- Messages
- 22,171
- Reaction score
- 2,790
- # of dives
- 5000 - ∞
You really don't drop down that far and the hazard of hyper-extension as a result of the force of hitting the water from twenty or thirty feet is quite real.
Giant stride entry
- Thread starter scotthowes
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
ScubaFeenD
Contributor
Oh I thought you were talking about keeping your legs closed for something like a 7ft drop. That is as high as I have gone, and I havent noticed any hyperextension, but I can imagine that the force from a drop >=15ft could be quite traumatic to the legs and hips.
fisheater
Contributor
Watch videos of combat swimmers striding from choppers. Their feet are together.
- Messages
- 22,171
- Reaction score
- 2,790
- # of dives
- 5000 - ∞
The problem with going out of a helicopter is that the distance is supposed to be 10 to twenty feet, but it is real hard for the pilot to judge and they tend to err on the high side, so it is more often something like twenty to forty feet. You need to be prepared for the longer fall.
SurDo2
Contributor
mid thirties for me... feet together.
The Giant Stride Entry has it's place, but is all too often used when it should not. The idea of course is to keep the diver near the surface after a short drop. For entries higher than several feet one needs to have a bit more water column beneath. As others pointed out, rather than a giant stride bring your feet together prior to hitting the water (some folks cross their legs) and do a Deep Water entry. After a deep water entry, I prefer to turn tail to the sky and keep going, but charter operators usually don't like that. If a dive master were positioned in the water already, it shouldn't be an issue….just wave as you go past.
Back in my commercial days, we would jump from the pier to the water 20-30 feet. I would not want my legs spread from that height.
Back in my commercial days, we would jump from the pier to the water 20-30 feet. I would not want my legs spread from that height.
My first question is how deep is the water? Then I still wouldn't GS higher than about 10 feet. Also, if you are doing a GS from these heights you are obviously shore diving. Be sure you have an exit point!
- Messages
- 22,171
- Reaction score
- 2,790
- # of dives
- 5000 - ∞
Or going off a ship with large freeboard, or a barge, or out of a helicopter, there are many possibilities that are not shore diving.
ScubaFeenD
Contributor
I am glad I am not the only one that thought this. The boat I have been diving off of lately is 7 ft off the water, ad while that isn't 10ft it wouldn't be hard to imagine a few more feet on a similar vessel.
I've done giant strides with steel doubles from a height of 6-10 feet (depending on tides) from the end of a jetty, but not a "classic" GS since I drew my legs together before striking the water maybe what I did is what Thal called a "short step". My problem was never getting in, or losing teeth from the reg or having the mask blow off, but instead getting back out of the water by climbing the ladder up the jetty with all that steel on my back.
Similar threads
