"i've got an xs scuba smb, 8' long with a 50# lift capacity. my question here is in regards to deploying it such that it stands up on the surface. anybody got any experience with this? for those that don't know about this buoy, it's got a baffle at the bottom of it, apparently to keep gas inside the marker. problem is, the buoy takes off prior to getting enough gas inside the marker to have it stand up on the surface. so what we end up with is a floppy marker on the surface.
so i guess i could a) hold onto that thing long enough to get more gas into it. dangerous and not going to do it. b) try to force the reel further down thereby putting pressure on the buoy and hopefully making it stand up. again, dangerous, screws with deco stops and don't want to do it."
Hey Erik,
I'm not familiar with that SMB, but the products I've seen with the baffles are intended to be filled from the bottom, generally using either a 2nd stage or else an SMB inflater on a low pressure hose. Point is that the one's I've seen do not have a connection on them to which a low pressure hose may directly be connected.
Does this describe yours? If so, how are you inflating yours - with a 2nd stage?
What the other guys are saying is true - you either shoot it deeper, so the gas has greater pressure variance/expands more on the way up, or else you get more gas inside it faster.
But there are two points that may help you. (I've got the Halcyon closed-circuit 6" SMB with the SOLAS tape across the top. It uses just the low-pressure hose connection.)
1. (From my experience using both types of SMBs,) a low pressure hose connection puts far more backgas into the SMB much faster than using my regulator 2nd stage. So in the same number of seconds of inflation, much more gas goes into the SMB with a direct connection. (e.g. you may want to trade out to a different SMB.)
2. The second involves a technique. (Before all you other guys accuse me of heresy or apostasy, bear with me - the technique was taught by Andrew Georgitis when he was with 5th D in Seattle, and at that time he was still training director for GUE! So cut me a little slack here, it works...) Andrew had a training exercise he called pivoting around the center of gravity. From a horizontal posture, exhale and pause, you ended up going head down 45 degrees or so, inhale and pause, you gently rose up to a 45 degree upward angle, exhale and pause again, you settle back down into a perfect horizontal posture again. The idea then was that your center of gravity didn't change depth, but you pivoted longitudinally around your COG.
I use Andrew's technique to fill SMBs.
(at least off wrecks, in the open ocean,) from the horizontal, exhale and pause, you'll drop head down. Attach the lp hose to the SMB and hold it, (inhale,) the SMB inflates, you rise to a 45 degree upwards angle, release the SMB and exhale hard, you settle back down into the horizontal. The technique gives you a few extra seconds of connection/inflation time, which - using a lp hose to inflate the SMB - seems to pretty well fill the tube. I shoot it often from depths ranging from 110' to 70', pretty moderate for what thats worth, and from those depths the SMB performs real well.
It takes much less time to execute than it does to describe it, and some of you may disagree with the technique on the grounds that you're not shooting from the horizontal, and thats okay. You're not. OTOH, it works, and it tends to fill a 6' SMB to the point that its rigid on the surface and easily seen by charter boats, and thats the objective!
Either way, one or both of these suggestions may benefit Erik.
Hope this helps,
Dive safe.
Doc
