Low/No Viz bottle management

[Rainer]

And that's PLENTY of vis in which to do a gas switch. So what's your point? Have you ever seen ZERO vis mid-water in open water? If so, how did you know your depth?

This is silly...

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)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

And that's PLENTY of vis in which to do a gas switch. So what's your point? Have you ever seen ZERO vis mid-water in open water? If so, how did you know your depth?

Nope ... I already said so in reply 14. Perhaps you neglected to read it.

I agree with you that zero-vis switches are a non-issue. What I was commenting on is the notion of dropping your bottles ... which is not appropriate in all types of diving ... and the fact that vis can change radically during the course of a dive in OW. These are not generally issues that a cave diver has to consider.

My point being that when you offer solutions, you have to consider the environment you're diving in.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Rainer]

What I was commenting on is the notion of dropping your bottles ...

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.

Perhaps you neglected to read where he said you drop your bottles in CAVES?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Perhaps you neglected to read where he said you drop your bottles in CAVES?

Perhaps you're just looking for an argument? Please look elsewhere. I really don't understand the purpose of your posts.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Rainer]

I really don't understand the purpose of your posts.

Quite frankly, it's YOUR posts that don't make any sense. Let's review. PfcAJ clearly makes a comment about cave diving procedures:

. 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.

Then you comment about dropping bottles being a cave solution. No kidding, that's exactly what AJ wrote in the post to which you're responding. Awesome contribution.

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)

 

[nadwidny]

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)

Still far from zero viz.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Quite frankly, it's YOUR posts that don't make any sense. Let's review. PfcAJ clearly makes a comment about cave diving procedures:

Then you comment about dropping bottles being a cave solution. No kidding, that's exactly what AJ wrote in the post to which you're responding. Awesome contribution.

Has it occurred to you that the OP's question doesn't pertain to cave diving?

Think about it ... he's looking for a solution to why DIR divers CARRY their bottles in a certain way ... not why they DROP them.

Care to attempt an answer to his question?

I did ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Still far from zero viz.

Agreed, Brian ... it was established early on that's a non-issue.

So are all these cave solutions that have been offered.

If he's asking why we carry our deco bottles on the left side, and how you tell which is which in low-vis conditions, telling him when you drop them in a cave hardly addresses the question.

The post you quoted (and Rainer is taking such radical exception to) is a direct response to AJ's "option 1" comment. You can only option 1 if you know before the dive what the conditions will be.

Sheesh ... tough crowd.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Blackwood]

If he's ... how you tell which is which in low-vis conditions, telling him when you drop them in a cave hardly addresses the question.

Well, it kinda does since a cave/mine is probably the only environment* in which the potential exists for bottle markings to be illegible at the switch (I can't imagine a realistic** dive deep enough that I'd be bringing deco gases after which I'd have insufficient viz at the switch depth... hopefully I'll never be enlightened to that scenario).

In open water, you look at them; in a cave, you drop them (making it a non-issue).

I suppose if you're in a cave like the one Trace mentioned where you have zero viz at the drop point you'd have to come up with yet another procedure (switch by feel).




*I have no idea whether people are doing stage decompression ice dives, and if so what solutions they've developed.
**Vertically standing wreck penetration FTW.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, it kinda does since a cave is probably the only environment* in which the potential exists for bottle markings to be illegible at the switch.

In open water, you look at them. In a cave, you drop them, making it a non-issue.

I suppose if you're in a cave like the one Trace mentioned where you have zero viz at the drop point you'd have to come up with yet another procedure (switch by feel).

OK ... but how does that address the question posed by the OP ... namely why DIR doesn't do "left-lean, rich-right" positioning.

Of course, that question was answered by whoever brought up long-hose deployment.

But it doesn't address the question of bottle ID.

And if you're in a zero-viz cave at the drop point, picking up a bottle, that brings up another question ... how do you clearly ID the fact that it's your bottle, and not someone else's?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)