I watched a lot of videos before I got to yours, and yours was hands-down the very best. Some people who make these videos think divers know more than we do. When I went through Advanced open water, dive master, And instructor development surface marker buoys weren't covered. Thanks for great video instruction.
Like you I don’t throw away any line left over ... I also have a swivel at5 Mtrs but use yellow coloured line the the top 5 Mtrs is bright orange easy to identify and of course if poor visibility you can feel the swivel also thanks fo your videos very informative 🇬🇧
Very well explained... Personally, for recreational diving I recommend to keep SMB and reel always together and I clip both of them to one of the reel's holes in order to have a double and thus more secure connection.
I love videos on reel/DSMB set up. I don't think I've ever seen two that were exactly alike. Everyone has their own style/preference/method/philosophy. I learn something new every time! I love the fishing weight at the 15' mark. I just have a figure-eight knot tied in my line at 15' but a good solid weight would be way more obvious to feel in dry gloves!
Great tip about the swivel at safety stop depth! An extra idea that I like is small piece of heat shrink tube over the small loop. Stiffens it up and makes poking it through the holes on the spool a lot easier.
Here are a few videos for you. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SwYWCQwPBzY.html. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zFZTOEQMKVA.html.
I don't think it is any more secure, but more so to keep the reel hanging straight. I have changed my typical setup since this video. I will make an updated one to this very soon.
Hello WeiseGuy91, I will try to produce a video for you. In short though, you pull out 15 feet of line and cut it. Then, tie each cut end to the side of the swivel and you are done.
I'm glad I watched this, and the swivel reminded me of: smooth, bump, bump back to the pump....LOL, but I have a question and I've asked some of my dive buddies and they were clueless, I was thinking about changing out the line on my reel to paracord, is this possible or advisable, or should I just keep the line the way it is. The reason I was thinking paracord is well, because of the durability it has, and if it were to get snagged on something wouldn't snap like the line that's on my reel now would do. is there a line that I can purchase that has the same durability that paracord has? any suggestions are welcome, Thanks.
Hello Jack Grant, though paracord is a lot stronger, it takes up more space, thus, less amount of line that is available to use. I would stick with the cave line.
Honest question. Why do you not carry the SMB with the girth hitch already attached so that employment underwater can be done in fewer steps? Honest question.
Hello Kyle B. Great question, and to be honest, now days I do. Depending on the application, I use different methods all the time. I try to practice different setups, so no matter what situation I find myself in, I can handle it. In most of our recent videos, you can see that my SMB's and reels are pre-attached.
Hey Brian, I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to mark my spool line at 10' intervals for measuring distance underwater. I have tried different markers, and they either aren't visible underwater or the marking simply wash off. If I tie knots in the line they can't be rolled back onto the spool. any advice?
I've never used a SMB. How do you know when it has reached the surface if you can't see the surface? (as it relates to the swivel actually being at the correct depth for your safety stop)
An extra little loop half way on one side of the big loop will help you pull the line out of the hole with gloves. Using a bit of heatshrink on the little top loop will make it easier to thread through the hole in the spool or the D-ring on the dSMB. When tying the reel to the double-ender, clip it, twist it around above the spring lever, and run it through the clip again. That way it won't come undone while clipped off, and you'll still have your spool and dSMB when you're going to deploy it.
Hello arvans692, that is a great question. A lot of divers will choose to keep them pre-connected for easier use. About the only time now days that I will keep them disconnected is if I carry multiple reels, for primary overhead environment dives.
Hello Jeff Pettigrew, excellent question. Depending on the purpose of the dive, finger spools tend to be more versatile and practical for SMB's, jumps, etc. Crank reels work great for penetration diving, such as caves, caverns, and wrecks.
Hello Sir. Getting water into my DSMB when releasing it. I’m thinking it’s coming in through the exhaust valve, not sure why. Any help/suggestions? Thanks
Hello C. Patrick Sadowski. All SMB's collect water when deploying them underwater. This is why we like the ones with a dump valve. We simply unscrew the dump valve once back on land and drain the water. The struggle is real sometimes.
Personally, I don't like that way of setup, because ur SMB should be ready to go in a possible emergency situation, where u don't have that time to de- and connect all that stuff together. In my mind, u should always keep the reel of the SMB fixed to the SMB self. Best regards, Skip. Polary.
Depending on what you use your SMB for, having it already set up is a good way of doing it as well. There are times when I use just my reel and not the SMB. Whether I use it for a jump line, search line, or a simple tie off, it ends up being an hassle having to remove the SMB during those times.
You do not have to go through all of that trouble. Just hang a bunch of weight on a line until it breaks and send me an email and let me know. Thank you.
Some interesting points but I do mine even simpler. To secure the line on the reel using the bolt-snap, just pull it tight and clip into a hole. Sure if you leave the line slack it will unspool itself. As for marking a 15'/5m safety stop point on the line, I use a permanent colored marker. Sure I can't use my hands to "read" the line but even in the worst vis, one can certainly pull the line close enough to the face to see the mark (also don't have two potential failure points using the swivel).
Thanks for sharing your experience with us @jonnieinbangkok. We have another video, where we show different methods that we use as well. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rNjpLc6ND2o.html
Failure Points are always a hot topic between divers. We tend to base our way of diving more on facts than hypotheticals. 1000's of dives later, and we have never once had an issue.
Well, the purpose really is to minimise the possibility of an accident. In this case, the swivel is designed for fishing, not for scuba diving. In the event of an emergency.. upon deploying the dsmb, the last thing you want would be to loose it altogether. Especially when strong currents are pulling at the small metal loops where the swivel attaches to the life line. The thin hoops in the swivel could cause the life line to tear.. that would be a bad thing. The line used in the spool is a lifeline... in an emergency you don't really care as much of the comfort/ minor inadequacies of a twisting life line. On another note... completely forget using such a swivel when laying a lifeline in cave diving. That could spell a recipe for disaster. I'm not trying to criticise you in any way for the sake of it. This is a life saving device, adding a swivel not designed for the purpose (for fishing not scuba) is not very wise at all. Thank you
You make great points. The swivels are used for fishing, where they withstand 100 times more force that what any scuba diver would ever have. In regards to cave diving since you specifically mentioned it, our professionals here at Lake Hickory Scuba use different reels for any type of overhead environments, whether we are in caves, caverns, or under the ice.
By the way.. I've seen other videos in your channel and you provide very useful info. I'm a diver fron Gibraltar (Europe) we have great wrecks here by the way. You should come and visit
Very well explained... Personally, for recreational diving I recommend to keep SMB and reel always together and I clip both of them to one of the reel's holes in order to have a double and thus more secure connection.
That is my preference also. I get the benefits of having the spool and SMB separate, such as the need to use the spool line for other purposes, but I really only use the spool to deploy an SMB. Therefore I eliminate the step (and the risk of dropping one LOL) of connecting the two underwater. BTW another great video Brian - keep 'em coming!
