NSS-CDS Full Cave: The Live-Blog

[Protondecay123]

Reference post:

Here's a YouTube video of diving in high-flow cave in Texas. Going with the kind of flow around 0:45 would probably make for a pleasantly brisk drift dive in open water. But as they approach the major restriction around 1:00, you can see how much more force there is in that spot.


Edited to add: now that I've watched this a few times, I do feel compelled to explain that this is not typical cave diving. I wanted a really exaggerated example of flow that would be easy to see. The featured divers are extraordinarily accomplished people doing peak-difficulty explorations.

It took a lot of courage to share your experience. It certainly seemed like a tough, exciting 4 days! I thought a few of the responders maybe should have thought it over before they hit the "Post Reply" button and erred on the side of positivity. When you come back please revive this thread. I'll have it on my watch list. From a NOOB thread lurker, who is just getting back into scuba diving from a long delay, I want to shout out "THANK YOU!!!"

 

[BoltSnap]

I may have missed reading the reason somewhere, but why don't you wear gloves when pulling yourself with your hands?

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

I may have missed reading the reason somewhere, but why don't you wear gloves when pulling yourself with your hands?

Unless needed for thermal protection, gloves are usually discouraged because they interfere with your ability to sense the line by touch contact. In certain emergencies (for example: losing visual and physical contact with the line due to a silt-out), feeling your way back to the line might be the only way to survive.

Some people will split the difference and wear fingerless gloves to keep their hands warm while preserving fingertip sensation.

 

[lv2dive]

Yes that is exactly what I’m describing. Good form, being streamlined, and reading the cave all help, but getting through the first 400-500 of Hart when it’s flowing hard is more difficult for a woman with less upper body strength. I’ve done support at Twin D’s when the flow was *way* up so I’m not trying to say it’s insurmountable, just that men have a bit of an advantage with their standard strength. And, Ginnie (where the OP was diving) has some passages with extremely high flow/current. Newer cave divers often struggle with the flow in the gallery (first big room after the entrance) - while it does require some work, I can go up in the ceiling and can pull and glide all the way to the lips without even kicking. But once I get to the cornflakes, I sure wish I had a little more upper body strength!

Regarding gas consumption - and you saw this with the OP - the higher flow the cave, the larger the delta of gas used between entrance / exit. Assuming no decompression (to make it easier) if someone swims to thirds in a high flow cave, they typically end the dive with much more than 1/3 of the tank, bc much of that second (exit) third wasn’t used. The flow also can change depending on which passage you are in.

Really? As someone who has ZERO experience of what a cave dive would be like, THIS I am finding a bit hard to fathom. At least in the lingo in which you put it. I am thinking a drift dive in which the current could be so strong that you have to pull yourself in the opposing direction with so much force that being a male will have an advantage over being a female?

What happens to you gas consumption if you are doing such a workout? Your gas planning would be off the charts so is it part of a cave diving course to calculate how your sac rates would change in such an extreme scenario? Forgive my ignorance but for someone who has been diving in open water environments responses such as these are proving to be enlightening on so many levels provided I am understanding them correctly.

 

[lv2dive]

Great explanation!

Unless needed for thermal protection, gloves are usually discouraged because they interfere with your ability to sense the line by touch contact. In certain emergencies (for example: losing visual and physical contact with the line due to a silt-out), feeling your way back to the line might be the only way to survive.

Some people will split the difference and wear fingerless gloves to keep their hands warm while preserving fingertip sensation.

 

[PfcAJ]

Unless needed for thermal protection, gloves are usually discouraged because they interfere with your ability to sense the line by touch contact. In certain emergencies (for example: losing visual and physical contact with the line due to a silt-out), feeling your way back to the line might be the only way to survive.

Some people will split the difference and wear fingerless gloves to keep their hands warm while preserving fingertip sensation.

I do fingerless for bumps and scrapes and because the Goodman handle will rub the back of your hand raw if the dive is long enough.

#ouchies

 

[PfcAJ]

There’s a lot of technique to be learned with flow and pull and glide. Some of it is just tricks like figuring out where the flow is the lowest, some is mental, mapping out your moves, and some is physical like relaxing and letting your bone/ligament structure hold you in place rather than muscle.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Sorry to hear about the ear infection. I use a few drops of ear beer (50/50 rubbing alcohol/white vinegar) after every cave dive. Cave diving can be rough on the ears.

I agree most women are at a disadvantage to most men for pulling and gliding. This makes better technique even more important. Pausing between each move to allow brief recoveries so you keep your heart and breathing rates down helps a lot. Slow is fast, fast is slow.

 

[tursiops]

Slow is fast, fast is slow.

And, my favorite: "Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast."

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

For the more experienced cavers, how do you handle vertical pulls in a head-down orientation?

My brain stem just doesn't like the idea of pitching face-first into darkness as a survival strategy, so the first couple of runs down the Ear through tannic were challenging.