What do you guys think of this reel?

[José Teles Reis]

I recently bought this mcmahon compact smb dive reel. It cost me 60 euros (not a very good price, they usually go for 46-50).
I bought it from my instructor because I didn't feel like going through all the hassle of ordering, credit cards and shipping.
It has 50 m of line and im just planning on using it to launch my smb or as guideline during low visibility dives... was it an overkill? My instructors kept warning me that you can get tangled in a spool.. so I decided to go with a reel.
I was also wondering if it fits the standards of wreck penetration diving.

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• José Teles Reis
• Nov 2, 2016

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• José Teles Reis
• Nov 2, 2016

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• José Teles Reis
• Nov 2, 2016

 

[_Ralph]

You can just as easily get as tangled in a reel .....


What are your usual dives? Depth?

All boat dives, or shore?



Anchored boat dives, sure a line is nice to come back to the anchor with, if you can't see it. Extremely important if there is no way for the boat to come pick you up somewhere's else.

Shore .... Take a compass bearing, unless there is some feature preventing such an activity...


_R

 

[CptTightPants21]

50m of line means it has 167ft.

In the ocean, you want a line length 1.5x the max depth because the current may take the smb as it ascends/is on the surface.167ft puts it just right for most recreational level dives.

For wreck, it is probably too short. I dive with 400ft LM Primary and I would consider 400ft to be the ideal and/or minimum length (some people like the 800ft). On a broken up wreck or even something with a good size about her, 50m is nothing.

Just two weeks ago I was diving a large, but broken up wreck and used up my entire 400ft reel, which caused me to head back.

To a search on this site for wreck reels/what people bring. You will get a good collection of what people are using and why.

 

[José Teles Reis]

You can just as easily get as tangled in a reel .....


What are your usual dives? Depth?

All boat dives, or shore?



Anchored boat dives, sure a line is nice to come back to the anchor with, if you can't see it. Extremely important if there is no way for the boat to come pick you up somewhere's else.

Shore .... Take a compass bearing, unless there is some feature preventing such an activity...


_R

I'm going for my advanced open water at the end month for now, 18 meters is the average max. depth of my dives.
All of my dives are boat dives since here in Sesimbra, Portugal there are no shore dives.

 

[José Teles Reis]

50m of line means it has 167ft.

In the ocean, you want a line length 1.5x the max depth because the current may take the smb as it ascends/is on the surface.167ft puts it just right for most recreational level dives.

For wreck, it is probably too short. I dive with 400ft LM Primary and I would consider 400ft to be the ideal and/or minimum length (some people like the 800ft). On a broken up wreck or even something with a good size about her, 50m is nothing.

Just two weeks ago I was diving a large, but broken up wreck and used up my entire 400ft reel, which caused me to head back.

To a search on this site for wreck reels/what people bring. You will get a good collection of what people are using and why.

Thanks for the reply! wow 400 ft.. I was just wondering if it was a good investment or not, since my diving education doesn't allow me to do wreck penetration. But it is on my bucket list !

 

[eelnoraa]

For the purpose of shooting SMB, this is over kill. A spool with 100ft or so line is more than good enough. You won't shoot SMB at 100ft for a rec level dive

 

[joe10540]

For the purpose of shooting SMB, this is over kill. A spool with 100ft or so line is more than good enough. You won't shoot SMB at 100ft for a rec level dive

Why not? When I do drift dives and I need to surface before the rest of the group I'll shoot a SMB before starting my ascent so that the SMB shows up by the bouy and I know the chase boat sees it then it's a matter of follow the line to the surface. This is just my preference and I know that I could always just follow the line up but this way if the SHTF I know the boat knows where I am.

 

[OMANDIVER]

It's fine and is a well used BSAC reel because in the UK you have to be able to launch a DSMB from mid water not just from 5 metres. They sell them off their website. Fine for wreck.

 

[Freewillow]

It's fine, I have seen it used by a divemaster in French Polynesia. The lenght is also appropriate for later usage, when you will go down to 40m. For reck penetration, you are on the short side with 50m.

Now when it comes ton entaglements. The frequency of it is a question of luck and user's skill. But I would tend to say that a spool offers MUCH less chances to get entaglement. The reels have a ratched mecanism and much more parts that can interfer with the line. So that part of what your instructor told you is not correct, in my opinion.

 

[DevonDiver]

It's pretty hard to tangle with a spool. Actually it's near impossible. You'd tangle yourself in slack, but you wouldn't tangle the spool. There's literally nothing TO tangle on a spool.

Of course, you need to know the right technique for DSMB deployment and/or guideline use. Don't allow slack and don't let free line go anywhere near you... that's most of it....whether spools or reels.

Many reels, on the other hand, are very easy to tangle. A little slack and line can get everywhere, snarling the reel up. The worst reels can't even be untangled en-situ underwater.

Be wary of seeking equipment fixes to skills problems. DSMB and guideline deployment is ALL about having practiced an optimal technique.

I think DSMB deployment is one of the most overlooked skills in diving. I'm routinely amazed by how some divers, even very experienced divers or instructors, are so awfully bad at it.

A 40m spool covers most options for recreational diving. You wouldn't penetrate a wreck beyond that distance... and most DSMB deployments won't be from the outer limits of no-stop diving.

Pretty much the ONLY scenarios that'd demand a larger capacity reel are:

1. If you needed to reel UP from a wreck, without drifting. In those scenarios, a 50m mini-reel wouldn't help you much. You'd need something higher capacity and with a thicker gauge line.

2. If you wanted to run a guideline across an open-water site for navigation or search purposes. In reality, that'd be a rare event and the conditions would have to be diabolical. This is where a full-size cave reel, side-handle design, would be needed.

Spools are also a great idea because they're cheap (or should be... unless you want to buy these stupid 'luxury' spools). Low cost makes them dispensible. Divers have been hurt/killed before because of bad decision making based on not wanting to abandon expensive reels.