SMB color preference?

[PerroneFord]

I'm currently looking to buy an SMB. Anyone got thoughts on quality ones? I hear the Carters are very nice. I saw a new one put out by Manta at a show last week. Some nice features.

I didn't like the Dive Rite one all that much, and I used a Halcyon one a few weeks ago and that was ok. I guess I ought to be thinking of getting two referencing this discussion.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[jagfish]

Have a close look at the Carters.

Very durable, lots of sizes. Open circuit with oral inflate is a big plus.

 

[*Floater*]

I'm currently looking to buy an SMB. Anyone got thoughts on quality ones? I hear the Carters are very nice. I saw a new one put out by Manta at a show last week. Some nice features.

I didn't like the Dive Rite one all that much, and I used a Halcyon one a few weeks ago and that was ok. I guess I ought to be thinking of getting two referencing this discussion.

Thanks for your thoughts.

The one I have is an orange Carter PF-30. It's semi-closed so I can fill it with a second stage, but also has a small oral inflation tube, an OPV, and small d-ring at the top to attach a marker light to on for night dives (I use a glo-toob). It's also small enough to fit in my thigh pocket with a spool attached. Before this one I used to use one that could only be inflated orally, and I don't think I can go back to it (the carter belongs to my gf). Plus another person I was diving with lost two bags on our dives (they got ripped when shot up), so he probably ended up paying more than I in the long run. I'd prefer orange color because yellow is sometimes used to signal a problem, but since Carter doesn't produce orange ones anymore I might just get a yellow one and hope no one gets confused.

 

[ba_hiker]

I'm currently looking to buy an SMB. Anyone got thoughts on quality ones? I hear the Carters are very nice. I saw a new one put out by Manta at a show last week. Some nice features.
Thanks for your thoughts.

I was diving in Monterey with a dive buddy that used halcion, while I used my carter bag. He, a well respected local tech diver, was reaonably impressed by my bag (as much as a bag can be impressive...). It was easier to inflate (oraly) than the halcion, bigger reflective area and d ring for a glow tube.

Only down side is you can't inflate it from a dry suit inflator hose (but thats why it easier oraly). He also didn't like the semi-open bottom which allows inflating from below with a regulator, but on the surface when it was horizonal, it did not loose any air (nor could you get the water out through the bottom).

I found carter to be a joy to deal with too.

 

[M_B]

oh, boy $140 for a long sausage with 2 colors?!
I'm getting old...

I've been looking at one DAN introduced - http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/catalog/products/641-1000.html

anyone has it ? How do you like/dislike it ?
thank you.

 

[MarkUK]

You are right, in some circles over here in the UK (usually the technical fraternity), orange or red is a standard deco blob and yellow indicates some problem (low gas, out of gas, etc), however it is not across the board.

The problem is that our RNLI and Coastguard did a test of all the different DSMBs, flags, etc, on the market and found – by a long shot – that yellow shows up far better to searchers than orange or red, so it is now just a case of getting this across to the manufacturers – and the tech boys perhaps swapping what the colours mean so they use the brighter, more-visible colour as a standard DSMB.

Mark

 

[Doc Harry]

Somewhere on this board there was a link to a British site that reviewed sea rescue equipment.

They found that yellow markers stand out much better than red as mentioned above. Something to consider.

 

[Diver Dennis]

That is very true about the yellow ones. All of the boat captains I've talked to said they are much easier to see. I have my name printed on mine because I solo a lot and they can tell it's me when there are several boats in the area.