SMB Deployment Help

[howler93]

Hey all,

Having only a weeks' worth of real dives under my belt, and having just played with smb deployment, it's an art I'd like to practice and master. I've watched a ton of videos, and in particular, these two:

YouTube - SMB deployment
YouTube - SCUBA: SMB Deployment

I was wondering if anyone could shed a little more light on exactly what they're doing with the line to attach the finger spool....what type of knot are they using....a gunter-hitch or something? Anyway....obviously buoyancy control in these vids is excellent, and they keep their head up and operate by feel....lots of practice

ANy insight on the details would be greatly appreciated, as I'd love to master this skill. Also, when do people typically deploy their SMB? Should you deploy as soon as you and your buddy decide to surface, or would it be better to deploy as soon as you start a safety stop? Would that be too close to the surface? Again, any help is much appreciated.

Happy diving, folks!

Howler

 

[geoff w]

Some good info when I asked the question in http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...2377-smb-safety-sausage-deployment-depth.html

 

[g1138]

First off this video is a much better example than your first link
SMB Deployment v2

As for Spool setup, here's the links I followed to set mine up.

Video: Finger Spool Knot Set up

Uses of Finger Spool
Scroll down a quarter of the way and look for Setting Up the Line; I'd highly recommend offsetting your Jasper loops a tiny bit, it helps a ton when you're trying to work with it under water.
I'd also recommend seeing the 2 pictures below it on how to correctly connect your bolt snap to the spool itself, less you want your spool unraveling.

As for actually deploying and SMB, you can choose to connect the SMB and spool/reel together when you're deploying or have it pre connected before you jump in.
You'll want to deploy it
a) on your safety stop so the boat can see you
b) whenever doing a midwater ascent with no visual references
c) whenever the line or SMB aids you without hampering you

Personal preference starts here:
Never inflate your SMB more than a full breath. A fully inflated 6ft-40lb smb is impossible to hold upright when you're doing a neutral safety stop. It's impossible to hold upright unless your highly overweighted and fully delfated on your safety stop. Anything more than 10lbs lift capacity is hard to hold upright when neutral, unless you're overweighted and deflated. (I'm talking new diver fresh in the pool overweighted)

A 6ft-40lb fully inflated SMB will therefore sit flat in the water during your safety stop, and will be just as visible if not less than a Halcyon 3ft-6lb SMB fully inflated and held upright.

For this reason I always go for a tall skinny smb (try to get one 3-5in in flat diameter and preferably 5-6ft tall) This will give you around ~2-3 ft of SMB on the surface if you inflate it with 1 breath from 15ft. In the first linked video the diver uses half a breath for a 3ft-6lb SMB, and I've heard from a friend who passed GUE Fundies that that's enough to get it fully inflated from a safety stop (although he might have meant a 20ft safety stop).
Once on the surface, inflate fully to signal.

 

[howler93]

Thanks! This looks like excellent information. I wish I could dive into in right now, but alas, I'm at work. Thanks for all the tips!