Keep the line taut and you won't birdnest any reel.
Printable View
Keep the line taut and you won't birdnest any reel.
+1 Always seemed to work for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slüdge
Me too. I have been using DR reels for 15 yrs. Only problem has been user error, not keeping the line taut. No big deal to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Line Squirrel
Can you guys/girls keep the line taut going in the main spring entrance at Manatee? :roll:
Taught enough. The current actualy helps you there, if you pay out too much line the current carries it back so it doesn't bird nest.
When exploring and making blind tie offs in bad viz, then reeling in the same conditions, or backing out of a tight tunnel that does not go and reeling in, tie offs sometimes come off, soft rock etc.. it is very easy to birdnest a reel and especially easy with DR ones, don't give me this bull that no one has done it I don't believe it for a second.
It has nothing to do with how good you are at laying line, at some point you will birdnest a reel period, there is a huge difference between casually laying line from the entrance of a cave in good viz to the mainline and actually laying line, they have nothing in common other than ....line, so this "just keep it taught" and it wont happen stuff is complete bull, it will happen to everyone at some point.
The big difference between a 30 second inconvenience and having to cut a reel free is a good reliable well designed reel.
I have had to cut a reel free due to birdnesting and call a dive a few times and it was always a DR reel, they just are not well made or well designed.
I have found that the DR ones, once birdnested are really hard to undo underwater especially in zero viz. Try undoing a nicely birdnested DR reel in your own home sitting in your favorite chair in less than 5 mins, then try it in a cave in zero viz.
The Salvo, Halcyon (light Monkey or whatever it is) are really hard to birdnest in the first place, you would have to actually want to birdnest them as the quality of manufacturing allows for a precise tight design that does not allow line to pass between reel and handle, the LG reels have a different design that works really good, there is a lot of room between reel and handle so it is very easy to untangle should it ever birdnest.
The DR reels are so badly made that the line can slip between the reel and handle and the space is only slightly wider than #24 line so when it does start to birdnest if you don't catch it immediately and the line goes roud a few times good luck, even outside sitting in the back of my truck it takes a good five mins or so to untangle.
It is as though DR designed they're reels to be really hard to undo if they get birdnested.
Again to those of you who think I am bashing DR, I am not I am simply stating a fact that you all know is true, DR reels suck and are expensive for what they are too.
A good reliable well designed reel is an essential piece of gear, for any cave but especially when exploring or in bad viz caves.
I think DR is really taking customers for a ride with they're reels when they charge as much as a Salvo/Light Monkey (yeah, yeah I know!!) Halcyon or LG reel and for what? a cheap piece of plastic that looks ok for an SMB deployment in OW and falls apart very quickly.
However DR regs and dive computers are great I use them and really like them a lot.
"Always" may have been a poor choice. "Usually" would have been better.
Of course I've bird nested a reel here and there, but it's not often enough to be a major concern. I've never bird nested one bad enough to have to cut the line or bring it up in a big ball of spaghetti.
I have never birdnested a reel so bad that I needed to cut it, except DR ones, once the line has wound itself a few times around it is very hard to get it out and in a cave forget it.
Even after the dive sitting outside it takes a while to undo.
All my dive buddies here agree with me and we don't even use any DR reels anymore on any dives they are so bad.
Hey maybe I am super unlucky or I maybe suck so bad at undoing jammed reels but this has NEVER ever happened to me with other reels of the brands mentioned in my previous post.
I actually practice this in my pool, I jam reels and practice unjamming them underwater with no mask on, and all of them are fast and easy to undo except the DR ones.
Hehehehe, actually yes and more importantly have done it coming out. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by FW
Brother get a grip. Laying line or having a casual dive in a cave can and is just as important to whoever is making the dive. I have a tub full of reels and some of them are DR reels. All of them can and will jam. I have seen a "Halcyon" style reel (not sure exactly who's it was) jammed pretty darn bad and that was on a dive to push new cave, so what. DR reels can be unjammed fairly quickly if a little time is spent figuring out an easy way to solve the problem. I have had people give me their DR reels from broken spools, which I appreciate. I honestly don't know what I do different but I have a few DR reels that are a couple of decades old, knock on wood, that have the first spools that came with them. I don't understand what causes them to crack but I have not had one happen to me even with the ones others have donated.Quote:
Originally Posted by phillip1
IMHO get a reel and practice with it. They all have their upsides and down sides. For me the "Halcyon" style from primary down are too small in the handle size for me due to my big arthritic mits. The exploration reel I have is large enough that it does not cramp my hands and works well. Heck I have one of the "unjammable" jump reels that is completely encased. I have found a way to jam it but then again it is fairly easy to fix as well.
Bobby