Red or Yellow or Orange DSMBs

[UaVaj]

What is the best color for maximum visibility for a large safety sausage buoy at the surface.
(yes - you do want to be seen and pickup/rescue)

Please list your color choice and (must list) your reasoning.

I go first: IMHO. (1) Red offer best visibility from a horizontal view (the boat) because the 80% of the view area will be the sky. Red give better contrast to a light light blue sky. Yellow blends too much with the light light blue sky. (2) Yellow offer best visibility from a vertical view (the rescue chopper) becuase 80% of the vew area will be the water. Yellow obviously give a "brighter" contrast against the blue water. (3) Orange is between both Red and Yellow. Perhap this is the best of both.

 

[dtownsend2000]

Red. Best visibility from the boat would be my primary concern.

 

[TMHeimer]

Orange. Only one the shop had. Poor reason, I was a newbie.

 

[Texasguy]

I have one that is neon orange on one side, neon green on the other.

 

[OldNSalty]

Anecdotal evidence suggest pink would be best and I am not kidding.

Growing up where I did we would do a lot of surf fishing and anyone who has tried surf casting knows that while you can get some very impressive cast out beyond the breakers with the right rod, reel and technique it will only get you so far. One day my dad and his buddies decided to try and drift the bait out using a balloon. They figured out a knot that would drop the bait with just a tug of the rod and over several weekends they tried different colored balloons on out going tides.

With uncalibrated eyeballs, a sample size of 5 or 6 people and not bothering to record light or sea conditions they collectively concluded that pink balloons against the ocean could be seen from the greatest distance. It was an uncomfortable conclusion for a rough bunch of hard-core fishermen but there you have it. Paint your sausage pink.

The results of that summer's test have always stayed with me but my SMB is orange, cause it is the only color the DAN model came in. I did look for a pink one for my wife

 

[jonnythan]

My ocean SMB is orange on one side and neon green on the other. I've seen both colors on the water from some distance and the bright orange seemed to be visible from farther away. The green fades into white a little bit and red is a little dark.

 

[ajduplessis]

Red btw is not the best color for surface markers, orange and yellow have better visual properties. I also believe that pink as mention is a great but not used in diving.

Some skipper here will not allow any red markers on their boats for tech dives. Markers have to be at least six tall in yellow (normal) or orange (diver in trouble).

---------- Post Merged at 09:50 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:50 PM ----------

Red btw is not the best color for surface markers, orange and yellow have better visual properties. I also believe that pink as mention is a great but not used in diving.

Some skipper here will not allow any red markers on their boats for tech dives. Markers have to be at least six tall in yellow (normal) or orange (diver in trouble).

 

[Edward3c]

The UK Health & Safety Executive commissioned a study by the Heriot-Watt University, on “Diver Emergency Surface Location Devices”, see here, however, a summary by the UK Diver magazine is here.

 

[RonFrank]

I think ANY color you have is better than not having an SMB. I have used mine for real and it worked well. Ours was seen a mile from the boat easily, actually we were initially 1/4 mile from the boat but those darn currents!

They do not make them in red that I have seen. They come in Orange or/and yellow. Orange is more common and what most dive shops carry.

Carrying an SMB is critical and should be a requirement. We lost two divers on the Grove once and required a helicopter to find them. No SS. If they had SS's we would have been doing the second dive and joking about it. It was my last dive day and was a crummy way to end it. It turned out OK but was very stressful for a couple hours. Always have a Safety Sausage when diving in the Ocean.

 

[soltari675]

The one I have is orange on one side and yellow on the other.