National Geographic - The Rescue

[Gareth J]

Enjoyed watching it. As a cave diver I was surprised to see the dive equipment and configurations used by the rescue divers. Definitely not the DIR setups I am use to seeing in Florida caves.

You have to remember that a lot of the caves they dive and explore are not the clear water (limestone) caves of Florida.
They are often minimal visibility, involving 'caving' to the sump, which can take hours. of climbing, crawling squeezing, and abseiling.
The kit is designed for durability, and to be repaired in the field.

I remember even seeing or reading an interview given by Dr Harris, about the first time he had meet Rick. Rick went to speak at a diving conference in Australia. He asked if he could dive the cave they where currently exploring during his visit.
He rocked up with his somewhat battered and utilitarian rebreather, put it to gather and disappeared into the cave to the alarm of the Australian hosts. Some hours later, Rick returned, having pushed line further into the cave.

 

[Marie13]

Enjoyed watching it. As a cave diver I was surprised to see the dive equipment and configurations used by the rescue divers. Definitely not the DIR setups I am use to seeing in Florida caves.

Rick Stanton’s book goes into a lot of detail about the DIY gear. His buddies were hoping he wouldn’t dive with his homemade inner tube SM rig and it show up on camera, but it did!

 

[Squirm88]

You have to remember that a lot of the caves they dive and explore are not the clear water (limestone) caves of Florida.
They are often minimal visibility, involving 'caving' to the sump, which can take hours. of climbing, crawling squeezing, and abseiling.
The kit is designed for durability, and to be repaired in the field.

I remember even seeing or reading an interview given by Dr Harris, about the first time he had meet Rick. Rick went to speak at a diving conference in Australia. He asked if he could dive the cave they where currently exploring during his visit.
He rocked up with his somewhat battered and utilitarian rebreather, put it to gather and disappeared into the cave to the alarm of the Australian hosts. Some hours later, Rick returned, having pushed line further into the cave.

Totally understand its a different animal. Never done a sump dive. They certainly did a great job and accomplished the mission.

Just very different gear and diving techniques caught my eye. There is stark contrast with someone like an Edd Sorenson who has accomplished multiple cave rescue dives and body recoveries and what gear he uses.

 

[Grantt]

I learned to cave dive in Thailand. Both of my instructors were in this doc. I heard a lot of first hand accounts from their perspectives. I haven't met Rick, so it was interesting to see things from someone else's perspective. Really good film.

 

[Marie13]

Saw this a few days ago. Excellent. That song over the closing credits though - ugh.

 

[TimPB]

John Volanthens book is also an excellent read. It's called "13 lessons that saved 13 lives". It has a different approach to Rick Stantons book, but is equally fascinating.

 

[Gareth J]

That song over the closing credits though - ugh.

Agreed

 

[Brodydog]

I’d like to know if anyone hears of this streaming on something besides Disney Plus. Looking forward to seeing it.

 

[Marie13]

Disney+ is $8/month. Get it for one month then cancel. That’s what I do as I don’t have cable.

 

[Karen18]

Saw this a few days ago. Excellent. That song over the closing credits though - ugh.

Agreed.