Marking your location on the surface is an important safety step for other divers and boats. Alec reviews four very different dive floats and flags from compact up to instructor models.
***** Alec Peirce Scuba *****
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great video
I have the last float. It is a great little float for lake diving. I use a $1 ebay caribeaner on the bottom of my float to keep it from sawing through the bottom. Perfect, no. But they were 5 for $2 so I can toss one every 3 years or so.
Hi Alec, I’m just beginning to learn about diving, and I think your channel is great. I had to laugh at your comment about “local”, because when I first discovered your channel, I thought how great it would be to have a shop like yours in my area. Turns out that until a couple of years ago, I was practically around the corner from you guys, near Buttonville airport. Timing is everything, eh?
hey Alec great vid as always. I wanted to know if u could make a vid on technology and how it has advanced diving and what u would like to see in the future from that technology. ur a pioneer in this sport so u have seen some pretty interesting things throughout the years. what piece of equipment can u say has revolutionized the sport of diving. also what downfalls do u think u can forsee as technology grows in our wonderful sport
Hi dear Mr Peirce 🙂 Now you got a comment from Sweden 😉 I really like your channel, aswell your energy…I wish you all the best in life. Yours sincerely <3
Hi Alec
I think that you And your scuba tech tips are great
And I send you a big THANK YOU for what you are doing from Lebanon
Charbel and Labib Kashkoush
If recommend 550 or 350 paracord to fix the issue of the rope sawing through, I use the stuff for basically anything that involves tying things and it’s never let me down. Hope it helps.
Love watching all your tech tips. Keep up the great work Mark from England
good video. I wouldn’t recommend putting the handle on your arm as if the float on the surface was snagged by a boat, the diver would be pulled along for the ride.
I teach about flags in my open water class, but tell students to never surface at the flag. as you mentioned Alex, boaters have no clue and in a battle between boat and diver, the diver always loses. think about a bicyclist and a car. even if the bike has the right of way, it won’t matter if you’re dead.
I like marking the area, leaving the flag, and bringing it in at the the of the dive day. don’t forget to allow extra line for changes in tide.
If a dive boat flies a dive flag, the boat will be your protection…
the best review, thank you
Cute
Alec—- I assume you’re a fan of Van Halen’s 5th album.
.
One problem, these shown are only good for calm waters and weather. They make too good of a sail in windy conditions and too much surface area for water. The end result these would drag a diver with greater force in wind or big waves. Also, in big waves these inflated ones would jerk the diver on each wave. Not good. We don’t use these in Florida for obvious reasons. The ones we use resemble a narrow fishing float, but bigger, of cause. They dunk down in big waves without pulling up on the diver, as they are very narrow, and they don’t pull sideways on the diver when winds are strong, as they less likely to act like a sail due to have a low narrow profile.
Hers another idea to prolong the rubber tie off. What if you found an appropriate size stainless steel D ring to attach to the bottom of the float. The SS D ring is smooth and won’t saw through the rubber then tie any type of line to the D ring as you wish.
Here is an example of the D rings at only a few dollars easy to find:
http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Rigging-Supplies-Hardware/Stainless-Steel-Screw-Pin-Anchor-Shackles/3-8-Stainless-Steel-Screw-Pin-Anchor-Shackle-500-LBS?gclid=Cj0KCQjwq7XMBRCDARIsAKVI5QZPRPlyoD9Kso8tBGZjMreCvZM_FHgQusOcoWbrCbAeObPkvmpWBDAaAqFFEALw_wcB
Of course if you use the D ring take an adjustable wrench and snug up the shackle after attaching to the the float’s rubber eyelet. This way over time your D ring doesn’t come loose.
Wonderful stuff as always Alec. I recently got Nitrox certified, would love to hear your thoughts about continuing your diving education after open water, opinion on other scuba classes and what you think about Nitrox.
Hey Alec, in rock climbing and mountaineering, we teach that you never put like materials together for anchors–no webbing to webbing or metal to metal. I think, for your anchor line attachment points, something similar would help keep them from getting cut through. You can get a stainless steel quick link (those little screw gate connectors) from the hardware store for about $3 (at least here), and slip that to your anchor point and tie into the quick link. You could also use a chain repair link for a little less.
Just a though. Then you wouldn’t have your rope sawing away at your dive flag anchor attachment.
The dive flag is a necessary evil here in Florida. It’s not fun to tow but you can pass it around your buddy group every dive and it ends up not being so bad. One tip I have heard for those hand winders is slide a fishing weight on the tow line and it will move down the line as you play out line and keep it relatively taught that way you don’t have loops dragging behind you. Also always use polyprene rope so it floats.
Thank yoU! Love all of the info. I just started diving last year, and I love it!!! (I am a late bloomer, 50 yrs old)
Love your videos keep them coming!
A double ender instead of a thicker rope for the bottom of those flags. Or even gluing on a d ring hard point designed for Ribs. Just a thought. Personally I use a spear fishing torpedo float with a flag attached as I already has handles and mounting points for gear great for students or when I take samples they even work well as a rescue float.
Glue a pice of pvc pipe in the hole so it can’t saw through it so easy
A climbing carabiner would work nicely to attach to the bottom of the floats. They work well for attaching gear to your BC too.
Great info like always. that last tube is a great idea and the handles are a good idea.