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Hot take: I stopped using a lift bag for small salvage jobs after a tricky recovery in Tampa Bay
Everyone says you need a proper lift bag for any metal salvage, but I was working on a 200 pound outboard motor in 30 feet of water. The current was ripping and setting a bag felt like overkill. I ended up using two contractor trash bags I had in the truck, filled them with air from my bailout bottle, and rigged them with poly line. Got it to the surface in one piece. Has anyone else found simpler ways to handle what the book says needs heavy gear?
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pat_park526mo ago
Nice, the old trash bag lift. Sometimes the fancy gear just gets in the way of a good redneck rig. You probably saved more time messing with that than setting a real bag in that current. Just don't try that with anything bigger unless you want a plastic confetti party.
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patricia786mo ago
Forget saving time, that's a safety hazard waiting to happen. A real lift bag has a proper valve and rated strength. That trash bag could pop from a sharp edge you didn't see, sending gear straight to the bottom. I've seen a cheap rig fail and cost someone a whole outboard motor. The current just makes a flimsy fix even more risky. Proper gear exists for a reason.
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