Got stuck in kelp.
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I think this would depend on diver skill/comfort/config and conditions etc. Something like removing your gear might be helpful to some but it could put others out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Consider the case, for example where the diver has 10kg of weight in the BCD. Removing your gear when you're configed like that is tricky enough without being tangled up in kelp....
So yeah. Maybe this is an option for some people but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have some practice runs in full OW gear and not just one try in the pool during your OW course.....
R..
cmburch
Contributor
I just noticed this thread. I freedive and SCUBA dive NorCal.
There is very good advice and some advice that can be dangerous depending on the skill level of an entangled diver.
A knife should not be a necessity for removal from kelp. Why? Because the knife can be easily dropped and because of the low visibility, kelp, or sea grass not recovered.
20 minutes for removal sounds unreasonable. With proper technique, a diver should be able to free themselves without help in less than 1 minute.
It is not advisable to remove your Rig or BC to untangle the kelp. An advanced diver skilled in kelp diving may be able to do this. If somehow (ex. surge, rough seas, rouge wave/swell) a diver became separated from air supply while tangled in kelp, it can be dangerous.
As suggested in prior posts:
Streamline your gear. No knives strapped to leg. Change fin straps to a type that does not become entangled. Change snorkel to a more flexible streamline model without a large top water diverter. Be aware of everything dangling.
Learn how to optimize buoyancy.
If possible, do not surface in kelp canopy. NorCal has had some rich nutrients for kelp growth the past year and lack of a good pounding storm that rips out kelp holdfasts. So some areas the only diving is in kelp - there is no outside the kelp unless far off shore.
If you want to surface in the kelp, look for an opening and lead with your hands.
If tangled, remain calm, stop and look. Back up to loosen. Use hands to untangle or break individual stipes/fronds before resorting to knife. Bull kelp stalk can not break or chew through. Giant kelp can be broken. I think the chewing through the kelp with the teeth should be limited to when freeing oneself while on the surface and not depending on supplied air.
Do not dive at low tide when the kelp has the thickest surface mats.
There is very good advice and some advice that can be dangerous depending on the skill level of an entangled diver.
A knife should not be a necessity for removal from kelp. Why? Because the knife can be easily dropped and because of the low visibility, kelp, or sea grass not recovered.
20 minutes for removal sounds unreasonable. With proper technique, a diver should be able to free themselves without help in less than 1 minute.
It is not advisable to remove your Rig or BC to untangle the kelp. An advanced diver skilled in kelp diving may be able to do this. If somehow (ex. surge, rough seas, rouge wave/swell) a diver became separated from air supply while tangled in kelp, it can be dangerous.
As suggested in prior posts:
Streamline your gear. No knives strapped to leg. Change fin straps to a type that does not become entangled. Change snorkel to a more flexible streamline model without a large top water diverter. Be aware of everything dangling.
Learn how to optimize buoyancy.
If possible, do not surface in kelp canopy. NorCal has had some rich nutrients for kelp growth the past year and lack of a good pounding storm that rips out kelp holdfasts. So some areas the only diving is in kelp - there is no outside the kelp unless far off shore.
If you want to surface in the kelp, look for an opening and lead with your hands.
If tangled, remain calm, stop and look. Back up to loosen. Use hands to untangle or break individual stipes/fronds before resorting to knife. Bull kelp stalk can not break or chew through. Giant kelp can be broken. I think the chewing through the kelp with the teeth should be limited to when freeing oneself while on the surface and not depending on supplied air.
Do not dive at low tide when the kelp has the thickest surface mats.
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The only time I have dove Mendicino is free diving for Abalone..I got caught once close to the surface but still under water by kelp on my fin..I was about to release the fin when it came free..I thought you were free diving when you mentioned the tank so I assume you were scuba too..
You should not have been so low on air that there would have been a problem...remember relax in kelp and don't spin around our you'll be like a fork in spagetti...if you don't have a knife ,,use your teeth...take your reg out and bite the kelp...when you bite it it breaks like biting a crisp asparagas stalk...very crisp and easy...we teach this tech. to all our students..
You should not have been so low on air that there would have been a problem...remember relax in kelp and don't spin around our you'll be like a fork in spagetti...if you don't have a knife ,,use your teeth...take your reg out and bite the kelp...when you bite it it breaks like biting a crisp asparagas stalk...very crisp and easy...we teach this tech. to all our students..
natefish
New
Good to hear everything turned out ok. No matter if you are diving in kelp or not, unless you are diving in a pool or a other controlled enviroment, a knife or scissors are always essential equipment. I also argree with the members who pointed out the option of ditching the equipment, ditch and don as taught in our OW class needs to be a skill we are all comfortable with.
spt29970
Contributor
Streamlining is a good idea, however I find that kelp makes for great wide angle photos. For me that means putting on my widest strobe arms, which then catch on EVERYTHING. When I have to swim through, I fold the arms down and hold the camera to my chest to help reduce the number of snags.
