SMB DEPLOYMENT

In this video I was demonstrating how to deploy an SMB during my instructor training. I was pretty satisfied about how I performed the skill, until a friend of mine (experienced diver and instructor) correctly noted that I forgot to look up before releasing the buoy.

How many of you look up before releasing the SMB? How many forget?

Here my personal discussion points:

Here I am using a 30 lbs open ended self-sealing surface marker. This particular model gives the advantage of oral inflation, with an air seal on the open end that keeps the buoy inflated when it reaches the surface, offering a better visibility from the boat.

I am inflating the buoy using the exhausted air coming out from my regulator, without removing it from my mouth. This practice in my opinion offers 4 major advantages:

• modest impact on buoyancy, as the SMB inflation is the result of a standard breathing pattern; 
• increased security, as I am not removing the reg from my mouth in the whole procedure; 
• improved speed and agility, as I do not have to put both buoy and reel in one hand and to search for the alternative air source with the other, thus minimizing the risk of dropping the reel;
• reduced air consumption: this is a minor aspect but still, taking into consideration that normally SMB are deployed by the end of the dive with the cylinders almost in reserve, I do not see the point in wasting air from the cylinder just for inflating the buoy.

And you? What kind of SMB do you use? How do you inflate it?