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#10632
Surface Marker/Diver Down flag
m_grieco - 7/19/2015 6:28 PM
Category: Equipment
Replies: 3

For those of you that do shore diving, I would love to know what surface markers you use and pros and cons of each of those flags. I usually only dove in the tropics but have gotten into shore diving as I live relatively close to the ocean here in NJ and if nothing else has been a nice opportunity to play with my camera underwater in rough visibility (usually no more than 5 ft of vis.) and practice buoyancy skills as most dives are only around 15 to 20 ft. Links to your choice of surface marking apparatus would would much appreciated. Must be the red and white flag (no A flag) and must be a minimum of 14"x16". Thanks in advance.
#20384
LatitudeAdjustment - 7/20/2015 4:52 AM
Mike, that one of mine I made out of an old folding tent pole, a fishing float and a big sinker to keep it upright that I found on the bottom of Shark River.

I went with that design because it’s just buoyant enough to float but when swimming under docks or mooring lines I can pull it under. The folding part comes in handy when I go down to Blue Heron Bridge.

I think I have more of the tent pole if you want it. I also saw one made using one of those reflective fibreglass driveway markers.
#12117
Eric_R - 7/22/2015 8:13 PM
I built my own surface float frame that holds a small inner tube. It will fold flat for travel cramped space and you can mount a milk crate on top if you need extra holding capacity.
#46
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Roraima - 8/05/2015 11:31 AM
I use something similar to this, and on night dives I buy a bunch of glow sticks and cover it.
Here’s an idea I heard from another diver (haven’t done it myself but I will soon) He uses a 15ft elastic which stretches to 25ft that way he doesn’t worry about having to reel, he also has various loops so he can adjust. I’m thinking of doing it with surgical tubbing.