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

[MXGratefulDiver]

... is it groundhog day already ???

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[davetowz]

The DSMB, I prefer SMB is not taught in most OW classes because there is already enough material there to fill up the new divers mind. These can be useful tools for many purposes besides just marking. Most make decent small liftbags (if used correctly) and practiced. Get more dives in and dive with folk who can mentor and develop you. I see references to someone you have dove with that carried one, look at what others you are diving with have on them and with them and ask about it. and the sig line.... u need to get an ice c card and a chainsaw!

 

[Cave Diver]

... is it groundhog day already ???

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Damn Bob. I've lost track of how many keyboards you've almost cost me this week.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The DSMB, I prefer SMB is not taught in most OW classes because there is already enough material there to fill up the new divers mind. These can be useful tools for many purposes besides just marking. Most make decent small liftbags (if used correctly) and practiced. Get more dives in and dive with folk who can mentor and develop you. I see references to someone you have dove with that carried one, look at what others you are diving with have on them and with them and ask about it. and the sig line.... u need to get an ice c card and a chainsaw!

Just to expand on the "if used correctly" comment ... one must be careful when using an SMB as a lift bag ... they are built differently.

Lift bags have a dump valve at the top of the bag ... because as one is ascending, the air inside the bag is expanding, and depending on what you're lifting (and how) you may need to dump air from the bag.

Most SMB's have the dump valve at the bottom of the bag ... which makes it more difficult to dump air as you ascend ... because they're really not built for that function.

For some applications using an SMB as a lift bag will work ... I've used my SMB, for example, to retrieve weight belts ... but in that case I'm not actually "lifting" the object so much as just making it light enough to be practical to carry.

BTW - it's never a good idea to just grab ahold of something and use extra air in your BCD to "lift" it ... because if you drop it, the ride to the surface can be ... exciting ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DennisS]

What's the difference between DMSB, SMB and Safety Sausage?

 

[SoccerJeni]

What's the difference between DMSB, SMB and Safety Sausage?

Yeah, I have no idea either....

 

[TSandM]

DSMB is "deployable surface marker buoy" and refers to a bag which is designed to be able to be shot from underwater. Safety Sausage is more often used to refer to a simple device which can only be inflated on the surface (having no valve or inflation stem to use underwater). "SMB" is most often used to refer to the former, but is sometimes used to refer to ANY inflatable marker buoy.

 

[DevonDiver]

You can check these on Wikipedia (which is where I went for these definitions)...

DSMB
A delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB), decompression buoy or deco buoy is similar to a surface marker buoy but is launched whilst the diver is submerged and generally only at towards the end of the dive. The buoy marks the diver's position underwater so the boat safety cover can locate the diver even though the diver may have drifted some distance from the dive site. A reel and line connect the buoy on the surface to the diver beneath the surface.

Safety Sausage

A safety sausage is a buoy used at the end of a dive, when the diver is at the surface, to indicate the diver's position to the dive boat, reducing the risk of losing contact when air, light or sea conditions decrease the visibility of the divers from the boat.The sausage is a plastic tube that is normally inflated by putting one end under water and purging the second stage underneath to inflate it. Inflated tubes are normally about 6 feet (2 m) tall. Uninflated sausages roll up and fit in a buoyancy compensator pocket.

Surface Marker Buoy

A surface marker buoy, SMB or simply a blob is an inflatable buoy used by scuba divers, with a line, to indicate the diver's position to their surface safety boat while the diver is underwater. SMBs are inflated on the surface before diving to mark the diver's position during drift dives, night dives or during poor surface conditions. The buoy lets the dive boat follow the divers and highlights their position to other boat traffic.

 

[DennisS]

So if I deploy my safety sausage at 15 ft, it becomes a DMSB. Not trying to be a smartass, I just always considered it a safety sausage

 

[DevonDiver]

It is possible to deploy a safety sausage from depth. But they are often open-ended. Also, if they are sealed/semi-closed they are often of less robust construction, which means they won't handle much air expansion beyond their volume on ascent.