Missing diver in Monterey, CA area

[dmaziuk]

I get that..... But don't some divers choose to use a weighted backplate with a BP/W and have no option for ditching weight other than ditching their entire rig? Just curious.....

If I can't stay afloat in my shiny backplate and trim weights on cambands, it is likely becasue I had a heart attack or a stroke or some other event incompatible with life. Or at least: with staying afloat even if I had no gear dragging me down.

And conversely if I have not had a heart attack or a stroke, and for some reason my aircell absolutely cannot float my rig, and I am getting exhausted, I still can get out of the rig and ditch the whole thing.

 

[scubadada]

The diver was an apparently fit, 27 year old man. I don't understand what happened here. Perhaps the large wave caused him to lose his regulator and perhaps his mask. It's hard for me to understand how a diver in full scuba would not be able to recover from this, but he didn't. Very sad. This must be just terrible for his dive buddies.

 

[Aura]

My problem with this practice is some people read about it without knowing what proper weighting is and not knowing what a “balanced” rig means, and they try this still way overweighted.

Any good diving practice can seem dangerous if we assume that people do it wrong.

I dive double 12L steels with a steel backplate, and I need no added weight at all. But I have my wing and my drysuit for buoyancy. The extreme focus on ditchable weights some people have, I imagine, comes from diving in areas where redundant buoyancy is not a thing, and where people tend to use far more weight than they should.

 

[undrwater]

It's hard for me to understand how a diver in full scuba would not be able to recover from this, but he didn't.

Panic.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Any good diving practice can seem dangerous if we assume that people do it wrong.

I dive double 12L steels with a steel backplate, and I need no added weight at all. But I have my wing and my drysuit for buoyancy. The extreme focus on ditchable weights some people have, I imagine, comes from diving in areas where redundant buoyancy is not a thing, and where people tend to use far more weight than they should.

I don’t know what the deceased diver was using or how he was set up so I will refrain from further comment or speculation in that case.


I could turn your comment right around and claim there is an extreme focus on non ditchable weight too.
The point is, too much weight is too much weight regardless of whether it is ditchable or not.
In a perfect world everyone wears the exact proper amount of ballast and not a gram more, but that is not always the case. In an active ocean with waves, rips, and currents, white water, etc. getting as light as possible to make it impossible to sink is a very critical safety feature. Some of us were taught very early on that if you get in trouble you ditch your weights. Even if I was perfectly weighted and ran into a severe situation I would seriously consider dumping weights to become lighter and more agile just because I can. Weightbelts are a lot cheaper than dumping your entire rig.
They were shore diving too which on the California Coast, which is exposed to the wrath of the Pacific storms, can be a very unforgiving and unpredictable environment. It’s not a cave or a quarry, lake, or fjord.

 

[Aura]

I could turn your comment right around and claim there is an extreme focus on non ditchable weight too.

You can, I've just never seen that. I see in the majority of threads in this subforum comments about ditchable weights though. The focus should rather be on not diving overweighted to the point where that's a necessity.

In an active ocean with waves, rips, and currents, white water, etc. getting as light as possible to make it impossible to sink is a very critical safety feature.

Absolutely, and we all dive with at least one buoyancy device. In those conditions, usually with two.

They were shore diving too which on the California Coast, which is exposed to the wrath of the Pacific storms, can be a very unforgiving and unpredictable environment. It’s not a cave or a quarry, lake, or fjord.

I'm not sure what the point is in shooting down what I say by implying I dive in easy waters, but you're welcome to visit the North Sea for a few dives if you'd like. That doesn't change any of what I've said. People should stop using more weight than necessary.
Whether that was the case in this incident or not, we of course don't know. So we also don't know if ditchable weights would've made any difference at all.

 

[Bob DBF]

The diver was an apparently fit, 27 year old man. I don't understand what happened here. Perhaps the large wave caused him to lose his regulator and perhaps his mask. It's hard for me to understand how a diver in full scuba would not be able to recover from this, but he didn't. Very sad. This must be just terrible for his dive buddies.

Although, in principle, I agree with you, but how well do you swim when you are knocked out cold?

They were shore diving too which on the California Coast, which is exposed to the wrath of the Pacific storms, can be a very unforgiving and unpredictable environment. It’s not a cave or a quarry, lake, or fjord.

The beaches may have sand, but rock is the predominant feature. The swell, incoming tide, and occasional rogue wave coupled with low viz can make it exciting trying to avoid a random rock protruding out of the sand. This is important when making entances and exits where the swells can break. Not to mention that conditions can change dramatically while you are diving.

 

[dmaziuk]

I could turn your comment right around and claim there is an extreme focus on non ditchable weight too...

I think the point is if you are neutral with the empty aircell and an almost-empty tank at 3..5 msw SS, then you by definition are (Edit: almost) neutral with an empty aircell and an almost-empty tank on the surface. Therefore the only "problem weight" you should have is the weight of the gas in your tank(s). Which could be too much, granted, but you also need the aircell failure for it to matter.

I've been whacked on the bottom by waves, thankfully smooth sandy kind so I "only" got a little sand and salt water in my orifices. A rock in just the wrong place could have changed that.

 

[rjack321]

My suspicion based on the fact that none of the sheriff's divers felt it was safe to enter the water was the waves would have pushed him under and dashed him against the bottom or the shore whether he had ditchable lead or not.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My suspicion based on the fact that none of the sheriff's divers felt it was safe to enter the water was the waves would have pushed him under and dashed him against the bottom or the shore whether he had ditchable lead or not.

I think if someone had a weightbelt with say 12-24 lbs on it (depending on the combination of all other parts of the kit - and not overweighted), dumping that belt would make a huge difference in self rescue. You’d be a lot more agile and have half a chance of being able to fin yourself to safety and move around without having all the diving ballast. It would be a lot easier to climb out onto some rocks too if and when you finally got to shore. You’d still have an air source too if the water was so churned up that it was almost impossible to breathe with all the sloppy water, foam, froth, etc.
I just think in a situation like what was described that day, being stuck with all your ballast on your rig would be hell. Drysuit or not, it would be miserable. This is what nightmares are made of.