What do u do with a lift bag
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...maybe get someone to show you once or twice and then practice..
SueMermaid
Guest
Seeing that thing in murky water woulda scared the crap out of me!
Nice find. I trust you summoned the Smithsonian when you found him?
I carry a 100 lb Carter lift bag rolled up and strapped to the side of my tank with surgical tubing. It occasionally gets used for lifting things like anchors and stainless steel props that are not convenient or safe to bring up attached to you. But it is primarily there, along with a saftey reel, for use in case I cannot locate an ascent line and need to do a decompression or saftey stop. It's much easier to shoot a lift bag and hang off it than it is to maintain depth consitently for what can be a long period of time. It also makes it easier for the folks on the boat to keep track of you while you are on a deco or saftey stop.
In areas with current you are better off using an upline attached to something on the bottom rather than a saftey reel to keep you from drifting away from the boat while ascending. A hundred pound lift bag allows for a little more lift than a 50 lb bag and can be a real advantage in a strong current that could pull a smaller bag under on an ascent from a deep dive.
Shooting a lift bag with a saftey reel is something that requires a bit of training and practice to ensure things don't snarl and get ugly on you. Shooting a lift bag with a larger up line or Jersey reel is a little easier.
As an aside, Carter bags also have a manual dump valve with the pull at the bottom. It is a lot safer to reverse the valve and use only the 2" line on the valve to place the dump on top of the bag. It makes the bag more snag free when strapped to you tank as the pull knob is rolled inside the bag, it also gives one less thing to snag when shooting the bag and is safer if you are moving things on the bottom or dropping objects as you are above then bag when you release air to drop the object rather than under the bag.
The important thing with a lift bag is that you need to be VERY careful that it and any object you may be lifting is completley clear of you and any other divers in the water. You do not want to get drug to the surface by your lift bag - they tend to exceed accepted ascent rates by a large margin.
Also once whatever it is you are lifiting is on it's way to the surface keep your eye on it on the way up but also clear the area a bit. Swimming on your back a few yards is the best way to accomplish both at the same time. Sometimes what goes up does come down as bags occassionally burst, lines break, or air gets dumped from the bag when it surfaces and you do not want to be under it if it decides to plummet back to the bottom.
In areas with current you are better off using an upline attached to something on the bottom rather than a saftey reel to keep you from drifting away from the boat while ascending. A hundred pound lift bag allows for a little more lift than a 50 lb bag and can be a real advantage in a strong current that could pull a smaller bag under on an ascent from a deep dive.
Shooting a lift bag with a saftey reel is something that requires a bit of training and practice to ensure things don't snarl and get ugly on you. Shooting a lift bag with a larger up line or Jersey reel is a little easier.
As an aside, Carter bags also have a manual dump valve with the pull at the bottom. It is a lot safer to reverse the valve and use only the 2" line on the valve to place the dump on top of the bag. It makes the bag more snag free when strapped to you tank as the pull knob is rolled inside the bag, it also gives one less thing to snag when shooting the bag and is safer if you are moving things on the bottom or dropping objects as you are above then bag when you release air to drop the object rather than under the bag.
The important thing with a lift bag is that you need to be VERY careful that it and any object you may be lifting is completley clear of you and any other divers in the water. You do not want to get drug to the surface by your lift bag - they tend to exceed accepted ascent rates by a large margin.
Also once whatever it is you are lifiting is on it's way to the surface keep your eye on it on the way up but also clear the area a bit. Swimming on your back a few yards is the best way to accomplish both at the same time. Sometimes what goes up does come down as bags occassionally burst, lines break, or air gets dumped from the bag when it surfaces and you do not want to be under it if it decides to plummet back to the bottom.
AquaDog
Guest
and they're a very common tool. We have bags from 50 lbs. to 1,500 lbs in our vehicle. We can lift cars, small boats, small planes and helicopters.
We use spare tanks, canvas straps and chains for the big jobs.
We use spare tanks, canvas straps and chains for the big jobs.
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