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>>1. They're not DIR >- Why? The week link in the chain is the diver and it relies too much on the diver to remember to do a number of things. All it takes is to forget 1 thing and it's useless. You then have to resort to your backup D-SMB which most likely is one you fill from your reg, so why not cut out the first problematic stage. Again, rather than create more problems in order to solve one, just avoid the original problem in the first place. >>2. If you forget to fill the inflate bottle, they're useless - you can't do >>a manual inflate. Also, as just about everyone had DIN and the bottle was >>A-clamp, there were problems filling it. >- Use an adaptor. Again, another thing to bring with you. Another weak link in the chain and this doesn't solve the occasions when you forget to fill the bottle. >>3. They often unravel during a dive - or more particularly when you jump in >>and sometimes you just don't realise that it's 'flapping in the breeze' >>behind you >- Mine doesn't: very strong velcro fastening. So had mine but the effort of jumping from the back of the boat into the water undid the velcro on about 70% of dives. I always got to the bottom only to discover it had un-done. >>4. It once inflated at 30m on a dive. Thankfully, I was inside a wreck at >>the time and I just got pinned to the ceiling. >- Never happend with my make. I suspect that in entering the wreck, the valve somehow got partly turned on and it slowly filled the bag. If your bottle has a valve, then it can happen to you too. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't ever happen. >>My advice is to get a self-sealing buoy - like the AP Valves one. If you >>keep the tension on it on ascent, it will stand clear in the water (up to >>1m clear) and be more visable than a pyramidal one. Certainly from my >>experiences on boats, these are the easiest ones to spot. >- Mine stands at least 1 metre tall. Good for you. Since I ditched mine, I became more observent of others using them and I've found that those people tend to use them because they cannot properly use a D-SMB without a bottle. In other words, they cannot send up a bag without losing their buoyancy, or without free-flowing their regs or without tangling up the line or screwing up in some other manner. It's often a poor substitute for skills. Best, John. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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