Claims made about ascending vertical vs horizontal

[34109411]

Just some CCR viewpoints from plenty of time spent decompressing...

• Horizontal is much slower to change should you have a buoyancy issue; both ascending or descending
• For those who've never dived in crappy topsides conditions, waves do throw your buoyancy out.
• It's normal to have slight changes in depth in waves pushing you around a bit. Obviously on CCR you've no breath control for buoyancy so you can either:
  • Dump/inflate which is a surefire way of running out of diluent/drysuit gas.
  • You can use your fins to control your depth. Do a kind of dolphin kick to drop or rise the gnats tadger you need to get back into equilibrium.
  • Alternatively, you can scull your fins from side to side to pull yourself up slightly
  • (Only if nobody's looking) and you need to react quickly, you could thrust your arms down/up which also adjusts buoyancy
  • Dirty secret method: grab your bouncing SMB reel or line to get some weight to drop down (we use man-sized Kent Tooling reels), or slightly pull on the SMB to move up. If you do this a lot, you'll get lazy and doing the worse thing, rely on this.
• After umpteen hours of this, you kind of get used to being horizontal and in control.
• Lazy shot lines are great, but you rely upon them and rapidly become lazy. Trapezes are a bitch when there's lots of wave action above. They're brilliant as depth references.

Just a cultural thing; the above is normal around here. Earlier this year I dived in the Caribbean on a recreational boat. Was flabbergasted to see people vertical in the water for their safety stop. Nothing wrong with it and when someone explained to me about the boat traffic risk it seemed a good thing.

Was just plain odd though and quite a few of those people were not not neutral, relying on constant finning to stay at one depth.

I ve been living in the caribeean for 3 years dove mainly in mexico east coast, belize and honduras. I dont recall to have seen people doing safety stop horizontaly. dont ask me why i do recall that when i was diving the blue hole (and did it like 4-5 time) people where doing safety stop vertically.

it doesn't really matter honestly as long as you do it in a safe manner. I ve veen doing it for more than 200 dives in all positions (lol) still alive.

cheers

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Which brings us to...do ears work better in horizontal or vertical trim?

Well, our ears are complex, and through millions of years of evolution are optimized to work in air. The speed characteristics of sound which messes up our ears ability to tell direction.

So the answer to your question is it doesn't make a difference.

(and yes, I know you were joking, but I had the pleasure of studying under Dr. Hynek Hermansky at OGI in the 90s. What he told us that wasn't in books are things I'll never forget).

 

[grantmac]

We choose to dive in trim and do the other things.
Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

 

[pauldw]

We choose to dive in trim and do the other things.
Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

I hear he almost became a de facto Navy diver.

 

[Pressurehead]

Let's be honest, when diving solo [a lot us do] , do you stay in trim, doing your own thing, having fun and having a good look around?

And at times we like to show off [when others are watching] and be that horizontal 'wonder' in perfect trim.
OK, guilty.

I hear he almost became a de facto Navy diver.

I spat coffee over my keyboard, love it.

Edit: One dive not far from where I live I was straight up and down ascending watching the whaler shark doing a large circle around me to the safety stop, no way was I about to look like I am still in bed half asleep.
Wolf Rock, Here: https://wolfrockdive.com.au/

 

[rongoodman]

I ve been living in the caribeean for 3 years dove mainly in mexico east coast, belize and honduras. I dont recall to have seen people doing safety stop horizontaly. dont ask me why i do recall that when i was diving the blue hole (and did it like 4-5 time) people where doing safety stop vertically.

There were at least two on our boat a couple of weeks ago.

 

[The Chairman]

Let's be honest, when diving solo [a lot us do] , do you stay in trim, doing your own thing, having fun and having a good look around?

I do. Having taught, I'm always setting an example, even when others aren't around. It's why I make it look effortless. Also, it really conserves air. I'd rather not surface before I have to. I tend to dive slow in the company of others. Slower still if there's no one around.

 

[sandcruiser]

I'd rather be slightly negatively buoyant on ascent, and use my legs to propel myself upward. That's pretty difficult to do if I'm horizontal.

Relying on my legs to go up vs. keeping my BCD perfectly trimmed means that I can breath freely and completely without pooching my buoyancy. I don't mind kicking gently on a safety stop nearly so much as I mind an uncontrolled ascent.

 

[yallerhon]

We're all divers and as long as they aren't silting out the place, I have no big beef with them doing things differently. Dive and let dive.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[johndiver999]

I'd rather be slightly negatively buoyant on ascent, and use my legs to propel myself upward. That's pretty difficult to do if I'm horizontal.

Relying on my legs to go up vs. keeping my BCD perfectly trimmed means that I can breath freely and completely without pooching my buoyancy. I don't mind kicking gently on a safety stop nearly so much as I mind an uncontrolled ascent.

This is a safe way to ascend and requires less skill than a slightly buoyant ascent. As someone gets more skilled and comfortable with it, the less effort they need to put into kicking.

I see some very experienced and skilled divers doing a kicking ascent in videos pretty often. I guess they like it this way and I always wonder if the very low intensity kicking motion might actually be beneficial with respect to circulation and consequently, offgassing as well?