How Can I Leave my dSMB Attached to My Spool?

[@l68ferras39]

Hi Mark! 1/ Great videos all along during & since simply scuba, you’re awesome. 2/ my way of keeping spool & DSMB assembled & secured : At the end of the usual big loop I’ve created a smaller loop. Big loop attached to DSMB d-ring, smaller loop is then on d-ring & used to go through spool hole Secure double ender to smaller loop = secured spool & ready to use DMSB Bonus: the smaller loop is very convenient in case you have to disassemble spool & DMSB underwater!

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Yeah, that makes the most sense to me. That way even if you're diving thick gloves it's ready to go and easy to deploy

[@bloodymarvelous4790]

I know GUE prefers a pre-assembled dSMB and spool. I keep mine separate as well. I carry an orange and a yellow dSMB, and a 15m and a 30m spool. Having them all separate, I can choose which spool I want to use, though the 15m spool is paired with the orange dSMB and the 30m is paired with the yellow. As I figure it, it's more likely I'll need to raise the yellow from a greater depth because of an emergency, and the orange will most likely be deployed during my safety stop.

[@samuelyoung2]

Can you make a short video on that lock you use on the double ender?

[@patrickhumm]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ-Vf5hvjseGgrcsi=FO-Sv76DLGcjmhpo

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Sure, as you say it will be a short video but, I can do a close up shot for you. You simply clip the hook on the leader, close the gate, wrap the leader around the body of the boltsnap and clip the leader again. I'll make a quick video...

[@RAVINGMUNSTER]

I make a bight exactly as you've suggested, but I have a piece of heat shrink tubing installed at just the right place, so it makes the line stiffer - and therefore easier to pass through the hole in the spool. This also reduces wear on the section of line through the hole, that the whole DSMB/reel assembly is hanging from. Would be easier to explain with a picture - but hopefully you get the idea! I prefer to be able to deploy the DSMB rapidly rather than mess about assembling it first, as 99% of the time this is the only reason I'm carrying the spool. If penetrating a wreck, I'd have a reel with me specifically for the purpose.

[@bloodymarvelous4790]

For penetration dives I also carry an extra spool in addition to the cave reel. I like having a backup to use as a jump line or recovery spool in case I lose the main line. I only have a 120m cave reel, and a 60m backup spool. I'll also bring the 60m spool on dives over 20 meters deep, in case I need to raise a dSMB from max depth. Generally speaking, I bring spools at least 1.5x the depth I will be diving. < 20m I'll bring the 15m and the 30m, > 20m and < 40m I'll bring the 15m and the 60m. If I ever dive deeper than 40m, I'll bring the cave reel in addition to the 60 and 15m spools. It's not ideal for deploying a dSMB, but it's better than nothing.

[@felipesanchezcuriel]

The way rig it is by having two loops at the end of the line, to the same free-speening fitting you have in yours. One loop goes to the double ender to prevent the reel from unwinding, and the other loop the DSMB. My DSMB has a single ender attached to the small D ring to secure the assembly to the bungee loop in my cargo pocket.

[@toadou8127]

'Want to point out that those shiny, beautiful metal spools sink like rocks, when you drop them. Plastic spools, not so much.

[@mikkel4606]

Metal spools are pretty visible though. Especially those anodized aluminium ones

[@Yggdrasil42]

I keep mine attached on open water dives and do it exactly like you showed Mark. It's quick to deploy and slightly more work to clean up. Om cave dives I don't bring a DSMB so I bring just the spool(s).

[@a.karley4672]

Well, the spool is your search-reel (or back-up) in the event of losing the line. With a spare lead, lump of rock, net bag or anything heavy enough to anchor it reasonably well.

[@Yggdrasil42]

@@a.karley4672 On cave dives we anchor the safety reel to the cave line, for example if we're looking for a lost diver. If we've lost the cave line ourselves, we first tie off to two rocks or stalacmites before commencing our search for the cave line.

[@a.karley4672]

@@Yggdrasil42 Ah, flooded air-filled caves. Never been in one of those. (Stalagmites/-tites can't form below water level.) I kept my search reel (10m) tucked under the surveying slate on my right forearm, with the free-end strapped onto my compass strap.

