Low/No Viz bottle management

[Gilldiver]

At one time all bottles on the left was to keep the right side clear for scootering. If you don’t have a scooter, then that is not a real issue, it then becomes more of a standard equipment issue within a team’s dive philosophy only.

Touch ID of bottles/regs can easily be done if you keep a standard set up, say use only yoke 1st stage connections or a unique 2nd stage shape, like a Poseidon, on rich bottles only. All other tanks have DIN or more standard 2nd stage shapes. If you are doing a 3 gas dive and have any questions on the gas placement and switching procedures, there is another long talk that you need to have.

Reading gauges in zero vis can be done by holding the gauge face against your mask and shining some light at an angle onto your face.

Most of these conditions, identification of a reg or object, reading a gauge, etc. in zero vis for long periods of time are encountered by commercial and public safety divers on a day to day basis.

 

[MonkSeal]

At one time all bottles on the left was to keep the right side clear for scootering.

So, you keep scooter at right side while scootering. Really? How? Isn't one of the reasons for keeping right side clean a fact that we want long hose to be easily deployed?

Touch ID of bottles/regs can easily be done if you keep a standard set up, say use only yoke 1st stage connections or a unique 2nd stage shape, like a Poseidon, on rich bottles only. All other tanks have DIN or more standard 2nd stage shapes. If you are doing a 3 gas dive and have any questions on the gas placement and switching procedures, there is another long talk that you need to have.

You don't breath the regulator - you're breath gas supplied by regulator which means that coding the regulators will not prevent you from breathing wrong gas. Which means that tanks must be properly labeled (or marked). You probably didn't notice subforum where this thread was opened in.

 

[AfterDark]

Question #2 is if it did happen, why would you dive for recreation in those conditions?

Because sometimes after getting the gear together,driving to the ocean, getting geared up and getting in the water then finding out the vis sucks you still want to dive! Something clear water divers have trouble relating too.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, y'all have covered cave scenarios well enough ... what about OW scenarios.

About 10 days ago I did a deep wreck dive in Puget Sound where the upper layers were just fine, and it wasn't until we got down to about 200 fsw that the vis went to crap. It was 3 to 5 feet on the wreck at 220-240.

Often times here ... especially in summer ... it's typically the other way around, where the upper 20-30 feet will be thick enough that sometimes it's hard to see your fingers on an outstretched arm. That's still plenty of vis to make visually sure you're using the right bottle ... even if it's marginally good enough for your buddy to confirm.

The answer to the initial question is placement. My O2 bottle always goes inside of my EAN50 bottle. Worst case, follow it down from the clip to make sure you've got the right one. Frankly, I've never had to do that ... not even in vis where it was tough to see my buddy right next to me.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[nadwidny]

Because sometimes after getting the gear together,driving to the ocean, getting geared up and getting in the water then finding out the vis sucks you still want to dive! Something clear water divers have trouble relating too.

Viz sucking is still not truly zero viz.

Outside of a couple of shallow rivers and a few cattle dugouts (none of which are deep enough to require deco) I have never encountered truly zero viz for more than a few seconds.

It's a made up scenario that doesn't require a solution. If it did it would have been addressed at some point during the genesis of DIR.

 

[PfcAJ]

Why does training involve dealing with low visibility situations then? It's not a made up scenario, I have been in plenty of low viz situations and a handful of no viz situations (not inches of viz, but zero viz) - there are ways of dealing with them that Trace has summed up well.

Identifying bottles by feel is a great way to mess up and kill yourself. If you're exploring a cave that requires true no-vis gas switches, you place the bottles on the line at the switch depth first. MOD is what we use to identify bottles, since everything else can be changed or switched around.

 

[PfcAJ]

I learned to identify all my reels, spools, arrows, non-directional markers, and bottles by touch in my NACD cave class.

A diver may find himself without a mask and perhaps separated from his team.
*snip*

During your descent, you can also look for markers on anchor lines, mooring balls, and in caves that will help you identify depth by touch. These might be anything from a log in a cave to a splice in a line. If you ascend without a mask or buddy, you can use such tools to approximate your depth.

.

Trace, I'm sure you've though of this. For those who haven't, if your dive plan requires seeing (scootering, timing stops, switching gas) you need to carry a spare mask. Sure, you can probably get out without it, but thats not the issue. The issue is getting out safely and effectively.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Identifying bottles by feel is a great way to mess up and kill yourself. If you're exploring a cave that requires true no-vis gas switches, you place the bottles on the line at the switch depth first. MOD is what we use to identify bottles, since everything else can be changed or switched around.

Dropping bottles is a cave solution ... since you're generally coming out the same way you went in. It's not prudent in a wreck or deep wall dive, since you may not be able to get back to your starting point to make your ascent. In those environments, you keep your bottles with you.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[PfcAJ]

Understood. But if you are in OW, doing a deco dive, with deco gas switches, and its zero vis... I suggest Option 1.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Understood. But if you are in OW, doing a deco dive, with deco gas switches, and its zero vis... I suggest Option 1.

You can't always tell until you're in it ... I've seen vis drop precipitously over the course of an hour, especially on big tide days. Had one dive where we had to do a green-water ascent from over 200 fsw because bad vis rolled in with the tide to the point where we couldn't find the upline. Turned out that when we shot our bag at 130 we were only about 10 feet from the line.

Vis was probably 20 feet when we started that dive, and 3-5 feet when we ended it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)