Ice diving books?

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What is your favorite book or other document discussing ice diving or cold water diving?

I found the polar diving workshop informative: Proceedings of the International Polar Diving Workshop.

Has anyone read this http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Diving-Operations-Walt-Hendrick/dp/0878148434/ ?
Is it worth a read, and the cost, or is it just some boring introductory text?

 

[chrisch]

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Has anyone read this Ice Diving Operations: Walt Hendrick, Andrea Zaferes: 9780878148431: Amazon.com: Books ?
Is it worth a read, and the cost, or is it just some boring introductory text?

I have that volume. It is very good. It is aimed at fire fighters not recreational divers but at least half of the book is relevant. It is very uncomplimentary about recreational ice dive courses

 

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It is very uncomplimentary about recreational ice dive courses

With good reason. Not all ice diving instructors know what they are doing... Examples: Some use negatively buoyant line... You won't know if it's the diver or mother earth pulling on the line (and the rope catches every piece of wreck and so on). Most ice divers are not prepared to handle free flows (it may hurt) or excessive buoyancy (ice is hard) or a lost mask (it gets interesting in really cold water) and the equipment is often inadequate (a single first stage). There are also some hidden dangers on ice, even without a hole through it, and many fail to understand the dangers of half frozen lakes, frozen rivers, and so on.

People have dived in open water adjacent to a solid sheet of ice that was covered by one inch of water, and then barely escaped by desperately cutting ice with a knife (it is hopeless). I know a guy who lost his mask and he told me it hurt so much that he panicked and broke ice with fists unable to swim back. Near lung injury caused by breath holding due to teeth pain. The list goes on.

A short one night theory session combined with one or two dives the next day won't make anyone a safe ice diver. It would probably take a week... It gets even worse when the single tank ice diver decides to dive a bit further, at night, with a buddy only.

---------- Post added December 22nd, 2014 at 11:11 PM ----------

I will put that book on my shopping list

---------- Post added December 22nd, 2014 at 11:22 PM ----------

And the divers on the cover are wearing...