Whens the last time ya blew up yer safety sausage??????
Mine has a brass shut off..I'll bet it's not operating up to snuff..:bringiton:

update..worked great!! mine gets rinsed also but didn't inflate

Whens the last time ya blew up yer safety sausage??????
Mine has a brass shut off..I'll bet it's not operating up to snuff..:bringiton:

The safety sausage gets inflated for rinsing after every trip.

I also rinse the DiveAlert under pressure. When its done rinsing, I press the button until its clear of water - the dog loves it!:rofl:

The mirror and manual whistle get rinsed but no other special attention.

Went through my gear last night.
Our Club meeting is this wednesday gonna talk a bit about safety!

I am a new scubadiver and would like some helpful tips on some safety devices best suited for me. I dive around rock piles and dont know if a float would be the best thing for me. It would most likely get tangled i would assume.

Jimbo,
Safety Sausage..DONT skimp on this..ORANGE AND YELLOW...diff. light conditions need diff. contrast, small mirror..your bc probably has a whistle and I have a scuba alert I'll sell ya that's like new for 30.00... 60.00 new. I need a new one w/ different fitting for my Octo Z. Small light..need it for the ledges anyway. Put your name on all your gear.

2 cd's expoxied together make a safe and cheap reflecting device to be stored in your BC pocket.

excellent idea..

2 cd's expoxied together make a safe and cheap reflecting device to be stored in your BC pocket.

And if for some reason the CDs need to be altered to fit your BC pocket - DON"T USE A POWER MITRE SAW TO DO IT - trust me on this. They will explode and send shrapnel flying! I sucessfully ground a CD down using the flat side of a bench grinder, but no longer carry a CD.

However, besides being cheap, the CD hole can be used to aim the reflection.

I personally carry a women's compact mirror. Plastic case, glass mirrors, doesn't corrode, and hasn't broken.

Jimbo,
Safety Sausage..DONT skimp on this..ORANGE AND YELLOW...diff. light conditions need diff. contrast

Zeagle make a 6 foot sausage that is Orange on one side (daytime) and Yellow on the other (night). If can be inflated by mouth on the surface, or with your octo like a lift bag. I have a second one on the way so that I can have one dedicated as a lift bag and one as a sausage.

I use their quick deploy system that mounts very conveniently between my back and the wing on my Zeagle Stiletto. This results in no drag and keeps it out of the way. I also have mine on the thumb spool and deploy it on my safety stop. On the east coast of FL we do almost exclusively open water ascents.

http://zeagle.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?src=gendocs&link=Accy_signal_devices&category=Accessories

One other thing... If you use a sausage as a lift bag (like I do) make sure you have an extra for surface ID. Also if you happen to carry two and you hit the surface and are adrift at sea, you can attach one to each end of your gun and sit on the gun as a seat. I know Randy told me he did this once when he was adrift for an extended period of time.

There was a good article in this month's Scuba Diving (?) about safety tubes...bottom line was Yellow was more effective than Orange.... and DAN's safety tube was the most visible from a longer distance than any other one tested. Just an FYI

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/eseries/source/orders/index.cfm?task=3&CATEGORY=FIRSTAID&PRODUCT_TYPE=SALES&SKU=641%2D1000&DESCRIPTION=First%2DAid%20%26%20Safety%20Equipment&FindSpec=&CFTOKEN=74780404&continue=1&SEARCH_TYPE=find

Put your name on the marker tube. Black magic marker lasts a long time.

I was trying to find an old thread on scubaboard but no luck. The thread linked to a word from the coast guard on cd's as a signal mirror. At any rate they claim they do not work and will never take the place of a real mirror.

The only ocean diving I have done so far is drifting in coz. I am very lax in my safety gear but recent events sure have me thinking my gear through more.

i put the retro reflection tape on my safety dont know how long it will last but its there. if you dont have room for big CD's use the mini Cds

isnt Zeagles lettering reflective...let see BRB

nope doesnt look like it........that'd be a good idea

I purchased a Zeagle quick deploy bag from Gander Mountain for my Ranger LTD. I also purchased a second Zeagle safety sausage for a Backup/Buddy. I tested them in the pool before going out for some dives. They take off to the surface quickly if using your reg to fill.

I gave my cheap safety sausage to J.B. and let my wife use the spare Zeagle. On Fridays dive J.B. surfaced just past the swim line and the current pushed him away from the boat. He filled it up and signaled us that he was on the surface. He was already about 50 yards away. Glad I gave him one.

Glad I gave him one.

Me too!

I've actually got an upgraded one with a reel on my to-buy list.....I didn't know how useful they are until I actually needed to use one!

Whens the last time ya blew up yer safety sausage??????
Mine has a brass shut off..I'll bet it's not operating up to snuff..:bringiton:

update..worked great!! mine gets rinsed also but didn't inflate

I use my safety sausage on 2 out of every 3 dives. I am typically in some kind of lengthy decompression, so here's what I do with the sausage. I take my line off my shaft and leave it connected to the gun, I put that clip on my safety sausage. I do all of this as I am ascending nice and slow. When I get to about 30 feet, I blow up the sausage (a 4 ft orange one that takes one whole breath to fill to max capacity) and let it go, taking my line with it. Any extra air from the expansion goes out the valve on the bottom. I am now attached to my surface marker while I am decompressing, and the boat gets a nice early indicator of where I am. This is very effective because most of the drifting away happens when you are in the top water. As soon as the boat sees the marker, they clip the anchor and start over to me. I then do the rest of my deco under the boat, which is very comforting. Doing this is also very captain friendly, since the skippers are always worried about when/where the divers are going to pop up. The sooner the sausage is deployed, the better the chance that you aren't going to get lost, so deploy it early and often.

I like the orange better than the yellow. The yellow disappears in the glare of the sun. I don't care what the magazine says. When it's white cappin' out there, and the sun reflects off the face of every freakin' wave, the orange stands out MUCH better.

Be careful with the larger ones,I have had near misses of lung OE injury trying to inflate on ascent.
The 6' on I have now is safety orange and as Tommy mentioned very visible compared to green.It has reflective tape on it for night use and was ~$40.I use a smaller one to lift my fish when needed so I should never be without my main one.