12 boys lost in flooded Thai cave

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I thought about this a little and believe I have been in that cave complex. The kids are smaller than the divers. Theoretically, they should slide right through. Esp with Pony bottles. They have lots of muscle on the scene as well. I'm guessing they set it up with people all along the passage so the kids get pushed yanked through each obstacle with no time to panic. Wetsuits would be a plus though. Kids would be warm and wouldn't be getting cut up on the rock.
 
I'm a little surprised (but maybe I shouldn't be) at how non-cave divers view the dangers of cave diving. I'm not a cave diver but from all I've learned, cave diving is no joke. I think some posters are making light of the fact that cave diving is downright dangerous in these particular circumstances (low visibility, currents and tight confined spaces where the divers had to remove their scuba gear to pass) and the fact that none of these boys know how to swim.

I am not underestimating the Thai Navy SEALS, but I hope they consider the cave divers' expertise. After all, we're talking about cave diving here, not extracting hostages from a terrorist situation.

There's also a discussion going on at the Cave Diver's Forum:

Football team trapped in Thai cave complex

I hope it's not against the rules to link to another forum.
 
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I wonder if the British divers have to use weight to submerge or do their big shiny brass balls provide enough negative ballast? Do their drysuits have to be specially fitted? Do they clang together with every frog kick?
Both Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were involved in the failed attempt to recover the bodies of the two Finnish divers who perished in Plura, Norway. That project was discontinued without recovering the bodies due to the risk being too big.

What does that say about the size of the balls of the Finnish divers who recovered those bodies?
 
Both Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were involved in the failed attempt to recover the bodies of the two Finnish divers who perished in Plura, Norway. That project was discontinued without recovering the bodies due to the risk being too big.

What does that say about the size of the balls of the Finnish divers who recovered those bodies?

It's stupid to recover a dead body unless the recovering is 100% safe (ZERO risks for the team), you won't end with a third or forth dead body.
You don't need any bravery in a 100% safe situation, and if it wasn't safe enough, that's not bravery.. it's stupidity.
So you're saying that those two Finnish divers were more careless than the other two? Not sure if it's something to be proud of.
 
Hi Storker, I recall that disaster in the Plura cave complex. Without question a very complex situation with frigid temperatures to boot. With all the resources in place for this Thai rescue I believe it will be successful. Time and temperature is on their side, and they are also receiving nutrition & medical assistance. I don't recall seeing so many participants in a rescue before. It will be very interesting to see how it progresses. With all the experts on hand I have good confidence they'll succeed.

Still can't believe the soccer coach would take the whole team to such a place!? What on earth was he thinking!?
 
So you're saying that those two Finnish divers were more careless than the other two?
How the heck did you read that from what I wrote?

IOW: I didn't say that.
 
Cave rescue expert Anmar Mirza says the greatest danger in rescuing 12 boys and their soccer coach is diving them out.
Source: CNN

Cave expert: Diving kids out could be fatal - CNN Video

@Rhone Man just shared this excellent BBC article about the Plura, Norway body recovery dives.

The cave divers who went back for their friends

I signed up for Netflix just to watch Diving into the Unknown, which is a documentary about that rescue.

https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80167626
 
Still can't believe the soccer coach would take the whole team to such a place!? What on earth was he thinking!?

He probably wasn't aware how dangerous it would be if it flooded. Or that it was likely to flood. They walked in, they didnt swim.

I crawled through all kinds of caves with my Girl Scout troop at that age. It was adventurous, we never really considered not getting back out.
 
How the heck did you read that from what I wrote?

IOW: I didn't say that.

I'm reading your message again and the meaning doesn't change, you said that two of the most expert cave divers in the world tried to recover two dead bodies but they give up due to the high risks. But then two other divers recovered them, so they supposed to have "bigger balls". If the conditions have changed and so their attempt was completely safe, it would be a commendable gesture but no extraordinary; on the other side, if they recovered the dead bodies in a high risk situation, waived by two expert cave divers, that's not bravery, again, it's irresponsibility. The two expert divers give up the recovery because of the high (hence not acceptable) risks of recovering the bodies of two (already) dead persons, not because it was impossible.

However here we're talking about 13 alive guys, a completely different scenario, where the (acceptable) risk bar is much higher.
 
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