That Oh Fark! Feeling

[notdeadyet]

You can only do that with those stupidly small mini DSMB which you can't see in the water - anything bigger you run out of lung capacity and you have to use either a second stage or an easyfill. .

My main SMB is 1.5m, not had any problem filling off one breath. Doesn't have to be full. At the point it starts becoming awkward to hold is usually time to let go and it'll be full at the surface. If you aren't hanging on the line then the bag will flop over on its side at the surface anyway. You can always take another breath if you need to, no-one says you have to do it on one breath.

[jturner]

My main SMB is 1.5m, not had any problem filling off one breath. Doesn't have to be full. At the point it starts becoming awkward to hold is usually time to let go and it'll be full at the surface. If you aren't hanging on the line then the bag will flop over on its side at the surface anyway. You can always take another breath if you need to, no-one says you have to do it on one breath.

^^^ This.

I also do a double-breath version where you use a first part breath to get the thing upright and out of the way before giving it a proper breath and letting it go. But unless you're already at 6m, one big breath is usually enough. In the name of full transparency, I should also confess that I have an original DelayedAid (the old Forty 4 diving one) which makes the whole affair even easier. Most people are still scratching their backsides trying to get their gear unclipped or assembled by the time mine's deployed. The bulk's a PITA and I can't fault the design other than that.

[PhilPage]

I appreciate that for training. Do some people still use an Air 2? I had one for a few years when the first stage only had 3 LP ports. Personally I wouldn’t go back to using one.

Still see a few around now & again

You can still buy them as upgrades, but I don't know of any BCs that come with them as standard now

[PhilPage]

Spectacularly easy:

1) Prep spool and DSMB.
2) Swap regs.
3) Move primary reg's hose from round the back of your neck.
4) Hold reg, blob and spool out at arm's length, well away from your body and other kit.
5) Short purge into blob and set free.
6) Put regs back where they were to start with.
7) (Assuming you were slick enough with 5 and 6) Watch spool run until blob hits surface.

That's how I'd do it if I hoglooped.

Ultimately, it's perfectly workable to safely fill a DSMB with almost any configuration that has a DV on a decent length hose.

I'm not convinced about filling with breath, either directly or from exhaust. I've seen DSMB deployments go south often enough to never try doing it any closer than arm's length...

[graham_hk]

That's how I'd do it if I hoglooped.

Ultimately, it's perfectly workable to safely fill a DSMB with almost any configuration that has a DV on a decent length hose.

I'm not convinced about filling with breath, either directly or from exhaust. I've seen DSMB deployments go south often enough to never try doing it any closer than arm's length...

How can it go wrong with exhalation? You can’t get more positive as you’ve just moved gas from lungs to bag …

[notdeadyet]

I've seen DSMB deployments go south often enough to never try doing it any closer than arm's length...

If you don't have loose line then there is not much to go wrong. Only pull out the bare minimum needed to attach the SMB and then wind the excess back in. Blow into the bag, hold it clear, check there's nothing above you, release. There's really nothing to screw up. The main thing I've seen people cock up is having a load of excess line paid out, they release the bag and it either wraps round the axle of the reel and bye-bye to the whole thing or it gets caught on a piece of kit or something.

The worst that's happened to me orally inflating an SMB is getting walloped in the teeth with those shitty spring loaded inflation valves on the cheap Chinese SMB's.

[Allan Carr]

How can it go wrong with exhalation? You can’t get more positive as you’ve just moved gas from lungs to bag …

The incident I saw, the diver lost his grip on the reel as he released the DSMB and it caught on his DV, dragging it out of his mouth and him to the surface. I don't see the point of running the risk of having anything like that close to my DV - I'll stick to my crack bottle (or easyfill adaptor when abroad).

[PhilPage]

Plenty of stuff can & does go wrong (not necessarily seriously, mind) during DSMB deployments - amongst trainee and veteran divers. Best way I've seen to mitigate them all is to do everything at arm's length.

[dwhitlow]

The incident I saw, the diver lost his grip on the reel as he released the DSMB and it caught on his DV, dragging it out of his mouth and him to the surface. I don't see the point of running the risk of having anything like that close to my DV - I'll stick to my crack bottle (or easyfill adaptor when abroad).

Yep, I got a crack bottle years ago and nothing has convinced there's a better alternative.

[notdeadyet]

The incident I saw, the diver lost his grip on the reel as he released the DSMB and it caught on his DV, dragging it out of his mouth and him to the surface. I don't see the point of running the risk of having anything like that close to my DV - I'll stick to my crack bottle (or easyfill adaptor when abroad).

Why was he launching the SMB so close to his regs? Presumably a clicky reel if it locked up when he released it?

Doing it wrong isn't the same as it doesn't work.