Where do I put my (D)SMB?

[Dan]

When conditions permit, I like to lock my reel and just let it hang in front of me, not even touching it.

May be I just have been lucky to only launch my DSMB twice in all 600 dives excluding during checkout / practice dives at the beginning of the dive trip. So, it’s just there in my BCD pocket doing mostly nothing other than getting wet. Most of the time we don’t need it as the skiff will be up there waiting for us or we go up & down on anchor / mooring line or just following DM / guide like herd of manatees.

 

[Kevrumbo]

The way we drift dive in Indonesia is the skiff follow bubbles & meeting plan of end point agreed upon by DM & skiff crew. DM would check the current speed by free diving into the water and estimate the current speed before letting us all back rolling into the water. If the current speed is more than 2-3 knots, he’ll say let’s find another site around the island for milder current. I haven’t get lost at sea in 12 years of diving this way (knock on wood).

1. I only need to waste the last 3 out of 60 minutes (5%) of my dive for the safety stop. After 12 years of diving, logging 600 dives, I rarely see anything interesting during safety stop. More importantly, I want to make sure that I will stay on the safety stop depth range during the last 3 minutes of my dive.

4. . . I have no need to deploy mine at any deeper than 20 feet deep.

@Dan_T, you'll find in Palau, especially on the Peleliu Express dive site, the currents will "bifurcate" or potentially split-off into two different directions between the depths and the surface. Worst case you can be separated in fighting a down current going towards the West, while the dive skiff is tracking bubbles or picking up divers drifting in the currents heading Southwest/South. See this great dive site illustration of the Peleliu Express -->the wall/drift dive starts from right to left, roughly Northeast going towards the Southwest/South. Where divers get in trouble is at the end as the wall deceptively deepens quickly from 18m to over 33m, and the current carries you across the plateau and then a downcurrent over the West Wall into the abyss (which is why don't delay when the Dive Guides emphatically gesture to the group to quickly kick out away from the wall into blue water and start the ascent to the safety stop).

After escaping the downcurrent, you have to deploy your DSMB and spool as quickly as possible -and it may entail launching it from as deep as 15 to 21 meters- so the dive skiff crew can quickly spot & track you early so you won't drift too far out of sight as you complete your safety stop.

And honestly Dan, just get a 30m line length spool and combination oral/LP hose inflatable SMB to replace your current set-up. . .

 

[Dan]

@Dan_T, you'll find in Palau, especially on the Peleliu Express dive site, the currents will "bifurcate" or potentially split-off into two different directions between the depths and the surface. Worst case you can be separated in fighting a down current going towards the West, while the dive skiff is tracking bubbles or picking up divers drifting in the currents heading Southwest/South. See this great dive site illustration of the Peleliu Express -->the wall/drift dive starts from right to left, roughly Northeast going towards the Southwest/South. Where divers get in trouble is at the end as the wall deceptively deepens quickly from 18m to over 33m, and the current carries you across the plateau and then a downcurrent over the West Wall into the abyss (which is why don't delay when the Dive Guides emphatically gesture to the group to quickly kick out away from the wall into blue water and start the ascent to the safety stop).

After escaping the downcurrent, you have to deploy your DSMB and spool as quickly as possible -and it may entail launching it from as deep as 15 to 21 meters- so the dive skiff crew can quickly spot & track you early so you won't drift too far out of sight as you complete your safety stop.

And honestly Dan, just get a 30m line length spool and combination oral/LP hose inflatable SMB to replace your current set-up. . .

Thanks for the tip. I’ll be there in 2 months (December 24-31, 2017) with Palau Aggressor II. I heard about Peleliu Express with fast current that can rip your mask right off your face if you turn side way instead of facing up square towards the current. I’ll definitely get different DSMB as you suggested. When you are in Roma, you need to do like the Romans do. I got mine from Mermaid Liveaboards | Liveaboard Scuba Diving Vacations | Hammerhead Indonesia when I went with them to Komodo, which certainly has plenty current dive sites there like Shotgun, but nothing like Peleliu Express.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Yeah @Dan_T (and @Dogbowl ), pre-configure a spool/DSMB as in the video, and store in a pair of Pocket Neoprene Shorts (along with your Reef Hook @Dan_T , and the rest of your contingency gear). Don't clip it off externally on a D-ring where it can potentially unravel while flapping around in the drift current.

 

[Storker]

I have mine clipped to a reel on my right side pocket d-ring. I have knots tied every five feet on the top twenty feet of line. It's been a little while, but I am pretty sure I am double knotted at 15', so I can use it as a depth gauge for my safety stop (and not focus on my computer).

I prefer a spool since it stows easier than a reel, but to each their own.

And like @Dan_T, I'm not a fan of knots on the line. Besides, they can be pretty hard to feel with thick gloves. I've used a black marker pen on the line at 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10m. One narrow mark at 1m, two at 2m, three at 3m. One wide mark at 5m, two wide at 10m. If the vis is so bad that I can't see a black mark on a white line, I prefer to call the dive.

 

[KenGordon]

How a DSMB is used varies a lot with the local conditions. All these people with 20ft of string in a little pouch with a little DSMB would be stuffed coming up from a 30 or 40m wreck having been asked to deploy from the wreck by the skipper. He or she asks that so that the chances of missing anyone are reduced. Sometimes they might ask for one per diver. Personally I take at least a spool and a proper sized DSMB, even for easy blue water diving. It fits into a pocket. Worst way it clips to a chest D ring and danlgles a few inches.

 

[DanielRJones]

How a DSMB is used varies a lot with the local conditions. All these people with 20ft of string in a little pouch with a little DSMB would be stuffed coming up from a 30 or 40m wreck having been asked to deploy from the wreck by the skipper. He or she asks that so that the chances of missing anyone are reduced. Sometimes they might ask for one per diver. Personally I take at least a spool and a proper sized DSMB, even for easy blue water diving. It fits into a pocket. Worst way it clips to a chest D ring and danlgles a few inches.

Couldn't get on with a spool found a reel but easier.
I carry a spool and a spair smb in my drysuit pocket but my main is as pictured earlier with 75m of reel. Wife carries exactly the same but on a 50m reel

 

[Dan]

Yeah @Dan_T (and @Dogbowl ), pre-configure a spool/DSMB as in the video, and store in a pair of Pocket Neoprene Shorts (along with your Reef Hook @Dan_T , and the rest of your contingency gear). Don't clip it off externally on a D-ring where it can potentially unravel while flapping around in the drift current.

Just bought this today for the Palau trip, including low pressure hose with quick connector so I don’t need to orally inflate the sausage. I can also mark the yellow line with black Sharpie marker at 15 ft length.

 

[Storker]

Choosing a dSMB size and design is always a trade-off. A larger sausage is more visible on the surface. OTOH, you risk not inflating it enough, particularly if you shoot it from rather shallow depths. A smaller sausage is easier to inflate properly with just one or two breaths, but it'll be less visible on the surface. An open-bottom dSMB is easy to inflate with your secondary, while a closed-bottom dSMB won't keel over on the surface. Inflating the sausage orally has its issues, as has inflating with your secondary, as has inflating with an LP hose.

As always in life, TANSTAAFL.

 

[DanielRJones]

I got one with a bottom inflate but has a non return flap so you can fill it but have to pull the dump to let air out. It also has the oral/lp inflate.