SMB or LB?

[mempilot]

I currently carry a 60# Orange Halcyon CC Lift Bag. I use it for a drift ascent line, emergency upline, additional surface flotation in rough seas, etc... I now want to add an addtional bag as a backup and for using to communicate with the boat crew. Should I carry a SMB and a bag, and should the second bag/SMB be yellow? Is there a standard protocal for using one vs the other and one color vs. the other? To date, I have let the captain and DM know if I was planning on deploying the bag and for what reason. If they saw it and I hadn't planned on using it, they then knew something wasn't right. But with two bags of differenct styles or colors, I was planning on one being for normal use and one for emergency comm. Any suggestions?

 

[Scubaroo]

Yellow is standard colour for "emergency" signal devices in parts of the world.

 

[String]

Yellow is normally the "Oh sh*t" bag or "NEED MORE GAS NOW" bag.

However it isnt a standardised concept so if you are going to use a yellow bag it'd be nice to brief the surface cover if it was a normal indicator or a "i need air" alarm.

We've had to respond to a yellow bag exactly once. It all worked out OK but thats because we we knew what was needed when the yellow instead of orange bag appeared. Obviously if there hadnt been a brief an unfamiliar boat captain may consider it normal, do nothing while the diver below is running out of gas.

 

[mempilot]

I now use an orange SMB for the primary deco hang, and an orange LB for the backup. I brief the boat crew that if they see the SMB or LB with a slate hanging from it, there is a problem written on it.

 

[Scubaroo]

Any reason you didn't go with the yellow?

 

[mempilot]

I use the SMB for normal deco because of the visibility. I use the LB for salvage and backup for the SMB. My LB was already orange, and I wanted an SMB. If I had bought a yellow SMB, then I wouldn't be able to use it for primary deco. Unless I start carrying another SMB that's yellow, this will be it for now.