DSMB and Dive Flag questions

Pkiernan

Hi,

are there regulations in Ireland/Europe/Red Sea regarding the colour of DSMB's or Dive Flags.

About to purchase and was wondering if colour regulations exist.

Thanks.

locum-motion

No, there's no rules on it.

Some divers, particularly tech divers, may use a colour coded system to indicate to a support vessel whether the diver is performing normal decompression/safety stop or is in distress. This needs to be agreed on a local/day-to-day basis between the divers on a boat and the boat operators (and preferably with other boat operators operating close by at the same time.) There's no point one diver pair telling the cox'n that "yellow sausage = distress" if a different pair from the same or another boat are in the water at the same time and aren't operating to the same colour code.

loctite

I think there may be regulations in the US alright for surface marker buoys, but in Ireland... ha!:).

I heard a great story about a group of three divers diving near shore (but away from a harbour/ pier) and using a smb. Along comes a boat and actually tied up to their smb line. And I'm not talking about a little zodiac either. I'm surprised the majority of Irish boat users know where the water is let alone what dive flags mean.

longshanks

Red smb for location, yellow for distress.

locum-motion

longshanks wrote: »

Red smb for location, yellow for distress.

See post no 2 above: is that a rule you use with your buddies or what is it? Or is it what you think should be the case? Or are you claiming it's a regulated thing? If so, regulated by whom? Where (ie what country?) Enforced by whom?

Your post as it stands does not help to answer the OP's question at all.

locum-motion

Now that I have:
a) a little more time, and,
b) a full size keyboard: -

I used to have an orange dsmb. The Beaver type, that comes in a blue pouch. In fact, I had two. I lost the first one, bought a replacement, lost it, got the first one back coz it had my name on it and was picked up by another diver @ SDW a few weeks after I'd lost it, lost the first one a second time...


That was when I decided not to use the blue pouch anymore.

I bought a reel, and a new dsmb, one that seals the air inside and has a valve to empty it.

I drilled a couple of holes in the black part of the reel, and threaded in two pieces of bungee, and now - when not in use - I keep the rolled up dsmb attached to the reel by the two bungee straps at all times (well, except when they're drying on my washing line!). I've used this arrangement for about 5 or so years, and a couple of hundred dives, in several countries. I've never lost it, broken it, or had anybody comment at all about the fact that the dsmb is a yellow one, barring one comment on the first time I used it after buying it.

Before buying, I had no idea that there was any suggestion of there being a colour code, and I wasn't told when I bought it either. Therefore, I didn't do what the OP has done and ask for advice before purchase.

After I bought it, and on the first time I used it, someone said something like "Doesn't a yellow sausage mean 'distress' or something?" None of the divers present had ever heard that before, but the dive boat cox'n told us that sometimes there might be a consensus among a particular group of divers, and that they were usually techies, and that if the consensus was being used on a particular days diving, then an agreement would be reached among all the divers present and the cox'n for the day. "Barring all of that happening", I was told, "Fire away and use your yellow balloon."

Since then, each time I've gone diving on a new boat or in a new country or whatever, I've always checked before diving if there was a local rule to follow about dsmb colour. The answer has always been No. And, as I said, nobody has ever brought it up as a subject with me, barring that first time.

longshanks

Page 84 of the Irish Underwater Council training handbook states that a yellow smb can be used to indicate a situation at depth where the diver needs assistance.

Although page 85 says that dive operators in North America use the red one for distress.

All the lads I dive with here in Ireland use red smb's as a marker. The local dive shops also advise red for location and yellow for distress.

loctite

What about the Buddy ones??
What sort of message are they trying to send??:Dhttp://www.apvalves.com/uk/graphics/products/smb/smbc180.jpg

locum-motion

longshanks wrote: »

Page 84 of the Irish Underwater Council training handbook states that a yellow smb can be used to indicate a situation at depth where the diver needs assistance.

Although page 85 says that dive operators in North America use the red one for distress.
...

So; no hard & fast rule, then!
And it was rules/regulations the OP was asking about.

Pkiernan

Where can I get a green one then!!!

elcowboyspace

I'd agree with the rule of thumb in ireland generally being that red = location and a yellow sausage = distress. If I'm wrong and people enter the water to give assistance at the sight of a yellow sausage only to find a perfectly comfortable and happy diver on a stop then what has been lost?

edit: or at the sight of a red one for that matter... Would just prove to me that whoever is on the surface can be depended upon to make sure a diver below is alright