Donating from the mouth

[iainmsmith]

Originally Posted by John Gulliver

Having read most of the posts, and all those discussing smb inflation, I can't help wondering why everybody doesn't use Buddy's crack-bottle blob. It works 100% of the time and the only disadvantage I can think of is the price. And if you're seriously afraid of forgetting to fill it, should you be diving at all?

My reason for not using them is size. By the time I've got an orange and a yellow DSMB (and a spare orange DSMB), two spools, a spare mask, wetnotes, a strobe and shears in my pockets, there's not a vast amount of space left. Add a battery canister to the right hip and two stages to the left and I'm relatively short on space. (Having said that, if anyone wants to donate me a DPV, I'm sure I could find somewhere to attach it! )

My primary red blob is one of the small Halcyon closed-circuit bags. I can fully inflate this with a single breath from 6m, or considerably less from depth and it's as visibile as most conventional DSMBs. Though possibly not quite as tall as the Buddy, it's good enough to be seen from quite some distance away.

Iain

[johnkendall]

Originally Posted by Woz

John- could you let me now how you get on as I would certainly be interested in introducing it into our club too.

Of course, We've got an instructor "Play around" session next weekend, which I'm going to try a few things out at, and then the students start the week after that, once I've got it fine tuned I'll post a report.

We are also putting together a 6th pool lesson- an open water familiarisation session where the trainees put on full kit, gloves, weightbelt etc and go through some drills so that it is not all a complete surprise the first time they go OW.

Hmmm, That's very similar to one of the other "new" ideas we've had this year, before our Easter training trip we are going to do exactly that, It has the added bonus of making sure that the trainees Hoods are trimmed properly so as not to get in the way of their masks/regs/mouths :-)

John

[Special K]

I`ve never thought that purging a reg under water, whether to fill an smb of otherwise, was a very good idea. At the moment I use exhaust gas from poseiden, but with TX 50`s this was not that easy.
Does anyone use gas from wing/bc? Therefore maintaining bouyancy until bag is released.

[nigelH]

Originally Posted by Special_K

I`ve never thought that purging a reg under water, whether to fill an smb of otherwise, was a very good idea.

I've never had a problem except from the Buddy AutoFreeflow and even that is no problem now I've tightend up the breathing. OK the WOB is a bit sad but it's only on a 3L tank so it won't be used for long. I might be more edgy doing it in 3C water I admit.

Originally Posted by Special_K

At the moment I use exhaust gas from poseiden, but with TX 50`s this was not that easy.

Better than the later ones I hear. I don't remember having a problem...

Originally Posted by Special_K

Does anyone use gas from wing/bc? Therefore maintaining bouyancy until bag is released.

I've seen that described. You use some BCD/Wing gas to open up the blob a bit without changing your total buoyancy? It seemed a slick trick but then I wondered why I would need to do it. I could fire the blob off so quicky, even using exhaust gas, I didn't change level and could still get three quick big lung-fulls in. After that I'd exhale quite strongly to give me one jerk's worth of reel free incase it snagged. With the YBOD filling is the crack bottle, the stage or the AutoFreeflow in that order.

nigelH

[Special K]

I`ve never seen it done Nigel, and you`re right it probably is a slick trick, the Poseiden X-treme regs are that ferocious on the purge that I really wouldn`t want to set them off.

[Jules]

how do you avoid being a muppet and having the bottle empty on your buddy DSMB??

I think eveyone does it once (just before Bren mentions it!) and then comes up with a sytem that works for them. My system is :
after the smb bottle has been used I take it off the SMB and roll up the SMB without the bottle. Once the bottle is filled I put it onto the SMB. Hence when i get it out I know if it's full or empty . If it's all rolled up with the bottle attached it's good to go, if not then I need to fill the bottle and reassmble it.

Works for me! Everyone should have one they are the mutts nuts.

Jules

[Simon TW]

I've just had a mooch through this thread, phew!.

If any ooa diver aproaches me he can have whatever reg he want's. I can get any reg in my own mouth at any time and if you can't then stay in the car park or with your instructor unitil you can.

One very good Idea though has been mentioned (that's the good thing about YD, you learn whilst staying dry) starting the fill on the DSMB from the BCD, how simple is that? why has no-one thought to tell me before? why did I not think of it?

You live and learn.

[tom]

Originally Posted by Simon TW

starting the fill on the DSMB from the BCD, how simple is that?

Never tried it so I don't know, but it seems to me that you'd suddenly become quite negative, and quickly have to re-establish neutral buoyancy once you let the blob go? Not an issue if you're deploying from the bottom, but from midwater it might cause more problems than it solves.

Anyone out there actually done it?

[MATTBIN]

2m long hose on primary, that's for you my liittle ooa diver, backup on necklace under chin. SMB - buddy crack (2 off). Bottle off after a dive, fill, fill again before nect dive, test on boat. How about panicked diver on 2m hose then your backup free flows? Bad day. Of course if you have been paying attention to your buddy you have been asking about his gas anyway and working out who's going to get to reserve first havent you? I sometimes dive with guys on singles whilst I'm on twin 10's so I like to keep an eye on their gas status as I dont want to get them too low whilst I have plenty and have them get anxious. Alternatively some of my other buddies consume at the same rate as me, so I know we hit reserve together. Gets a bit more difficult when its someone new though, time to be even more attentive perhaps.

Matt

[Noel Johnson]

Tom, If you fill the blob from the BCD you shouldn't, theoretically, become negative as you are just transferring buoyancy from one bag to another. When you let the blob go on the other hand...