What if...? Equipment Issues

[Kenny13]

And there it is.

Yeah, you were right about that one being implied.

 

[Jewls]

Oh, and don't drop your weights without making sure another diver isn't right below you.

Good catch!
I wasn't thinking about a diver below at the time I wrote my response. Now I'll be more aware of the situation if I do have to drop my weights.

 

[dmoore19]

Good thread

 

[Bubble_Boy]

Oh, and don't drop your weights without making sure another diver isn't right below you.

So If you do see a diver below you I guess the procedure would be to not drop your weights and descend.... then hand him your weights

 

[Kenny13]

Good catch!
I wasn't thinking about a diver below at the time I wrote my response. Now I'll be more aware of the situation if I do have to drop my weights.

Same thing for making sure no one is overhead before you deploy your SMB.

This really has been a great series of threads. I've been running through several of these scenarios in my head and Saturday I even discussed them at length with my son. Also got some good feedback on my responses from my OW instructor via email. Whenever you're new to something it's easy to get a system overload and forget or completely miss something, but I think this has been a great exercise towards thinking on the fly and preparation in general. Appreciate all the feedback from the more experienced divers here!

 

[Jewls]

Ah ha, now another thing to think about. Diver overhead while deploying SMB.

While at a safety stop I tend to look above and before ascending at a surface interval I always look up and hold my arm up over head. I would probably see the diver overhead before deploying the SMB at a safety stop (if SMB is on a reel at 15'). However my current (and not so efficient SMB as I'm learning) will have to be deployed after I reach the surface. Sure I could manually inflate it while at a safety stop, but that has proven to be a pain the you know what, as I've learned in pool practice. Plus, its not on a reel! Why didn't the LDS talk to me about this before I made a purchase???

Note for new divers without an SMB, look for one you can inflate using your regulator or alternate with a reel. Manually inflating the SMB is not an easy or efficient thing to do underwater. Practice deploying the SMB in the pool before you actually have to use it in open water.

 

[Kenny13]

Ah ha, now another thing to think about. Diver overhead while deploying SMB.

While at a safety stop I tend to look above and before ascending at a surface interval I always look up and hold my arm up over head. I would probably see the diver overhead before deploying the SMB at a safety stop (if SMB is on a reel at 15'). However my current (and not so efficient SMB as I'm learning) will have to be deployed after I reach the surface. Sure I could manually inflate it while at a safety stop, but that has proven to be a pain the you know what, as I've learned in pool practice. Plus, its not on a reel! Why didn't the LDS talk to me about this before I made a purchase???

Note for new divers without an SMB, look for one you can inflate using your regulator or alternate with a reel. Manually inflating the SMB is not an easy or efficient thing to do underwater. Practice deploying the SMB in the pool before you actually have to use it in open water.

SMB will likely be one of my next gear purchases. I figured I wanted to get more comfortable and proficient at other things before adding to the task loading. Keep in mind that I'm not doing any boat diving yet either, so I haven't been in a situation where it was a must have item.

Does your SMB have a place for attaching a line so you can deploy at depth? If so you can always just buy a finger spool.

 

[Jewls]

SMB will likely be one of my next gear purchases. I figured I wanted to get more comfortable and proficient at other things before adding to the task loading. Keep in mind that I'm not doing any boat diving yet either, so I haven't been in a situation where it was a must have item.

Does your SMB have a place for attaching a line so you can deploy at depth? If so you can always just buy a finger spool.

Most of my dives to date have been boat / ocean dives, without very much boat traffic, but I do find it a must have item so far.

My SMB has one clip to attach to my BCD. I could keep a finger spool with me in my BCD pocket, but I worry about the spool becoming tangled up before or while trying to deploy the SMB. Scenario: Untangle finger spool and wrap up again, attach SMB to finger spool, unroll SMB, manually inflate SMB (reg out of mouth, partially inflate SMB, purge reg, breath, reg out of mouth again, inflate SMB some more, purge reg, and breath), deploy SMB, then surface. Talk about task loading. The next (small) purchase for me is a SMB I can inflate while using my alternate and with at least a 50' reel (not that I think I need that much line, but I think it's pretty standard).

I purchased this type of SMB after explaining to a LDS that I would be ocean / boat diving for the first time and this is what they recommended to me. Now after 13 boat dives, I realize this really was not the best option. If they would have taken a little extra time to explain the different types of SMB's out there to me, I would have spent more money with them and have the right tool I need. Hey...on the bright side of things, at least I have a back up now :cool2:

 

[Kenny13]

Yeah, sounds to me as if they were just giving you a signaling device to be used after surfacing if needed. All of my diving to date has been either in freshwater springs or some pretty protected shore dives in saltwater. Actually they would be great places for practicing deploying an SMB from depth, but none of those are places where I would consider an SMB as a "necessary" piece of equipment.

BTW, I have seen some pretty decent videos for deploying SMB's on youtube.

 

[Jewls]

My bad...when you said finger spool I thought of these guys (Btw, these vids s/b called "How NOT to deploy your SMB"

YouTube - Surface Marker Buoy Instruction

YouTube - Use of the SMB (Dekoboje)

Now I realize, this is the finger spool you are speaking about is this...

YouTube - SCUBA: SMB Deployment

I think I've been on SB for too long and feeling a bit overloaded answering all these questions...time for a break
Sorry for veering off topic guys.