I've never even seen a DSMB...is that weird?

[D_B]

DSMB ... AOW is where your more likely to learn about and maybe actually use one

... If you stow it well, you will more likely to take it with you every time you dive ... It's useful for signaling (shore or boat) marking your position, and as another flotation device

I always have one strapped to the backplate of my BC (along with a few other safety items)

 

[TSandM]

Well, I did not actually say that an SMB isn't ever useful on a shore dive! But I think they are far more commonly deployed when doing direct ascents to boats. They were required equipment on the dive boats we used on the trip to Florida that we just did.

 

[SoccerJeni]

Ahha...yes, I definitely see how useful it could be! Well, I hope to learn more about it when I take AOW in May

It's kind of strange though that it's not really taught in OW. I have no idea how many times I've read on this board that once you take your OW class you should be fully sufficient to plan and do a dive with your buddy and never need a divemaster (or whatever is always said), but this seems like a safety piece that could be important depending on the circumstances. Just my thoughts on the subject...

 

[diver 85]

Don't worry, it looks very similar to a SMB being deployed---


BTW, get one on your own & try it----you might like it(I'm thinking that's what most do---)

 

[TSandM]

SoccerJeni, I'm not at all surprised that SMB deployment isn't taught in OW. For most purposes of an OW diver, a sausage you can inflate on the surface is sufficient. Deploying an SMB at depth, although not a terribly difficult skill, requires solid buoyancy control, and has some definite risks (getting entangled in the line can result in an unintended and uncontrolled ascent). Most OW divers don't have enough tolerance of task loading to perform such a skill safely, at least here in Puget Sound.

 

[DevonDiver]

I've found that the use of DSMBs is very location/region specific.

In Thailand and Malaysia, most of the divemasters carry 'safety sausages' (deployed on a line (no reel) from their safety stops)...for those occasions when there was too much boat traffic at a dive sites, too many divers/dive groups already on the shot/ascent line..or if their nav fails..

I think Thailand and Malaysia represent most typical' holiday diving destinations, where the majority of recreational divers don't own a full set of kit and/or are content to rely on the divemaster/guide to 'shepherd' them safely on the dives.

In the UK, most divers carry at least one DSMB and use them on nearly every dive. High seas and strong current, plus intense boat traffic, make them virtually mandatory. So much so that PADI International introduced a standardized distinctive speciality ('SMB Diver') to provide training with them. Many instructors in the UK teach DSMB within OW & AOW courses anyway though....

That said.. most experienced divers do opt to include a DSMB and reel in their standard diving kit, regardless of where or when they dive. They acknowledge that it provides them with a variety of contingencies and can add a very real safety factor to their dives.

 

[James R]

I see threads about the DSMB things from time to time (one right now). I've never been with anyone who's deployed one, and in fact I've never even seen one. I am sitting here wondering, was that something taught in OW classes? Is it weird I've never seen it? Yes, I only have 15 dives, but I don't know if I'm behind and don't know something I should.

Thanks!

I had my SMB with us when we dove together off Robert's boat, but I kept it rolled up. We (I) would have deployed it if we would have had to make a direct ascent to the surface in the middle of the lake. I take it & a reel (or spool) on every dive I do out there.

Are you heading back down this way in 2011?

 

[SoccerJeni]

I had my SMB with us when we dove together off Robert's boat, but I kept it rolled up. We (I) would have deployed it if we would have had to make a direct ascent to the surface in the middle of the lake. I take it & a reel (or spool) on every dive I do out there.

Are you heading back down this way in 2011?

You did? You hid it from me!!! Lol!

I hope to come back down there sometime this year, yes. I have my Texas Swamp Divers card now too! I'm going to take AOW in May. And I'm hoping to move on to rescue sometime before the summer is over. If I get back down there after that you might not even recognize me underwater. Haha!

OH! And I guess in my AOW package I'll get one of them and be taught how to use it too.

 

[Cave Diver]

You did? You hid it from me!!! Lol!

If you'd only taken my advice...

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

That said.. most experienced divers do opt to include a DSMB and reel in their standard diving kit, regardless of where or when they dive.

Do most experienced divers YOU KNOW really "include a DSMB and reel in their standard diving kit" ????

How many experienced divers do you know?

How many experienced divers are there in the world?

How would any of us know if even 5% of experienced divers own one, much less take it on every dive?

What is your definition of an experienced diver?

Do cave divers carry one while cave diving?