Ditching weight II

[Garrobo]

There's another thread already which asks a question about whether anyone is guilty of ditching their weights. What I'd like to know is WHY or in what dangerous situation would one ditch their weights?

 

[NudeDiver]

Well, my answer was in the other thread, mostly but here it is again. Notes right from my dive log:

Bad dive!! Seemed to drop and drop until I finally stablized at almost 26m in a cloud of dust. I was completely disoriented and could not see a thing - lost my buddies. I tried to stay calm and used my compass and gauge to combat vertigo and get back to the surface. I waited for some 25 minutes before I finally saw my two buddies at the surface.

My issue was that I was over weighted, significantly so. When I let the air out of my BC, I dropped like a rock. It was fun for a while, but at some point, I realized that adding air to my BC was not helping. Keep in mind that this was also very cold water, so while I was dumping air like mad into my BC, I was also in danger of freezing up my first stage. Just before I was about to ditch some weight, I started to slow down - and eventually stopped, at 26m (which was not the bottom) - and 0 viz. Way too deep for me, esp. since I was all alone. Not a real pleasant feeling. I could have easily bought the farm right there.

So, reasons why people might ditch would be in a case like this (diver error, over weighted). Also, maybe in case of BC malfunction - unable to hold air at all, drop like a rock until you hit bottom or ditch some weight. In my case, I was in a drysuit - I could have added air to that in case the BC failed - better than nothing, but not quite the same thing.

This little 9 minute near-disaster dive was actually one of my best dives, because I learned a LOT and proved to myself I could handle a pretty rough situation on little notice. It was worth doing - but I would prefer to avoid repeating this experience.

Hope this helps!
nd

 

[dpbishop]

An uncontrolled ascent could cause an embolism, DCS, or other potentially deadly conditions. Drowning will kill you. If that's the choice, drop the weight belt.

 

[NudeDiver]

An uncontrolled ascent could cause an embolism, DCS, or other potentially deadly conditions. Drowning will kill you. If that's the choice, drop the weight belt.

A pessimistic way of looking at it - An uncontrolled ascent could cause brain damage, physical disability and a lifetime of hardship for you and your family - possibly causing you and them to wish you were simply dead. Drowning will ensure you are.

Ditch your weights or not? It's all a matter of perspective.

 

[Nemrod]

My answer was in the other thread.

N

 

[seaducer]

My answer was in the other thread also, but I might add a bit as well.

Primarily I would ditch on the surface stranded in a high sea.

Also, if I exhausted my gas supply dealing with an entanglement or lost in a wreck and needed to get up now. It is better to deal with DCS/embolism on the surface than water in your lungs at depth.

 

[TSandM]

I would drop my weights at the surface, if I had a malfunction (hole in wing, for example) that was impairing my ability to remain buoyant there. I'd drop them at the surface if I thought I was going to have a LONG (hours) wait before getting out of the water.

I can think of no conceivable reason or scenario where I would drop my weights at depth.

 

[Puffer Fish]

I would drop my weights at the surface, if I had a malfunction (hole in wing, for example) that was impairing my ability to remain buoyant there. I'd drop them at the surface if I thought I was going to have a LONG (hours) wait before getting out of the water.

I can think of no conceivable reason or scenario where I would drop my weights at depth.

I'm with you ...only dropped by weights one time and that was to swim to shore...around 5 miles away...but the hole in wing would be another great reason.

 

[NudeDiver]

I would drop my weights at the surface, if I had a malfunction (hole in wing, for example) that was impairing my ability to remain buoyant there. I'd drop them at the surface if I thought I was going to have a LONG (hours) wait before getting out of the water.

I can think of no conceivable reason or scenario where I would drop my weights at depth.

So, if you had a hole in at the surface, you'd drop weights, but if you had a big gaping hole at depth that prevented the BC from holding any air, and you'd keep your weights? Am I understanding this correctly?

If the "balanced rig" is the answer here - then why isn't it an answer at the surface?

 

[hudson]

There is a safe amount of weight you can ditch towards the beginning of your dive, the weight of air in your tanks + maybe 1-2 pounds, that would not cause you to cork to the surface.

So if the amount of weight on your belt exceeds that number, keeping a separate set of ditchable weights is necessary if your rig is too heavy to swim up and you don't have redundant buoyancy.