Reels

Finger reels — for SMB deployment
A finger reel is a small handheld reel that wraps around one or two fingers, leaving your hand free to manage the SMB during deployment. The standard finger reel holds 100 feet of line — more than enough for recreational diving depths to 40 metres, with plenty of reserve. A stainless steel bolt snap at the end of the line clips to the bottom loop of the SMB. When deployed, the reel unspools freely as the SMB ascends, then you can hold tension on the line and ascend along it at a controlled rate. At the surface, the reel rewinds the line for storage. The Saekodive 100-foot finger reel with stainless frame and yellow line is our most popular SMB reel.

Wreck and cave reels — for overhead environments
A larger capacity reel — holding 150 feet or more of heavier line — is used by divers penetrating wrecks or caves to lay a guideline from the open water entry point into the overhead environment. In zero-visibility silt-out conditions or disorientation, the line provides a physical reference back to the exit. Cave and wreck reels have locking mechanisms to prevent uncontrolled unspooling, line clips for attaching to anchor points, and larger handles that are easier to manage with gloved hands. These reels are used in conjunction with specific overhead environment training — never enter a wreck or cave without proper certification and never without a laid guideline.

The combo pack — the simple starting point
The Dive Reel and Marker Buoy Combo Pack pairs a 45-inch high-visibility SMB with a matched finger reel at a combined price lower than purchasing separately. The components are selected to work together — the reel line length, the SMB attachment clip, and the combined deployment method are all coordinated. If you are equipping yourself for the first time with surface marking gear, the combo pack removes the guesswork of matching reel to SMB and provides a ready-to-use system. It fits in most BCD pockets and is the configuration our Divemasters carry on every recreational dive.

Line management during deployment
The most common problem divers encounter with SMB deployment is line tangles — the reel line gets wrapped around fingers, the SMB, or dive equipment during the deployment sequence. The key is to keep the reel in your non-dominant hand, hold the SMB in your dominant hand, exhale air into the inflator to partially fill the tube, then release the SMB and let the reel spin freely. Do not grip the reel tightly or the line will pull you upward with the SMB. Let the reel do its job — it spins, the SMB ascends, and you watch from depth. Practice the sequence in a pool or shallow confined water before your first open-water deployment at depth.