[@kimhaydon]

#AskMark: Late starter to diving. Now 68 with just over 150 logged dives in 8 years. Have dived UK but now only in warm blue water. Recently had second op on my ankle which has left it pretty much fixed. Find currents a bit of a challenge (struggled a lot earlier this year diving in Socorro). Looking to get a DVP but need something I can carry on airline (batteries in hand luggage, body in hold luggage). Looking at the ScubaJet with 2 * 100wH batteries (2 passenger hand luggage). Having made an expensive equipment mistake in the past (Paralenz Vaquita 2nd Gen) I wondered what you think about this DVP. Thanks Kim

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Hey Kim, I've only ever seen ScubaJets at dive shows, I've never used one myself in open water. They do look very powerful for their size and they have good write ups online. Sorry I couldn't help more but, I have been considering one of these myself.

[@Dr.PaulorRachelMarx-kn4kd]

#askmark, I've switched to a LHPD, but now how's the best way to fill my dsmb? Probably have to switch to alternate regulator, and use primary?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Yeah, if your alternate is tied around your neck it's tricky to fill a dSMB with it. Your primary is a good choice if you're filling from the bottom and you can switch to your alternate to make sure you have your next breath first. If my primary gets ripped from my hands I'd rather have my alternate already in my mouth and tested.

[@chrismacdonald2511]

What else would you use the spool for other than deploying the dsmb?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Things like laying guide lines, organising search patterns and makeshift buddy lines. If you're in an overhead area you can either use the spool to lay a guideline to help you find your way back to the exit or attach the spool and create a jump line from an existing guideline. If you're searching for something it's useful to have a line from a jackstay to measure distance and use as a reference. And if the vis is very poor and you want to stay connected to your buddy you can use some line to stay connected. With a MacGuyver mindset there are plenty of other uses for some string during a dive.

[@itzikifergan417]

#askmark Hi Mark, I enjoyed your videos and explanations for a very long time! A dry-suit can replace the BCD role as a buoyancy compensator since it also can inflate and deflate air?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Yes, that's one of the great things about dry suits: they can be used to adjust your buoyancy. Some divers only use their drysuit underwater to adjust their buoyancy. Others will use it as a backup if their BCD fails

[@ramiazzam150]

Hi Mark, I came across your channel and I have a question regarding DSMB inflator nozzle. The inflator nozzle I have on my DSMB was plastic and it actually broke, I found an aluminium nozzle but I don’t really know how to remove the old nozzle and replace it with the new one or if that’s even possible. I would appreciate some suggestions if you can

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

It's easiest to replace the entire valve section. Use a hair dryer to heat the plastic tube it's pushed into to soften the plastic and then twist and pull the old valve out. Then the new valve just pushes into place. The internals of those valves vary but the tube they push into is usually the same 12mm internal diameter.

[@troop1026]

Attach the DSMB to your line just below that large loop. Then you just wrap up the loop on the double ender as you are doing already.

[@Bazzoka171]

#AskMark Hi mark, nice video. Could you show me how you merged the orange line with the yellow one, i saw in the video some kindo of gray tool to link them. I found interesting in how you used the yellow line to attach the carabiner and secure it and make the spool secure and safe and let the orange dedicated to deploy the dsmb or other use. Thanks for the video.

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

It's a small metal swivel. The Apeks Spools have different lines for the leader and the main. The yellow leader is made with Dyneema for strength and the main orange line is a thinner tape that's easy to see and handle.

[@daveturton1784]

If you want to do this use a reel not a spool and bungee you dsmb to the reel.

[@RealJonnyDiver]

In warm waters, I have preassembled normal (orange) and emergency (yellow) dSMB’s on Apeks 30m and 60m reels, stored in my sidemount butt pouch. I assemble them exactly as shown at 4min10sec, except I don’t have any orange line poking through the hole. Instead I poke only the yellow leader through the spool hole, then wrap it twice around an XDeep double ender so the gate mechanism cannot open when the leader line is under tension. Approx 5 mins before my ascent, I remove the spool/dSMB from the butt pouch and hook it on my butt D-ring, so it’s ready to deploy (usually after my deco switch). In cold water, I have an AP Diving dSMB with crack bottle bungee’d to a Kent Tooling reel. Perfect for clunky dry gloves. Just remember that removing the heavy Kent reel alters your buoyancy if you hand it to someone else 😗

[@myscubamentor]

AP buddy reel. Problem solved