Jackson Blue Spring Cave Video - Oct-08

[SuPrBuGmAn]

and honest!

 

[Rick Murchison]

Let's see if I can help with this line decision thingy...
Been a while since I was at JB, but the last time I was there the mill pond was so high there was reverse flow and the vis went to zip squat nothing.
My decision to run a line or not is easy... I just ask myself if I can safely exit with my mask off and my eyes damaged... that is, blind.
For JB that means I always run a line.
Next time you're in there, just close your eyes and exit without a line - you might learn something about your abilities - and the flow - you don't know.
Also, if you haven't read the attached article yet, read it.

Rick

 

[denisegg]

Wow! What a story! And what a testament to never taking anything for granted.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I just think that, for every trained cave diver watching these videos, there are probably a dozen people who are intrigued with the idea of diving in caves. (I know I watched TONS of video before I ever got underground ) Remember the two OW divers we saw swim into JB, Rob? I can just hear them saying, "Oh, we don't need to run line into the JB cavern, because the flow will get us out." They might be right, but I remember you being fairly upset about them going in there . . .

Oh, I totally agree with the warning. I just wanted to point out, those of us that choose not to run a line usually do it after careful consideration. I do realize there are divers out there that don't do it for the wrong reasons, but those are usually not trained cave divers. They are the OW divers like we saw that day.

Next time you're in there, just close your eyes and exit without a line - you might learn something about your abilities - and the flow - you don't know.
Also, if you haven't read the attached article yet, read it.

I've done both (exited with eyes closed and read the article). The flow in JB isn't so much what directs me out as is the wall to the left when exiting that will get me to the cavern. In a zero visibility situation, I would also deploy a reel from the gold line to OW so I'd always have a reference back to the gold line. The article is a great one!


Thanks, Jon. The primary light actually isn't too bad in that video. It illuminated enough that I wasn't sure what you were using.

 

[jviehe]

Let's see if I can help with this line decision thingy...
Been a while since I was at JB, but the last time I was there the mill pond was so high there was reverse flow and the vis went to zip squat nothing.
My decision to run a line or not is easy... I just ask myself if I can safely exit with my mask off and my eyes damaged... that is, blind.
For JB that means I always run a line.
Next time you're in there, just close your eyes and exit without a line - you might learn something about your abilities - and the flow - you don't know.
Also, if you haven't read the attached article yet, read it.

Rick

Again, no arguments here. Im still going to do it my way, but you are totally right.

 

[cmufieldhockey8]

That article is an excerpt from a book.. Shadow Diver perhaps? or The Last Dive?

 

[Dive-aholic]

Neither. AFAIK, it's just an article that's made its way around the web. I believe I first read it on TDS.

 

[Rick Murchison]

That article is an excerpt from a book.. Shadow Diver perhaps? or The Last Dive?

Attribution is in the first line of the article... It's a narrative of a real dive by DrMike, and was originally posted by DrMike on TDS three years ago. It is reprinted and distributed with his permission. Please feel free to distribute it far and wide as it may get someone to rethink their navigation strategy, and maybe even prevent a fatality. I can guarantee it sure got my attention!
Rick