Getting separated on a Coz reef dive...

[TheRedHead]

Why do you need a knot in your spool line at 15 feet anyway? If I had to blow a bag, I would probably do it at 30 feet.

 

[ggunn]

Why do you need a knot in your spool line at 15 feet anyway? If I had to blow a bag, I would probably do it at 30 feet.

It's pretty far back in the thread now. I said that when I have to make a safety stop without the DM nearby, I inflate my buoy at about 20 feet. I have a 15' line attached to it and clipped to my BC, so it hauls me up to 15', where I set myself a little negative and hang from it for the duration. It's on a light line and lightweight clip, so any passing boat that may grab it will just tear it away rather than jerking me out of the water.

Much discussion ensued, none of which has convinced me that it is a bad idea. ;^)

 

[Nevis Diver]

Sorry...not to keep this going, but I thought some of you may find this interesting.

Today, when my divemaster came in from teh trip, he was explaining how strong the currents were today. He used his line as an example...he said he had ALL of his line out, all 120ft of it...he was physically between 50 and 60 feet. Good thing he wasn't depending on a knot in the line

Also, a good thing he didn't have a new diver clinging to the line doing a safety stop.

 

[TheRedHead]

Much discussion ensued, none of which has convinced me that it is a bad idea. ;^)

It's highly frowned upon. Why don't you get an inexpensive little spool and you can shoot your bag fairly deep and not have the concern of blowing a deco stop. When I took my class with Deep Exposure, I shot a bag every other dive and in a stiff current, there was quite a bit of horizontal play in the line.

 

[ggunn]

It's highly frowned upon. Why don't you get an inexpensive little spool and you can shoot your bag fairly deep and not have the concern of blowing a deco stop. When I took my class with Deep Exposure, I shot a bag every other dive and in a stiff current, there was quite a bit of horizontal play in the line.

"Highly frowned upon" by whom? What's the worst that could happen?

We've been over this before, but with me pulling down on the line, there's virtually zero horizontal play at only 15 feet, and even if there were some, it wouldn't make much difference to my depth. And I'm not even talking about a deco stop; it's a safety stop; if I didn't even do it at all it's unlikely it would make any difference.

I've done this quite a bit, in plenty of current, and I've watched the depth readout on my computer sit rock solid on 15 feet, so I know from direct experience that it works. True, if an unexpected hurricane comes up suddenly while I'm at my safety stop, and a mysterious extremely shallow 20 knot current sweeps by right over my head at the same time, my buoy might sweep over 45 degrees off vertical and I'll be at 11 feet instead of 15 and not know it, if both my computer and mechanical depth gauges have failed at the same time all the rest of this is happening and for some reason I can't look around and see what is going on. And still I would have only blown a safety stop by four feet.

Jeez, you'd think I'd advised newbies to strap their weight belts around their necks or something. ;^)

 

[TheRedHead]

It's highly frowned upon by just about everyone and specifically mentioned as a no-no in my TDI manual. The worst that could happen would be an AGE from being jerked up 5 feet, having your SMB run over by a boat would be the 2nd worst.

At the end of a dive, I'm pretty neutral so I can't keep my line perfectly vertical so I use a reel. You seem comfortable with it so I'm not going to fuss about it.

 

[ggunn]

It's highly frowned upon by just about everyone and specifically mentioned as a no-no in my TDI manual.

Do you have an on line reference for that? I'd like to read it.

At the end of a dive with BC dumped, I can be either positive, negative, or neutral, depending on how much residual air I carry in my lungs.

 

[Christi]

OK...none of us have a clue of what we're doing. 2000+/- dives of shooting a bag here haven't taught me nothing. And forget about Pedro, and Arturo and Betsy etc. who have double or triple the dives that I do here....they're all clueless too.

 

[TheRedHead]

Do you have an on line reference for that? I'd like to read it.

At the end of a dive with BC dumped, I can be either positive, negative, or neutral, depending on how much residual air I carry in my lungs.

TDI's Decompression Procedures manual (my version does not have the color picture on the front). The only thing I might consider affixing to my harness is a reef hook, but only if I had 2 cutting devices. There are multiple references to shooting bags, Jersey uplines, emergency deco procedures using a DSMB and they all caution to let go of the reel/spool if you encounter a problem.

OTH, you have a fixed amount of line and run a smaller risk of having the line catch your fin strap and send you to the surface. I personally wouldn't want to be jerked up 5 feet and I would use a jonline if I had to deco on a bobbing anchor line. I take about 5 minutes to ascend from 20 feet to the surface. If it works for you ...

 

[cowboyneal]

OK...none of us have a clue of what we're doing. 2000+/- dives of shooting a bag here haven't taught me nothing. And forget about Pedro, and Arturo and Betsy etc. who have double or triple the dives that I do here....they're all clueless too.

Hey, what about me? hahahaa....