View Full Version : dSMB back up recommendations
I'm looking for some advice from the ever knowledgable CA collective here please. :D
I'm wanting to get myself sorted out with a back-up dSMB.
Question is: do I buy a cheap & cheerful one as a back-up or do I get a fancy new one & keep my present one as the back-up?
At the moment I have an orange Buddy self-sealing SMBC & McMahon compact reel. I keep these stowed in the SMB pouch of my BC & take them on all my dives, just in case. I'm quite happy with this set up as a primary and have never had any problems deploying it... yet ;)
I'm tempted to just buy a cheap back-up blob and use it with a finger spool that I have (would be easy to keep this in a pocket). I would only take this with me on boat dives or deeper shore dives. But the thing is, if I'm in the position of having to use a back-up, is it a good idea for it to be a cheapish one? Are there any cheap ones that you would recommend? What about this one from Go Dive @ £5.99? http://www.godive.net/gdsmb.htm
http://www.godive.net/tn/gdsmb.jpg
The other alternative that I'm thinking of is to buy a new self-inflating Buddy SMBCi with crack bottle. Would then take that with me on deeper dives (attached to D ring) and just leave my existing SMBc in its pouch to act as a back up. Can I really justify the expense?
http://www.godive.net/prdpic/smbci250.jpg
Whatever set up I go with, I will practise deploying both primary & secondary systems regularly so that neither is too alien to me.
What do you lot think please? What sort of dSMB set up do you use?
Hi Charlie,
I have a cheap one (and a Buddy selfsealing). The cheap one works and even keeps some air when at the surface. However it is a pain to deploy!!!!
Here are my 2p:
When I have to rely on a backup, I assume that something went wrong. So, I need a backup which is readily available and easy to deploy (your life can depend on it:eek: ). I would go for the Buddy SMBi with crack bottle (is on my wishlist anyway...) . And I would take the smaller bottle, which is more than enough for one fill.
Lars
Good feedback, Lars: thanks. :D
Yeah, I suppose having to use a secondary blob means that more time has been spent down there than might have been planned. Depending on the depth you were at, the deco time and certainly air consumption would be marching on. Best to have something that's easy to deploy as a back-up rather than fannying about with guiding air through tiny baffles etc.
I agree with you that the smaller crack bottle should be quite sufficient. Why do they offer the bigger bottles I wonder? (If a 0.1 L bottle was filled to 200 bar, that makes 20 L if used at the surface or effectively 40 L by the time it surfaces if deployed at 10m: surely that would fill the SMB?) Maybe they offer the 0.2L bottle so that it can used twice without refilling, although that involves shutting the valve off before letting it fly. I think that if I had one I'd just open it up & let it go up. There is a risk of water ingress with that method though. :eek:
Is yellow not the standard colour for a back up, signifying help im in the brown smelly stuff.....................
Is yellow not the standard colour for a back up, signifying help im in the brown smelly stuff.....................Thanks, g.
I just want a spare red one in case my reel jams or something and the circumstances dictate that dSMB deployment is advised.
I can't see myself within the foreseeable future getting into the sort of deco diving where I'd need to communicate that I need cylinders passed down. In that case, I would probably carry 2 red & 1 yellow methinks. I wouldn't want to send up a yellow one unless there was something actually wrong (rather than just a simple jam).
Deep Seeker
29-03-07, 21:28
I agree with Lars on the crack bottle... but not so much because you're dive might have been extended but more to do with the fact that if you have two DSMBs and one has a crack bottle (primary or secondary) then at least, if for some very unfortunate reason you are low on gas with plenty of deco required, you can fire one off without jepordising your own air supply.
That's my 2p anyway....
Cheers
Nick
I have a red/orange one as the main and a yellow one as back up.
I tend only to carry the one but if I think it worth it this is how i use them.
If I send up the red all is good, if they see a half inflated red on the surface with a reel dangling off it.... then they don't worry about the yellow appearing :o
If the yellow comes up alone, then something is not going to plan... may be a little something, may be a big something, you'll find out when I get up! Don't start panicking/calling the coastguard etc, but watch my smb and be prepared for the unusual and ready to do things quickly if need be.
