What is this atomic number 30 of which thou dost speaketh?
That's for me to know, but get enough drinks in me and one might be able to find out :14:
Boy, that seems weird about the lost diver exercise. If someone tells me to hold, I'm going to HOLD; I'm not going to assume they're lost and go looking for them.
This was not a lost diver exercise; we had no reason to believe he was lost, nor that he had left the line. He had simply gone forward beyond where we could see him. "Hold" is a command response signal, not a vow "till death do us part." Cave divers especially must always be able to think and act on their own based on a reasonable and logical perception of the situation, especially if left behind... b/c that's what you are in that situation, on your own.
There's a great essay by George Irvine about the 18,000 foot penetration in Wakulla, where on exit they get a little confused, and he tells the team to hold and he goes looking for the right path. He is enormously proud of them because they DO hold for several minutes while he searches. Beginning to second-guess the leader and go looking for him seems to me to be a recipe for at best a lot of confusion, as A is searching where he thought B went, and B is back looking for A where he told him to stay.
I'd suggest leaving George Irvine out of this BTW, because I don't ask "What would George do?," I can think for myself; I'm NOT DIR. :14:
Once we noted that our third was approaching, we calculated how much further we could follow the line looking for him, and had we reached the third first, would have appropriately left a backup light and slate indicating we had left. Yes, this is the last part of the lost diver drill, but in this scenario, it would have been more likely that the lead diver went too far ahead and became separated. Rule of thirds is never to be violated, so you mark your turnaround point w/ light and slate for the diver to see, so if they return, there is no question where you are.
It could be a deliberate way of creating a confusing situation to see what the reaction is. If the instructor just disappears then the standard lost diver protocol comes into play. If he tells students to hold,then disappears for an unduly long time, the students have a tough decision to make. How long do you hold for? 1 minute? 10? An hour ? 1/3rds?
Exactly... We were holding, but knew our 1/3 was approaching. We could either continue to hold a few more minutes and turn right there when 1/3 reached, or use the remaining time in our 1/3 to proceed a bit further to hopefully find and signal the turn to lead diver. Either way, when you've used your 1/3, it's time to go. No sense risking two or more divers looking for someone who may have already left or is already a goner...
Zinc: You need to remember those wingnuts. Its becoming a habit
Yup, seems like some lessons are being learned out of the water... I'm gonna put like 6 wingnuts and some extra O-rings on a bungee and leave it in my travel bag. I've got these extras in my regular bag, but because Germans got a jeep we couldn't lock, we left most everything not needed at his house.
