Finger Spools

In the early days of cave diving, guideline reels were not available for purchase and divers made their own using anything they could find. Cave diving pioneer Woody Jasper used a medical tape spool with cover to hold a short length of line for use as a gap reel. North Florida cave diver Bill Hogarth Main popularized using smaller electrical wire spools for safety and jump reels. Today, purpose built finger spools are more ergonomically designed and constructed from more durable materials than the original homemade solutions. The holes in the side allow for clipping a double ended snap anywhere along the perimeter of the finger spool to keep the line tight when not in use. Small and low-profile, a finger spool fits nicely out of the way in a pocket or clipped off to a D-ring. The larger finger spools are also an alternative to reels for shooting lift bags and surface marking tubes.

The spools themselves are all 3.3-inches in diameter and the 100 foot spool is 1.15-inches wide. To make the 150 and 200 foot spools, a stainless tube is TIG welded between the halves to increase the width to 1.75-inches and 2.25-inches respectively. The stainless spools weigh 3.5 oz. for small, 3.9 oz. for medium, and 4.1 oz. for large. Both plastic and stainless are low weight but the typical 2.0 oz. plastic spool is almost too light and the stainless has a better feel in your hand.

Finger Spools Are Not Guideline Reels

The skills required to deploy a finger spool are different than those required to use a typical guideline reel. At first glance the simple spool looks easier, but compared to guideline reels the finger spool requires specific techniques for successful use. If this is your first finger spool then seek advice, get a demonstration, and most importantly you should practice under controlled conditions.

A common usage mistake is rewinding a finger spool in a manner that applies a lot of tension to the line, such as when hanging under a lift bag, causing the line to be very tightly wound on to the spool. Upon re-use the line doesn't smoothly unwind and sticks, causing the entire spool to be jerked out of the fingers or disappear with the lift bag.

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