Tell us about your entanglement experience?

[Ber Rabbit]

I was at our local quarry helping a new diver who was also new to using a drysuit and to diving cold water. We had spent a lot of time on the surface as she was fairly uncomfortable and having problem after problem. We were near the stairs that lead from the platform into the water when her weightbelt fell off. I managed to catch it and bring it up onto the bottom step. She was standing on the third step which left her in hip deep water. I was moving the weightbelt up the stairs one step at a time and struggling a bit with it because it was heavy and I was between her and the 2X4 that serves as a railing for the steps. I get the weightbelt halfway up the steps when I feel a tug on my regulator and realize I've managed to hook the hose over the railing. I try backing up but can't seem to free the reg hose. There are several people on the dock who had been helping us with the weight check but my head is just far enough underwater that I can't ask for help from anyone and no matter how I shift I can get no more than my eyes out of the water and I hadn't brought my snorkel. I keep my primary in while I try switching to my secondary which is bungeed under my chin and discover I have THAT hose hung up as well (it runs under my arm) and the reg ALMOST reaches my mouth...but not quite. Now I'm starting to get those pre-panic thoughts...I'm afraid to remove my reg from my mouth and try to lift my head to ask for help because I'm not sure I'll be able to get my head up high enough to talk and I'm terrified of the possibility I won't be able to get the reg back in my mouth if I shift my position. I lay there face down listening to everyone talk (ears are out of the water that's how shallow I am) and trying to squash the rising panic. We haven't even been under yet I tell myself, this tank is almost full and they will certainly realize there is a problem when you're still laying here in two hours. I get my mind back under control and try backing out again to no avail. I still can't feel where the hoses are caught and I'm still stuck between the railing and my standing dive buddy and SERIOUSLY longing for my snorkel. I remember the story my instructor told me of a local DM or Instructor (don't remember which) who drowned at another local quarry after getting tangled in a line that let him get his eyes out of the quarry but nothing else. He panicked and dropped his reg and drowned, luckily someone in his group noticed and he was freed and revived. I'm determined not to follow in his footsteps and refuse to let go of my reg knowing I can't drown as long as I'm breathing air. However, I can't get help unless I drop the reg and I'm not sure if it will get pulled out of my hand when I try to get my face above the surface. An eternity passes and still nobody is wondering why I'm still face down on the steps, ok maybe it only felt like an eternity but SOMEBODY should have asked if I was ok; I mean they ask if I'm ok when I'm doing NORMAL things why not when my behavior is abnormal. I finally have the courage to remove my reg and try to get someone's attention. I think I grabbed my dive buddy's leg to pull my face above the water and squeak "Give me your reg". She hands it to me and I manage to get in a position where I can free my own regs then return hers. Needless to say I'm feeling a little mentally drained by that time and she's still having issues to we opt to abort the dive.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Guba]

The one time I became entangled was at probably the worst possible moment in my diving experience.
I was towing a seriously distressed partner. We had just entered the water off the Fling (GOM) when he signaled he was in trouble. I got him buoyant, put his reg back in his mouth and started towing him along the line on the port side of the boat toward the stern. Seas were high and current was running heavy, so it was necessary to stay on the down line. What I had forgotten was the short line attached to the float about halfway down the long line. It tangled in my first stage and when I turned to see what had me, it dislodged my mask. Now came the hard decision...do I turn loose of the partner while I untangle or hold on? He answered that one for me by pulling himself past me along the line and I HAD to let go. It took only a few seconds to untangle and clear my mask, then hurry to catch up with him, but it was enough to cause me agony for a long time afterward. He passed out on the ladder, and I had to catch him once again and hand him up to the deckhands. He died on the deck of an aneurism in the brain. Doctors reported later it was not dive related...a pre-existing condition, but the simple doubt of whether I had done the right thing haunted me for quite a while.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

My first real entanglement was in kelp ... on a relatively shallow dive in a place with a lot of surge. I got hung up really good ... so much so that I couldn't untangle myself. I was a fairly new diver at the time, and diving with someone who had a lot more experience than me. As she approached I could almost see in her eyes that she was expecting this ... she came over smiling, gave me a hold signal, and untangled me ... then showed me how to "snap" the kelp stems in case it happened again.

Just recently I entangled myself in my own line. I was running a reel from a down line to a wreck we were exploring at about 180 feet. Lake Washington is completely dark and quite murky at that depth, and it's easy to get a bit disoriented if you're not careful. I realized I was off course, made a quick (too quick) course correction and immediately felt my fin in the line. Turning around to try to free myself only managed to make it a complete wrap. So I signaled my buddy, pointed behind me, and stopped all motion. He quickly got me untangled and we proceeded with our dive. No big deal. Later on, back at the boat, I took the inevitable ribbing ... but hopefully it'll help me remember to be more careful next time ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mello-yellow]

Twice (that I remember) I had a flag line wrap around pony bottle valve. Taking it off took some contortion.

Once I got "caught" on a fisherman's line -- not entangled, the hook actually got stuck in the wetsuit.

Years ago when I still wore the knife on my leg, the knife was what kept getting caught on lobster trap lines. Eventually I wised up and got a Remorah.

