Reels of death?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I remember reading something a long time ago on another chat board involving an exchange that happened between two divers about reels. There was something about shooting bags and a certain style of reel that was dangerous for some reason to use with shooting a bag. It’s been 15-18 years since I saw that and can’t remember the details. Anyway, I do remember it being called a “reel of death” similar to how they used to call bungeed wings “wings of death”.
Does anybody know what I’m talking about? Help me out.

 

[ark7750]

You got me curious. A comment I found although I have no first hand experience,,, so for what it's worth...

Do NOT buy the overcomplicated ratchet reel of death from Scubapro, though. I know at least three divers that have had to bin it as it became entangled and pulled them Polaris style to the surface, myself included.

https://www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-91138.html

 

[Centrals]

https://ww2.scubapro.com/en-GB/FRA/accessories/other-gear/products/scubapro-reel.aspx

This one?

I have seen one diver abandoned his wheel in a dive shop when the line was all tangled up in the spool many years ago.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I have one of them

No problems with it. I rarely take it out unless I'm on a deep wreck because it's bulky. It's there for I when I need to shoot a bag (dsmb) early, coming off the wreck at depth in current


The fact is, that with any locking reel there is always potential for operator error (allowing the lock to engage)

Similarly finger spools can have line tangles - of my personal favourite when someone launches their bag on a spool, forgetting that they're deeper than the amount of line they have.

All of the above will cause a sharp vertical movement, easily countered by letting go.

When using reels, spools and lift bags, practice, going slowly and paying attention to what you're doing while you're doing it are all key

 

[ChuckP]

I have one of them

View attachment 497270

No problems with it. I rarely take it out unless I'm on a deep wreck because it's bulky. It's there for I when I need to shoot a bag (dsmb) early, coming off the wreck at depth in current


The fact is, that with any locking reel there is always potential for operator error (allowing the lock to engage)

Similarly finger spools can have line tangles - of my personal favourite when someone launches their bag on a spool, forgetting that they're deeper than the amount of line they have.

All of the above will cause a sharp vertical movement, easily countered by letting go.

When using reels, spools and lift bags, practice, going slowly and paying attention to what you're doing while you're doing it are all key

I use one in the same way but it's so dang hard to wind in - am I missing something? The line loose problem I think comes from winding it in the wrong way - my opinion from experience.

I want a reel verses spool for dsmb but don't want to carry my huge reel every dive.

 

[Akimbo]

I use one in the same way but it's so dang hard to wind in - am I missing something?

No. All reels are a PITA to spool up neatly to limit the risk of binding when deployed. That's why I leave my reels on deck for most dives that don't require stops deeper than 20'/6M. I just swim up to my first stop, unwind the 1" webbing wrapped around the bag with a swirling action at the wrist, let the webbing hang below, inflate the bag, and let the webbing slide through my loose graps on the the webbing.

 

[hammet]

No. All reels are a PITA to spool up neatly to limit the risk of binding when deployed. That's why I leave my reels on deck for most dives that don't require stops deeper than 20'/6M. I just swim up to my first stop, unwind the 1" webbing wrapped around the bag with a swirling action at the wrist, let the webbing hang below, inflate the bag, and let the webbing slide through my loose graps on the the webbing.

View attachment 497381​

This is actually one of the coolest scuba 'hacks' i've seen in a while. I like this alot!

ETA: what do you do at the surface with 20' of webbing while you wait for the boat with the smb inflated?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The reel I have is a fairly large affair (but not too bad) with an aluminum frame and handle. It doesn’t have any sort of handle trigger or squeeze lever that locks the spool. It does have a small plastic threaded T bolt that you loosen to unlock the spool, then a tension knob on the side which adjusts how easy the spool spins, and a line guide with a slot that keeps the line from birdnesting.
I used to use it to shoot bags from 60-70’ and also as an exploration line on seamounts secured to the anchor so we wouldn’t lose the anchor line to our boat at those sites that were miles out to sea, similar to a cave line: to find our way back.
I don’t think this is one of those reels of death, I don’t really see how it could be.

 

[Akimbo]

ETA: what do you do at the surface with 20' of webbing while you wait for the boat with the smb inflated?

I just let it hang, it's only about 3 body lengths. I usually hand the inflated buoy and wad of webbing to crew and roll it up later. You can deflate, roll the bag, and wrap the webbing in the water if space is limited -- like on an inflatable or kayak. Either way you want to let the webbing hang in the water while wrapping it around the rolled bag so it untwists itself.

The weight of a bolt snap seems to be enough to keep the webbing from getting in the way.

 

[ajduplessis]

Reels dont kill, but the diver operating it have the possibility.