Any Ice Divers Out There ?

[tentacle13]

I would also like to begin Ice diving. My parents still live in Minnesota, I go back quite often. Get up north by Bemidji or Duluth?

 

[padiscubapro]

same gear I use on wreck or cave dives..except I always wear dry gloves when Ice diving, The regs are poseidon odin and cyclon with no enviromental kit and they have never frozen. (I have had my dry suit freeze once out of the water, had to take a warm shower with suit on to be able to unzip the zipper!). The temp is usually somewhere around 0f the coldest its been was -25f the water felt warm when you got in!, That dive required someone to keep the water moving in the hole as it started to freeze as soon as there was no movement.


This year I will be doing it on my CCR, it should be much warmer.

Training - from cave and wreck penetration experience.
We usually use Ice screws or chain saw to cut through the ice. I try and dive once a year in lake George ny, ice is usually under a foot thick, byt 1 year it was about 2 ft thick. We send 2 diver in at a time, both tethered each has a tender with a safety diver ready.

 

[o2diver]

Wish we had soom ice, the water would have been warmer. out last Sat. in a river in northern Ont. 30 deg at 50ft. down 29min. TOO cold. Came out of the water one hand warm the other cold.
Time for dry gloves now.
TTFN

 

[ninja]

Every Sunday morning at the church of H2O!!!

We wear our dir wreck set ups with dry gloves of course and a whole lot of repsect and cautious planning and implementation.

wreck training is a must , or a padi ice divers course.


Have fun!!


NINJA:ninja:

 

[iceberg]

I just completed my Padi Ice diver on the 15th. The two of us who took the course used the same gear we use in open water. Beuchat vx-1- iceberg reg, I dove neo dry suit, other used viking extreme with 400gram OMS undergarment. We went down within 20 feet of a wreck we new was there and got to do a little exploration there as well. Max depth was about 25 feet. We were tethered together and to the surface. Water temp 26-29 deg. Great dives!

 

[jmsdiver]

Why does one need cave diving to dive under ice?? I can understand the wreck diving argument, but cave seems pretty extreme to me.

I would like to thank all of the above respondants; I also like to say there are quite a few crazy people out there (other than cave divers) I am enjoying the ice diving experiences that I have been having since I got the ol' drysuit fixed (read replaced due to bad placement of dump valve).

 

[MikeFerrara]

IMO, the more overhead training and experience with lines the better. However, there are many considerations in ice diving that will never be addressed by a Florida cave instructor. Some divers lay line under the ice and skip the teather (get cave trained before doing this). That is much more like cave diving. Diving on a teather doesn't have much in common with cave other than the overhead. IMO, under the ice is a great place to learn to dive under ice.

 

[Lost Yooper]

Originally posted by jmsdiver
Why does one need cave diving to dive under ice?? I can understand the wreck diving argument, but cave seems pretty extreme to me.

You don't need to be cave trained to dive under the ice. Heck, I'm not cave trained, wreck trained, or ice diving trained (not that I'm advocating anyone else here do this cuz I certainly am NOT). However, I have been in and out of wrecks since I was certified and have learned a ton on my own -- no decent instructors up here anyway. I do want to take a cave class someday though. Anyway, I approach an ice dive like a very advanced wreck penetration dive. Based on the "PADI" ice divers I've seen and the gear and what not they use, it is MY opinion that you would get more out a good cave class. I could be wrong, and probably am .

Take care.

Mike

 

[MikeFerrara]

I see an advantage in cave training regardless of what kind of diving your doing. I start my cave training next month. I don't know how much time I will be able to spend in caves (i hope a lot) but I intend on getting the training anyway. BTW, PADI trained ice divers can use a Hogarthian config if they want. We can even ditch the snorkle for ice dives! Had to stick that in.

 

[Lost Yooper]

Originally posted by MikeFerrara
BTW, PADI trained ice divers can use a Hogarthian config if they want. We can even ditch the snorkle for ice dives! Had to stick that in.

Doh! What is this world coming to?



Mike