On November 26 I practiced deploying the SMB again. Sorry for the darkness of part of the video.
It was good enough to provide the desired feedback, no sweat!
I had my knees on the bottom at about 30fsw to make things a bit easier
Cheater!
I did not have to deal with neutral buoyancy.
IMO, that is
THE trick to honing your SMB deployment skills. When you can deploy your SMB while neutrally buoyant AND maintain the buoyancy throughout, then you are skilled! I learned the hard way to always carry an SMB. I have a Zeagle that goes with me everywhere. It is a pain because it only has a fill tube (you can't use your regulator) AND it doesn't have a pressure release, so you have to figure out how much air it takes at depth to have it satisfactorily filled at surface. I use it because it forces me to work on these skills.
It went well until I have to decide how much air to put inside the SMB.
This will come with practice, practice and more practice! At 30' judging by what I saw at the end of the video, you probably put in about 1/2 - 2/3 of what was needed. Keep in mind that you'll have to speed up the filling a little if you want it "full" otherwise you'll be dragged along until it is full enough to release!
The deeper you release the SMB (obviously) the less air you need. Consequently, it is a little easier to release the SMB from depth. Additionally, it does give you a little more leeway if you lose neutral buoyancy for a moment or 2.
How can I prevent from being pulled up by the SMB?
To help maintain my buoyancy while filling the SMB this is what I do:
Can you alter your buoyancy with breath control? If so, then try exhaling slowly while filling the SMB and then as you release it, you can begin inhaling. So try and get your filling time down to a breath cycle and use your breath "buoyancy control" to offset the SMB. Does that make sense?
I wouldn't release the spool like I did when I was planted on the bottom. Do I have to keep pulling the string down while ascending in the attempt to keep the SMB vertical at the surface?
I noticed that you remembered to check "overhead" a little late. This is something I have to
remember on purpose because I get focused on what skills are critical during deployment: buoyancy and not getting my finger stuck in that stupid little spool!!!! Again, practice will help.
ON keeping your SMB vertical: Some are more prone to vertical through design, others, quite frankly, are problematic. Keep in mind that an SMB is not a flag. If you want a consistent vertical marker, use a flag. We use an SMB to mark our location to others that
know we are in the water and are keeping an eye out for us
while we are underwater. Once on the surface, the SMB can be raised and waved to get the attention of others.