If red comes up the yellow joins it on the same line then it's a gas request! Please send gas, or a diver with gas to me... and trust me, if you get that signal from me outside of practice/training then the brown stuff has hit the fan, gone for some mates and hit it all over again :eek:
Cox should be prepping O2, clearing his deck, recalling any other divers and generally preparing to do some incident management...
So that's why I carry a different coloured second smb. I can use it to signal a number of things, or just for when I c**k up a deployment. Much more useful than just a duplicate :)
Smudge (who hopes never to have to put most of the above into practice!)
I agree with Lars on the crack bottle... but not so much because you're dive might have been extended but more to do with the fact that if you have two DSMBs and one has a crack bottle (primary or secondary) then at least, if for some very unfortunate reason you are low on gas with plenty of deco required, you can fire one off without jepordising your own air supply.
That's my 2p anyway....
Cheers
Nick
or you could just fill it with your exhaust air ;) but don't tell the training officer I said that :eek: :D
cheers, that makes a lot of sense. :cool:
agree with smudge.
my back-up is a yellow narket at 60 Co2 inflatable.
i wouldnt even waste my exhaust if i could use them for oral inflation/buoyancy.
but i hope i never end up in that situation.
Sound advice.
Where did you get the Narked@60 SMB, stewart? Direct from the manufacturer? Is it easy to get cheap replacement CO2 cylinders for it? Am I right in thinking that if the cylinder didn't fire, you can use alternate inflation methods for it?
I was also looking at the Aquatec CO2 SMB which I know you can use cheap generic cylinders with. Don't think that it allows alternate inflation though. :eek:
Anyone know what the Kent Tooling CO2 SMB is like?
Cheers for the feedback, guys: knew that I could rely on you lot! :D
i got mine from this guy,
he only has about 9 left for sale.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320077445375&rd=1&rd=1
this might be helpfull :)
SMB & reels (http://www.finstrokes.com/scuba_kit/smb.html)
i got mine from this guy,
he only has about 9 left for sale.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320077445375&rd=1&rd=1
Great link: thanks! So you can fill it with a LP hose then? Is that a standard Apeks fitting? Is that quite easy to do: I've never seen one of these in the flesh? I presume there's no way that your hose could get stuck to the buoy as it ascends? :eek: Can you also fill those ones by exhaust gas or by a reg?
100 questions today... sorry!
this might be helpfull :)
SMB & reels (http://www.finstrokes.com/scuba_kit/smb.html)
:D :D
it has an apex fitting so you can inflate it with an LP hose.
the fitting is smoothe shanked so the hose cannot lock on to it.
no chance of it jamming on the hose, you have to push it to make the connection.
if you let go, the bag takes off.
you cant use your reg or exhaust to fill it.
Co2 catradges can be bought cheaper in the air gun paint ball section rather than the scuba section.
I agree with you that the smaller crack bottle should be quite sufficient. Why do they offer the bigger bottles I wonder? (If a 0.1 L bottle was filled to 200 bar, that makes 20 L if used at the surface or effectively 40 L by the time it surfaces if deployed at 10m: surely that would fill the SMB?) Maybe they offer the 0.2L bottle so that it can used twice without refilling, although that involves shutting the valve off before letting it fly. I think that if I had one I'd just open it up & let it go up. There is a risk of water ingress with that method though. :eek:
At the risk of getting this wrong isn't it 20l at the surface whether you deploy it at the surface, 10m under or 1000m under. If you deployed it at 10m it would only provide 10l there, which would be 20l at the surface. :confused:
At the risk of getting this wrong isn't it 20l at the surface whether you deploy it at the surface, 10m under or 1000m under. If you deployed it at 10m it would only provide 10l there, which would be 20l at the surface. :confused:quite right: stupid me! :o :o
At the risk of getting this wrong isn't it 20l at the surface whether you deploy it at the surface, 10m under or 1000m under. If you deployed it at 10m it would only provide 10l there, which would be 20l at the surface. :confused:
any excess air will fly out the dump valve as it expands.