions.

I was diving the wreck of the Jodrey, up in the Saint Lawrence River in September. The "entry" was the top of the crow's nest. I hung a strobe there. But, because of the structure, there was a portion of the strobe's light that was blocked by the crow's nest structure itself. So, depending on where you were on the wreck, your view of the strobe could be blocked by some portion of the structure that it was hung on.

If I had been able to clip it and let it float up, I think it would have had visibility from 360 degrees.

The "down line" to get to the crow's nest was actually a rope running down a wall. When you get to the end of that rope, it is tied to a log on the wall. From there, you turn around 180 degrees and, on a decent viz day, you can see directly away from the wall and see the crow's nest to swim over to it. I could have hung a strobe on the rope there, on the wall. But, the distance from the wreck was enough that, once you got away from the crow's nest, elsewhere on the wreck, it would be that much further to the strobe, so that much harder to see. Or, another way of looking at it, that much distance that you would have to be closer to the exit before you could see the strobe.

But, that is just one example. Maybe all the other wrecks have a better spot for hanging a strobe.

Understood thanks, were just using totally different systems. If I’m going down a shot I have a sliding counter weight on the float which can slide down to pick up the slack an keep the rope standing. If it’s a mooring I take up the slack to suit the state of the tide and if using a grapple first diver down ties it in and the slack is taken up. I’ll always tie the strobe to the down line and clip in the reel below it if there’s any danger of not seeing it. I’d imagine any high density foam would float it depending on the depth.

 

[Celt]

I can think of all sorts of situations where a strobe 5-15' foot off the bottom in the water column is a great idea.

It's not always life or death if you make it back to the anchor line, sometimes it's a convienence. I've dove even in Nassau sometimes the water is just cloudy enough and the bottom is feature less enough that a strobe would be perfect. Bonaire, Curacao - mark where you go over the wall.

To get the full 360 effect, the thing has to be standing up - laying on it's side loses half the value. Half value inside a wreck is fine, outside in a big area, it could easily be better.

Yep miss understood what was been asked. For me not getting to my boat means a long swim so would never risk not getting back. And would never risk putting my strobe anywhere but on my route back

 

[Gareth J]

In the 'old days', we used to carry drop SMB's.
A small weight with 6m of line wrapped round it, and a DSMB attached at the other end of the line. Simple to use, drop the weight the line unspools, add air to the DSMB, send it up, let the line slide through your fingers.

You could adapt this, a small float connected to the strobe, a line and a weight, all coiled up. Pull it out of your pocket, turn on the strobe, drop the weight on the bottom, and let the line spool out. Hey ho, job done.
At the end of the dive, wrap the line around the weight, pop it back in your pocket and job's a good un.

It only needs a small amount of buoyancy to support the strobe, and a small weight (couple of large bolts or similar) to hold it in place (or clip it to the anchor).

 

[Gareth J]

Following my previous post.

Its reasonably standard practice in the UK to put a lift bag on the shot.
At the end of the dive, air is added to the lift bag to 'help' with the shot recovery. Normally, you don't fully inflate the lift bag. As you lift it, the air expands, making it positively buoyant, or at least it displaces some of the weight.

You could adapt this, pop a puff of air in the lift bag so its sits up above the shot/anchor, and can be seen, even potentially add a bit of line to let it sit a meter or two above the shot. Then pull it back down at the end of the dive to secure it normally.

 

[SavDiver]

I personally use a high density closed cell foam to make objects neutral in the water. Attached is what I personally use. I have never had an issue with it and even at 115 feet it did an excellent job for my lights and other accessories.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XGLSFP8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1