The Halycon sausage is well-made and quite large.  OMS makes an even
bigger one, close to ten feet in height.  It's very difficult to get it
to stand up straight, but very easy to grab each end and raise it into
a large inverted "V" standing five feet high.  I have done some
informal testing with this, it is much more visible at a distance than
any other SMB I have used or seen, and I think also better than the
yellow flag many British divers prefer.   The flag also needs to be
hand held and waved for maximum visibility, which could be problematic
if the diver is in the water for a protracted period.

As to stowage, I also carry my SMB in the Halcyon pack on my backplate,
behind my back.  A storm whistle is attached to inflator hose with a
plastic tie.  A back-up light (Halcyon) lives permanently on right
shoulder strap of harness.

Other survival gear (dye pack, extra whistle, signal mirror, flashing
strobe, nylon hat with piece hanging down over neck, and occasionally
one or two 0.25 l plastic bottles of fresh water) is carried in a nylon
zipper pocket that threads onto harness webbing.   It usually lives on
waist webbing, left side.  (Right side has another larger pocket -
Halcyon - with spare mask, spool, magnifying glass, reef hook.)  The
surface survival pack can also be carried on lower tank cam-band.

(My computer is dying, so I'm sending it to Jakarta tomorrow for
repairs - will be out of email touch for perhaps a week.)

Robert Delfs

On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 07:14:32 -0400, Lee Bell wrote:

>We have to watch context here.  My sausage is 5 feet long and about 6 inches
>in diameter.  It is bright international orange with reflective tape and a
>holder for a light stick at the top.  When fully inflated, I can told it a
>good 6 feet above the surface.  It lives in the pocket between my body and
>my plate.  Check them out on the Halcyon web site.  It doubles as a lift bag
>and DSMB.  Your flag may be better, but if it is, I need a url to see how.
>
>I have a combination strobe/flashlight made by ACR, but have not yet found a
>way to carry it that I like.  I'm working on it.  I also have a small pack
>that includes a couple of pressure proof aerial flares, whistle and mirror.
>I have not decided how best to carry it either.
>
>Lee


Robert Delfs

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