So no really dangerous entanglement experiences.

 

[SlowRain]

Several times...most of the time it was when I was on a police department dive team and probably 40%+ of our dives were around and under the ferry docks that are all over the Puget Sound area...so monofilant fishing line mostly, sometimes wire leader (thank goodness for EMT shears). Once on the sunken Hood Canal floating bridge (version one that sunk many moons ago) my partner had a run in with an old gill net...he was pretty cool about not freaking out so cutting him out of it was pretty easy.

Probably the worst one I was a part of was a dive call out into what was in essence a large livestock pond on a farm property looking for a possible drowning victim...the place has been fished extensively and had snags all over the place...near zero visibility. My search partner and I were holding each other's harness straps and he was tied in with the shore support who was letting us out about 4 feet after each sweep. Partner went right into a fallen tree that had fishing line all over it. It took a while to figure out what the problem was and then cutting him away had to be done by feel as I couldn't see.

Not a big deal as we did a lot of what Scuba Crow's group does insofar as training to the problem. It really makes a difference if you get yourself in that situation where you know you are "safe" and learn how to extracate yourself. It does make dealing with the "real thing" a much less stressful process. It is worthwhile to try that sort of thing IF you have it supported and safetied so that anyone going into stress is immediately assisted.

I did get entangled in wrecks twice...both times from line that was apparently laid by divers (it was #36 line, which I would assume wasn't a part of the ship to start with) pentrating the wrecks and for reasons that escape me, they left the stuff in the wreck. One time the line had drifted up towards the overhead and because it was a bit dark and my partner blew the viz I got it caught up in my manifold. The other time was that "fin buckle seeking line" which snared my foot. Call that my pet peeve...if you are going to lay line in a wreck...take the stuff out with you when you leave.

 

[Peter_C]

Diving in the kelp forests we often become entangled in kelp. More so when surface swimming. The first stage is usually what gets caught. Easy enough to free ones self, but having a knife on the front harness and a pair of shears in a pocket definitely adds to ones comfort level. Also practicing donning and doffing gear in the water, builds confidence in freeing yourself. Rigs are set up to be as streamlined as possible. No danglies allowed!

As Bob mentioned, the kelp stalks break pretty easy.

We have seen lots of monofilament, and practiced cutting it, but have never been entangled in it...YET!

 

[jiml]

I was a new diver freediving for abalone. The urge to breathe told me that it was time to surface. During the ascent, I felt my leg get hung up, completely stopping any upward progress. Swallowing the urge to kick frantically for the surface, I looked down and saw that kelp had hooked in my fin strap. It was a simple matter to reach down and pull it out of there. Prior to this happening, I had read, I believe it was in my Advanced Diver Manual (circa 1981), about running your fin straps backwards through the buckle so the free end would be on the inside. I thought “what a great idea, I should do that (when I get around to it)”. Needless to say, I have had the strap threaded that way ever since.

 

[Air On]

I got hung up just this last weekend. I was diving near San Carlos, Mexico off South point of San Pedro island.

I was following two of my three dive buddies for the dive, with 15 foot visability, and a little current behind us. The cool to warm water conversion wasn't quite finished on this trip.

I saw this long brown cord angled across my path, just before I could angle away from it, and though to myself, Wow thats a long string of fish poop. Once I hit it and it arrested my forward motion I knew I was hung up deep water in fishing line though.

First though, cool I get to deploy my dive knife, second though, Crap I better hurry incase someone tries to reel me in. I reach up above me and Grabed a loop of the cord and cut it so i was safe from watever was above. (turns out another boat came in and might have been fishing next to out dive boat while we were down.) Then pulled the line free of my BC, hoses, and yoke. I followed the line down and cut it every couple feet so noone else would get caught in it. I found where the mass of hooks and weights were daped over behind a rock and freed them.

I thought about taking the hooks back up to hang with some of the ones I saw on the back of the dive boat other divers had hung there, but they were too big and too many for me to want to put in my BC pocket. The lead alone must have been at least a pount or two.

So I balled up the hooks and weights, lodged them under the boulder and packed a few rocks in on top of them. I put the cut pieces of line in my BC pocket with the beer can I'd picked up earlier.

I gave the OK sign to the dive buddy that was following me and saw me get hung up and we proceeded to locate our other 2 buddies who hadn't seen me get hung up.

In my head I checked off one more dive experience that I feel "ok" about dealing with and not having any stress over. Even If I'd had to take off my BC to cut it loose, my open water training actually covered this event in pretty good detail.

Thank you JD, my NAUI instructor, for covering these situations.

 

[divad]

A beautiful girl with a gaping chasm of need.

 

[stairman]

Honestly I have never been entangled but my partner has.It was his first time in Little River cave system.I was leading and covering my lighthead each time I would turn a corner,so I could see he was still behind me.Finally I didnt see him coming or his light and turned around heading back out.There he was with the goldline hooked to his manifold.It was simple for me to unhook,and he admitted he never tried which could make things worse.Never go under a line I reminded him,and he said he lost track of it till it got him.