DIYing my dsmbs

[lloydwatkin]

Hi all,

Usually I'll use exhaled bubbles inflate my dsmb but the last couple of times they've slipped out of my hand while inflating and I'm left with a somewhat limp red thing on the surface upon my arrival

I don't fancy using my reg to inflate although I have done it, the idea/practice just doesn't sit right with me.

I came across this video of Clare Gledhill on another post where she inflates the dsmb through a 'straw' for want of a better word, oh how about tube I'm guessing this is (or is similar to) the frog closed circuit dsmb on divingniknaks?

Anyway, I've already got two beaver self sealing dsmbs so rather than go out and spend more money I was wondering if it would be possible to DIY a system like this? I've been looking at one way valves for aquariums on eBay, but was wondering if anyone has had a go at this? Did it work?

Thanks, Lloyd.

[j.kuzi]

Hi Lloyd
try the co2 smbs by aquatec.....so easy
JK

[nickb]

Orally inflating the 3'/1m Halcyon/Frog/DSS bags is a breeze. Trouble is these things don't really stand out much in anything but flat calm seas.

The 4.5' and 6' Halcyon bags can also be inflated orally, but you'd be hyper-ventilating long before getting them anywhere near full unless your sending them up from 50m or more.

That said I've started using a 4.5' Halcyon closed-circuit SMB and it's handy to put one or two breaths in it just to get it standing up nicely before inflating it with your drysuit hose. Now there will be a load of people who will wince at the idea of disconnecting one's drysuit hose, let alone plugging it into an SMB, but I love it and wish I'd got one earlier, which would have saved me from lugging my old (now sold) AP Valves auto-blob around for so long.

BTW, I've seen that video of Clare sending the bag up. It looks like a 4.5 foot Halcyon to me and I'm betting it was flopping around like a sad case of brewer's droop when it finally hit the surface Tootricky's bags usually look like that once they hit the surface and they sometimes don't even stay there. Must be something they teach on Fundies

Now if only Halcyon's so-called 'Fair Trade' pricing policy wasn't such a pile of horse-shit, these thing would be the bargain here that they are in the US

[Clare Gledhill]

It was a 3.3 foot bag and it can be inflated at 6 metres fully on one breath - not that you need to in a training exercise as this one.

The 4.5 foot bag should not really be orally inflated - if you need a 4.5 foot bag it is to cover rougher surface conditions so better make it stand up via suit inflation (or reg inflation) or the skipper will be less than impressed!

It is just a wing inflate nipple (without the collar which keeps a connection) Ian Smith made one al la Blue Peter I think.

[nickb]

Originally Posted by Clare Gledhill

It was a 3.3 foot bag....

My apologies then Clare, it looked much bigger scaled against the only other reference point in the video - the diver

[Clare Gledhill]

Touché

[iainmsmith]

Originally Posted by Clare Gledhill

It is just a wing inflate nipple (without the collar which keeps a connection) Ian Smith made one al la Blue Peter I think.

I'll forgive the mutilation of my name, but yes, I did. (two, in fact).

I got someone to buy me a couple of no-lock connectors from Halcyon in Florida, because I was having great problems getting hold of them in this country. That aside, it was fairly simple. I used a AquaTec "JR Tec Diver" DSMB and modified it for suit/oral inflation or for conventional DV inflation.



(hope this works)

Note that I cut the corner off the DSMB and "hemmed" the edges to make it easier to inflate with a DV (it's almost impossible to get a mouthpiece into the original DSMB)

It looked like this:



No longer sure what the line in the top right hand cornere was. I think it probably went to a boltsnap. In its final incarnation, this boltsnap would have been tied directly to the eyelet

This worked well enough. John Kendall also tested it and, at the time, described it as "surprisingly easy" to use, though this was, I think, before either of us had used the Halcyons. I was still using this DSMB last season, but now use Halcyon 3.3' and 4.5' blobs because they're neater (due to not having three jubilee clips to catch on everything else in my pocket). I've still got it and its yellow sister so that if I'm practicing/teaching shooting blobs, I've got an entire pocketful of blobs to use without having to surface each time.

Iain

[nickb]

Now that's kit-fettling of the highest order

[Richard Mason]

I have one of these octopus regs, by Sherwood - Shadow Plus, I think. It's supposed to fit in line with the bc inflator, doing away with a separate hose for the occie but I found it was too restrictive. It's a good occie in it's own right, so I kept it as is.



Useful thing is that as the connector matches the connector nipple on a standard BC, it wopuld also be useful for this style of DSMB. At the moment, I've got a small air nozzle attached, which I then use for filling my DSMB. So I'm using the occie hose, but not the occie itself, so less chance of a free flow; it's way easier to insert the nozzle into the DSMB bottom seal, rather than the occie mouthpiece too.

It seems that this setup would be ideal for what I've got, if I get a DSMB similar to Iain's. I'm not good at DIY dive kit - where can you buy these things, or similar, ready made?

[Clare Gledhill]

The Halcyon one is ready made Richard and products are available in Tazmania from here