Low/No Viz bottle management

[LiteHedded]

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.

hey we still look at em!
we verify our gas switches the same way you salt water weirdos do!

 

[ucfdiver]

Yanno ... I ain't even gonna pretend to be a cave diver. So far I've spent a total of six days at Ginnie. And on more than one of those days I saw no fewer than a dozen deco bottles within 50 feet of the sign ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

An area that will NEVER be silted out (hence why practically no one runs a line). I was more talking about stages where there's a chance to hit low viz.

I typically don't drop my first stage until things get small, you can get anywhere in the first 3000ft of Ginnie on a single stage before going on backgas. That creates a lot of separation between stage drops. Manatee is a bit more stressful for me, so I typically get off a stage around 2000ft in, and I think JB is around the same for most folks.

 

[Cave Diver]

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?

If I'm in a cave that necessitates gas switches and has the potential for true zero viz I'm probably not going to drop my bottles anyway. Too much chance for a Charlie Foxtrot.

If I drop a bottle in a cave, I tend to keep them away from where other teams have dropped. Odds are that multiple teams won't be in a cave requiring gas switches at the same time if it's that prone to blowing out to the point of not being able to ID dropped gas.

If my team returns to bottles and it is blown out, we both have the same gas. It won't matter if it's my bottle or his, both are breathable.

Worst case scenario, extend deco on backgas until we hit clear enough water to verify gas switch. We DID do lost gas planning and reserve backgas right?

 

[Cave Diver]

I was talking to a local tech diver this weekend when we were diving together and the subject of deco bottle placement came up in relation to low viz/no viz deco bottle management. He told me that he uses Lean Left, Rich Right where he places his 50/50 bottle on his left side and 100% on the right so it's not an issue for him.

What bottles are being used?

If you have a 40cft 100% bottle and an 80cft 50/50, it would be pretty hard to mix them up and identifying should be pretty easy, even in no viz.

 

[rjack321]

I have seen some pretty bad vis and in almost 900 dives including some small caves and blow out wrecks, its never so bad you can't see the MOD. The "no-vis" switch scenario is made up by people seeking a way to justify right-rich, left-lean which HAS definitely killed people who didn't verify (in adequate vis even) because they got complacent in their methods and didn't feel they needed to despite their bottles being on wrong.

The approach also falls completely apart once you have 3+ bottles. It sure is good for baiting the DIR forum tho

 

[Cave Diver]

The approach also falls completely apart once you have 3+ bottles. It sure is good for baiting the DIR forum tho

Yeah, but all those DIR guys are so sensitive, they're easy to bait. But since they seem to have all the answers, maybe they could help me figure out proper bottle placement so I can read the MOD on my slung bottle here:

Spoiler

 

[LiteHedded]

It's not dir. his backup fins aren't clipped off properly

 

[Blackwood]

It's not dir. his backup fins aren't clipped off properly

Plus he's missing his redundant CCSA.

 

[rjack321]

Yeah, but all those DIR guys are so sensitive, they're easy to bait. But since they seem to have all the answers, maybe they could help me figure out proper bottle placement so I can read the MOD on my slung bottle here:

Spoiler

Why bother, you should recognize the reg by feel

 

[nadwidny]

You guys are killing me.

Hitler.

There, close the thread and save my keyboards.