Back Roll Entry Head Injury

[DandyDon]

Geez...diving with a baseball cap.

It's fine in still water and a walk-in entry. May have to pull it back on after a stride or roll, and not good in currents. He used what he had. I bet he gets a beanie or hood.

I haven't had to back roll yet. This thread has been educational for me. I'm looking forward to doing it sometime in the future.

It beats walking across a rocking boat. I've done backrolls from boats most were striding from after waddling to the back. Easier if the boat is not too big.

 

[Ayisha]

I have dove from all sorts of boats, and can tell you that you can always look at the water before you back roll.

Before you sit on the edge of the boat, yes, but for smaller divers, once you get up on the edge, that may not be true. For me, my feet don't touch the floor of the boat when I'm on the edge and I need the DM to hold my valve as I'm getting up there or I will just fall back with the weight of the tank no matter how hard I try to hold on. There is no way that I can look behind me and I ask the DM to tell me when it's safe to go and they tell me and let go of my valve. I've had to back roll off many boats and other than a zodiac, the side's too high for me.

 

[MMM]

This probably varies somewhat from boat to boat. In Cozumel, the boat I dive off of, my feet don't reach the floor once I am on the boat edge. So I shift sideways a tad, allowing me to slightly rest one foot on the floor and another on the seat. I find a support for the cover to hang onto to. Then I lean forward to the centre of the boat until it's time to roll. I am diving with a steel 95 and don't require assistance from crew to hold my tank. Are you wearing doubles? I can see myself needing help for that...

Before you sit on the edge of the boat, yes, but for smaller divers, once you get up on the edge, that may not be true. For me, my feet don't touch the floor of the boat when I'm on the edge and I need the DM to hold my valve as I'm getting up there or I will just fall back with the weight of the tank no matter how hard I try to hold on. There is no way that I can look behind me and I ask the DM to tell me when it's safe to go and they tell me and let go of my valve. I've had to back roll off many boats and other than a zodiac, the side's too high for me.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

This probably varies somewhat from boat to boat. In Cozumel, the boat I dive off of, my feet don't reach the floor once I am on the boat edge. So I shift sideways a tad, allowing me to slightly rest one foot on the floor and another on the seat. I find a support for the cover to hang onto to. Then I lean forward to the centre of the boat until it's time to roll. I am diving with a steel 95 and don't require assistance from crew to hold my tank. Are you wearing doubles? I can see myself needing help for that...

floor, boat edge, cover supports.... What?????

 

[chillyinCanada]

Oddly enough, dumpster, I understood her. Be that as it may, seems apparent to me thst her legs are still longer than either mine or Ayisha's. And to reach a cover strut support on my usual boat, MMM would have to have arms like an orangutan.

 

[rx7diver]

I can practically recite, verbatim, the briefing we get from the guy I dive with in Cozumel. "Is everybody ready? Yes? Up on the side of the boat please. On my count of three, everybody roll. If you don't go on three, don't go until the captain says you can go. That way you won't land on top of anyone. OK, 1, 2, 3."

MMM,

Do you intend "One, Two, GO!" or "One, Two, Three, GO!"? Guaranteed, some people will interpret the instructions to mean the former, while others will interpret the instructions to mean the latter--which goes to show that even the clearest instructions can be ambiguous.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

---------- Post added June 16th, 2014 at 09:25 AM ----------

When I'm cox'en of the boat I brief the divers on the entry type and order. Dive site and conditions will dictate the entry I want done. For me the responsibility for the safety of divers getting into and out of the water is mine. When using a commercial operator I expect them to, likewise, ensure my safety during entry and exit.

Edward3c,

Did you mean to write "coxswain"? Maybe "cox'en" is a common nautical/military term, but unfamiliar to me.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[Okie Mike]

Complacency is often the biggest problem. It is an obvious danger (gravity is cruel that way), but not one I had ever really spent time thinking about how to avoid. That has changed and I thought my story could help others. The biggest non-human factor that day was the wind. I rolled down wind and the boat immediately blew right up against me. I do not think the other diver could have seen me right up against the boat. The sides of the boat were only about 2 feet above the water or this could have been much worse. I will be much more aware now of the direction of the wind, the drift of the boat and the other divers around me. I think I will also try the negative entry and just head down. That is not my habit as my first several trips to Cozumel always had us entering the water floating and then descending as a group.

BTW, I really should have gone in for a stitch or at least butterfly bandages. The scar will be very small (1/4 to 1/2 inch), but I think could have been avoided with a little trained medical care. Another lesson learned.

 

[Mike]

Thanks for posting and thanks for being very clear on what happened and taking responsibility. No matter what the conditions only one rule applies upon any entry where divers are not going to immediately descend on the entry and that is - move away from the boat, end of story.

 

[DandyDon]

Complacency is often the biggest problem. It is an obvious danger (gravity is cruel that way), but not one I had ever really spent time thinking about how to avoid. That has changed and I thought my story could help others. The biggest non-human factor that day was the wind. I rolled down wind and the boat immediately blew right up against me. I do not think the other diver could have seen me right up against the boat. The sides of the boat were only about 2 feet above the water or this could have been much worse. I will be much more aware now of the direction of the wind, the drift of the boat and the other divers around me. I think I will also try the negative entry and just head down. That is not my habit as my first several trips to Cozumel always had us entering the water floating and then descending as a group.

BTW, I really should have gone in for a stitch or at least butterfly bandages. The scar will be very small (1/4 to 1/2 inch), but I think could have been avoided with a little trained medical care. Another lesson learned.

I like a negative entry for just this risk. I've had the boat move over me in those winds, even aside from the risk of a late diver entering. Of course you have to be 100% ready. Even if the whole boat doesn't roll together, buddy pairs should - if those are used, not always the case with group diving. I like to meet w ith the group a few feet below.

I think the scar will be cool.

 

[Ayisha]

This probably varies somewhat from boat to boat. In Cozumel, the boat I dive off of, my feet don't reach the floor once I am on the boat edge. So I shift sideways a tad, allowing me to slightly rest one foot on the floor and another on the seat. I find a support for the cover to hang onto to. Then I lean forward to the centre of the boat until it's time to roll. I am diving with a steel 95 and don't require assistance from crew to hold my tank. Are you wearing doubles? I can see myself needing help for that...

I don't wear doubles, but those tricks don't work well for me. I do tend to get up there a little sideways though, for a little more stability, but that doesn't hold me there. I'm probably much shorter than you, and my legs are probably shorter. I've never had a DM mind holding the valve. They seem pretty used to it for petite people.