Tell me about your experiences ICE DIVING, learned tips & tricks, and things gone wrong...

[rhwestfall]

It was surprising to take nearly half a day going over and setting up proper equipment configuration. From there, quite a bit of "chalk talk", and then some shore based skills for line management & communication. Then the actual time to properly set up the dive site, and cut the hole. This was a couple day program. It is time consuming to do it right.....

We can give you all types of clues and tidbits we have gleaned from participation, but actually going through the class (with a competent instructor) is of utmost importance.

and yep, here it is again (that damn picture):

 

[Jay Whitehair]

As the original poster of this thread I want to thank you all for the responses. The Ice Diving Operations book is in the mail and I am signed up for a three day cert class for Feb. All good.
Having read the above posts I was stunned to hear that anybody would even think of entering under the ice via the edge or a lead in the middle? As a ice yacht pilot that has spent 1,000's of hours on the ice I can tell you that the surface friction on a large sheet of ice is massive enough to move the plate in any direction, at any moment, with only a few knots of wind! We see it all the time and it can happen in minutes! I have accessed ice plates by long boards over open water and an hour later stepped back on shore directly. We also have crossed many cracks with caution by sailing over them, only to find them shifted by 5 -10 feet shortly after.... and the opposite.... can't cross an open lead on minute and 20 minutes later we have sailed right over.

Never go under the ice from the edge or through an open lead! ice plates are often floating free and a light breeze and wind direction change can move them in moments.

 

[lowviz]

The Ice Diving Operations book is in the mail and I am signed up for a three day cert class for Feb.

Excellent! Just understand that the IDO book is "tender-centric" while recreational ice diving is "diver-centric". The missions differ so you will have to translate what you read from professional to recreational intent. You will read how the pros do it but don't be too harsh on your recreational instructor. The rules are different.

Search and Recovery ice diving is all about the tender directing the 'dope on the rope' to find/retrieve something.

Recreational ice diving is all about the diver having fun.

Either way, IMO, it is the tender's job to be in constant contact/communication with the diver. One diver per tender!!! Freeflows happen and you don't want to be the 'loosely-linked' diver on a two-diver tether if this happens

The difference between the two styles (pro vs. rec) was hammered home on my recreational cert in Canada. Everything went to plan, a badass Peruvian wetsuit diver was my tender. I splashed and loved it! So I proceed to deeper water and the line goes tight. OK, I didn't get very far. I'm thinking that my instructor is REALLY conservative. I had fun doing circles at that distance then headed back to the hole. I said that I didn't get very far! Instructor @abnfrog was laughing, you know how to ask for more line, don't you? Damn. I was previously trained to go out until the line was tight and wait for directions.

Next dive was even more fun. Ice diving is one of those things that you just have to experience, I was in caves. Boring...

 

[shoredivr]

@shoredivr - is that Pat Wollfe in the picture? Windmill Point Park?

Nope, not him. It’s also at the DoLime Quarry just north of Cambridge, Ontario.

 

[abnfrog]

that picture with your s%&t eating grin bob is a classic now

 

[ScubaGypsy]

Detune your regulators down to ~120 while at home. Bring your regulators in at night so they are warm when you get to the dive site. Don't breathe them until you are underwater. Either use doubles or a single with a slung stage bottle and regardless which preference, do not rely on a single back mount tank with a Y or H valve as once a first stage freezes over, the adjoining one will do the same very quickly after. While we are discussing regulators, I highly recommend the Apex MTX-R DIN sets which have been designed for ice diving with a beefy sealed first stage. In general I prefer ScubaPro regulators but after too many issues, I use these MTX when diving in water under 42 F.

And since it is now 2019, soon to be 2020, consider using heated undergarments. At the most basic, use a Thermalution heated vest or suit or better yet, a Light Monkey heated base (which will also require a dual valve bulkhead and external battery). Santi also offers heated undergarments and gloves though my experience with their gloves have been disappointing. Dry gloves are a must. I prefer Kubi but there are numerous other choices about too. Also, don't forget to add shoe spikes for above surface moving around.

I enjoy ice diving and have done both tendered with a clip on my D-ring and have done cave style with my own primary reel. Learn about the tender techniques but ultimately, the cave style is preferred (and granted, that message should have been posted with more care than it was). Once one experiences getting pulled in from below while enjoying a dive because of line miscommunications, the cave style will be appreciated and preferred.

Here's a link to our last ice dive under Lake Champlain at the mouth of Shelburne Bay (just south of Burlington) Vermont in March 2019. As can be seen, this dive was done cave style on a wreck. Also note the beautiful visibility we had at a 100' below in an area that has 5-10' in the summer. Water temperature was 31 F.

I love ice diving and have just signed up to ice dive under the White Sea in Russia for a week in March 2020.

Best wishes in your pursuit. Ice diving has much to offer but it is no place to take lightly.

 

[lowviz]

I enjoy ice diving and have done both tendered with a clip on my D-ring and have done cave style with my own primary reel. Learn about the tender techniques but ultimately, the cave style is preferred (and granted, that message should have been posted with more care than it was). Once one experiences getting pulled in from below while enjoying a dive because of line miscommunications, the cave style will be appreciated and preferred.

Please offer a bit more detail concerning line miscommunication and the alleged superiority (for the AOW novice ice diver) of the cave style. I'm not so sure about handing a reel to an AOW student with limited to no reel experience.

In my pro training, we were required to use a harness with a centered sternum D-ring for endless good reasons. Swim out to tighten the line, turn around, hit the dirt, face the line, and wait for line instructions before starting a regular pattern search.

My rec training used a shoulder D-ring for nothing more than convenience. Absolutely freaking forget two divers on one line. Many do it as it moves inductees through the experience twice as efficiently...

 

[ScubaGypsy]

Please offer a bit more detail concerning line miscommunication and the alleged superiority (for the AOW novice ice diver) of the cave style. I'm not so sure about handing a reel to an AOW student with limited to no reel experience.

Cave style has no place for AOW. Cave style is for full cave certified divers who are comfortable handling a primary reel.

As far as miscommunications with tethered lines, it is not unusual for a tender to feel a couple pulls on a line that are the result of the line hitting an underwater structure (wreck, rock, etc) and misinterpreting the resistance and then pull the diver up. Meanwhile the diver is getting pulled quickly to the surface without recourse. This is a much more common occurrence than folks may suppose and it's quite dangerous for the diver.

Thinking and experienced divers prefer to be in control of their own destinies and to solve any issues they have underwater. Cave diving style promotes and trains this sort of thinking and behaviors.

 

[lowviz]

Ah!

Your explanation details why my rec instructor would instantly correct the tender if the line went slack even for a moment.

 

[Jay Whitehair]

@ScubaGypsy - Thanks for the video link.... but I had already watched it many times before I even posted this thread : )
It is one of the best ice vids out there... Also, thanks for all of your advice. You and the others above have stirred some debates and this is all good for me to read about. When I attend my class in Feb it will be all the more interesting to compare notes of techniques. Coincidentally, my cert class is on Champlain as well.
Thanks guys.
j