I am surprised that no one mentioned my favorite trick for getting out of kelp, which is to deflate the BC and sink a few feet. Since the kelp tangles are typically much worse near the surface where it forms mats, simply dropping down a little often does the trick. Of course this doesn't help much for freedivers.
I am surprised that no one mentioned my favorite trick for getting out of kelp, which is to deflate the BC and sink a few feet. Since the kelp tangles are typically much worse near the surface where it forms mats, simply dropping down a little often does the trick. Of course this doesn't help much for freedivers.
scubadude79
Contributor
Good thing you weren't diving solo!
fisheater
Contributor
Bull kelp (the predominate species on the North Coast) can be a bitch to break by hand. Often you'll need a knife. However, the knife can get caught, so avoid strapping it to your leg.
Ditching and donning at depth may be required. So, practice it! That's best done away from kelp and with a watchful buddy. If you dive with all integrated weight, get a weight belt and transfer most of your weight. Otherwise, you'll have your weight with your gear (and air!) and your buoyancy with you. It's much better to be balanced.
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Ditching and donning at depth may be required. So, practice it! That's best done away from kelp and with a watchful buddy. If you dive with all integrated weight, get a weight belt and transfer most of your weight. Otherwise, you'll have your weight with your gear (and air!) and your buoyancy with you. It's much better to be balanced.
Posted via Mobile Device
Having dived kelp for 40 years now, I find it rarely is a problem but have gotten tangled a few times. At the first sign of resistance, check to see if you are entangled. It is usually easiest to remove when you first get caught in it. Whatever you do, don't panic or make a lot of sudden movements as that often worsens the situation.
Macrocystis stipes are easy to break. I haven't carried a leg-mounted knife since the "Jim Bowie" days of the early 70's. I do occasionally carry a BCD mounted small knife, but as has been suggested previously shears are a better option IMHO... they are much easier to grip and hold onto (avoiding the lost knife dropped while cutting).
However, I wonder if you were entangled in Macrocystis or another kelp? The worst one in my experience is Egregia or feather boa kelp. I've had it literally rip both of my fins off my feet. Fortunately it is a "shallow" water kelp that does not form much surface canopy.
Macrocystis stipes are easy to break. I haven't carried a leg-mounted knife since the "Jim Bowie" days of the early 70's. I do occasionally carry a BCD mounted small knife, but as has been suggested previously shears are a better option IMHO... they are much easier to grip and hold onto (avoiding the lost knife dropped while cutting).
However, I wonder if you were entangled in Macrocystis or another kelp? The worst one in my experience is Egregia or feather boa kelp. I've had it literally rip both of my fins off my feet. Fortunately it is a "shallow" water kelp that does not form much surface canopy.
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Diving in kelp means streamlining your gear. Get spring straps for your fins or reverse thread and tape the buckles. Reverse thread and tape your mask strap or get a "slap" strap. I dove in the kelp with a knife on my calf for many years with no problem, that's because it was in the inside of my calf. Put a wrist strap on your scissors and on your knife, it could save your life. Removing your rig is a last alternative, but is an alternative that you might want to keep open, thus when diving with a heavy wetsuit or drysuit use a weightbelt and forgo putting any lead into a weight interated BC.
Most important is to move slowly and methodically throuh the kelp, do not try to surface through thick canopy except in an emergency and never attempt a surface swim over thick canopy. If you feel the slightest tug, stop and gently untangle yourself. Dive with a good buddy who stays close and helps keep you untangled. Do the same for your buddy.
Most of all: enjoy the kelp forest, it is the most diverse environment (at least in terms of sheer number of different species) on earth. As I said in a sea story I posted a while back:
"This had become one of those spectacular central coast days, blue sky, bright sun and 60-foot plus visibility. On a day like this Blue Fin Cove is perhaps the most spectacular dive site in the world. Let the tourists have Palancar Reef, the wall on Cayman Brac, Rosh Muhammad and Heron Island, all the frantic motion and frenetic neon of the underwater Times Squares. Give me the kelp forest. Subtle deep greens broken by shafts of light that look like a Sunday school painting. That's for me".
Most important is to move slowly and methodically throuh the kelp, do not try to surface through thick canopy except in an emergency and never attempt a surface swim over thick canopy. If you feel the slightest tug, stop and gently untangle yourself. Dive with a good buddy who stays close and helps keep you untangled. Do the same for your buddy.
Most of all: enjoy the kelp forest, it is the most diverse environment (at least in terms of sheer number of different species) on earth. As I said in a sea story I posted a while back:
"This had become one of those spectacular central coast days, blue sky, bright sun and 60-foot plus visibility. On a day like this Blue Fin Cove is perhaps the most spectacular dive site in the world. Let the tourists have Palancar Reef, the wall on Cayman Brac, Rosh Muhammad and Heron Island, all the frantic motion and frenetic neon of the underwater Times Squares. Give me the kelp forest. Subtle deep greens broken by shafts of light that look like a Sunday school painting. That's for me".
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