sambolino44
Contributor
I just read a discussion of an apparent reverse squeeze on the ascent from a deep dive. No mention of how deep this particular dive was, but for this discussion, let's use the term "deep dive" to mean deeper than 80 and less than 130 fsw.
I've seen several discussions of equalization that refer to how deep the dive was.
Now, the way I understand equalization it would seem that to a certain extent any discussion of how deep the dive was is irrelevant. My reason for this is that our bodies can only withstand a very small difference in pressure before we suffer pain and damage. So we must equalize after only a small difference in depth, like 5 or at the most 10 feet. OK, maybe we can get all the way to 20 feet without permanent damage, but I can't get anywhere near that deep without having to equalize.
The point is, once you've equalized to the ambient pressure at whatever depth, the whole deal starts all over again.
Now, if someone had a catastrophic injury at 130 ft, say they bumped their head and caused swelling that completely closed their eustachian tubes, I guess you could say that would be worse than the same injury happening at 10 ft. You might be able to get back to the surface in that condition from 10 ft, but no way from 130 ft without some kind of major blow-out. But this example is not typical of the kind of discussion I've seen concerning equalizing and deep dives.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that some people don't seem to understand that, as long as your ability to clear doesn't change over the course of the dive, there's not much difference between a deep dive and a shallow dive, as far as equalization goes. And that's because we can't get very far from whatever depth we equalized at before we have to equalize again.
This all seemed to make perfect sense before I put it in writing, now I'm wondering if I'm getting my point across. I'd like to hear what others have to say about this subject.
I've seen several discussions of equalization that refer to how deep the dive was.
Now, the way I understand equalization it would seem that to a certain extent any discussion of how deep the dive was is irrelevant. My reason for this is that our bodies can only withstand a very small difference in pressure before we suffer pain and damage. So we must equalize after only a small difference in depth, like 5 or at the most 10 feet. OK, maybe we can get all the way to 20 feet without permanent damage, but I can't get anywhere near that deep without having to equalize.
The point is, once you've equalized to the ambient pressure at whatever depth, the whole deal starts all over again.
Now, if someone had a catastrophic injury at 130 ft, say they bumped their head and caused swelling that completely closed their eustachian tubes, I guess you could say that would be worse than the same injury happening at 10 ft. You might be able to get back to the surface in that condition from 10 ft, but no way from 130 ft without some kind of major blow-out. But this example is not typical of the kind of discussion I've seen concerning equalizing and deep dives.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that some people don't seem to understand that, as long as your ability to clear doesn't change over the course of the dive, there's not much difference between a deep dive and a shallow dive, as far as equalization goes. And that's because we can't get very far from whatever depth we equalized at before we have to equalize again.
This all seemed to make perfect sense before I put it in writing, now I'm wondering if I'm getting my point across. I'd like to hear what others have to say about this subject.
