Practicing CESA & ditch and don?

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Meng_Tze:
Can someone explain to me when ditch and don would be needed in the water? I am intrigued.

Stuck in a hole (rock, wreck or whatever).

Entangled maybe with monofilament around pilar valve.

Various reasons.
 
I don't really consciously practice CESA, but in a non overhead environment and from a reasonable depth, I do consider the surface as the most reliable alternate air source.
It just never has any malfunctions, it is never out of air, and I always know were it is. :wink:
 
I practice not needing a Cesa by checking my Spg. I have done it in real life and prefer not to repeat it. Ditch and don is a skill needed by divers whom are self reliant. Solo divers would be ones who would need this. I do alot of all kinds of diving. Solo and buddy. I prefer to be able to get myself out of my own jam thank you. If you happen to be diving with a rubber stamper that day, you may well need the skill.

Jim
 
Meng_Tze:
Can someone explain to me when ditch and don would be needed in the water? I am intrigued.

I must have done it 50 times (not including practice). I am always getting line caught on my regulator/valve and since I dive alone often, it is much quicker to take the tank off, clear it and put it back on. Actually, did it last saturday to check on the source of an air leak that I heard. It is an important skill, particularly for solo divers.
 
OK now I see, It must be my age.

Way back in the old days of learning to dive (horse collar bc/backpac/no octo).
To ditch and don ment take off your gear leave it on the bottom, swim to the surface, swim back down then put it back on.

So if you mean taking off and replacing you gear at depth then you should do it over and over again till you can do it with your eyes closed in mid water.
It is a nice skill to have.
 
The main reason one might ditch and don is to untangle their rig, I too have done this several times over many years, it is very rare and more likely needed when solo but not completely so. It is also a watermanship skill, as is diving without a mask, buddy breathing, your so called CESA, all things that were practiced and still are by many divers. I practice these things and many others often, usually in the pool or other controlled conditions. In my younger days I enjoyed ditch and don combined with a CESA in 40 to 50 feet of water, surface and then return and don your rig. Be sure to turn the air off, surface, dive back down, no cheating. I cannot do that now, twenty feet is not an effort.

I also use a weight belt or ditchable weight. Furthermore, if you cannot swim your rig up without inflating your BC, your way over weighted with some few possible exceptions.
 
deepblueme:
OK now I see, It must be my age.

Way back in the old days of learning to dive (horse collar bc/backpac/no octo).
To ditch and don ment take off your gear leave it on the bottom, swim to the surface, swim back down then put it back on.

So if you mean taking off and replacing you gear at depth then you should do it over and over again till you can do it with your eyes closed in mid water.
It is a nice skill to have.
Anyone that spear fishes or most photographers should have that set of skills (the taking on and off and the free accent. But using a weight belt is very important.
 
Nemrod:
The main reason one might ditch and don is to untangle their rig, I too have done this several times over many years, it is very rare and more likely needed when solo but not completely so. It is also a watermanship skill, as is diving without a mask, buddy breathing, your so called CESA, all things that were practiced and still are by many divers. I practice these things and many others often, usually in the pool or other controlled conditions. In my younger days I enjoyed ditch and don combined with a CESA in 40 to 50 feet of water, surface and then return and don your rig. Be sure to turn the air off, surface, dive back down, no cheating. I cannot do that now, twenty feet is not an effort.

I also use a weight belt or ditchable weight. Furthermore, if you cannot swim your rig up without inflating your BC, your way over weighted with some few possible exceptions.

That last one is difficult to do, considering that I dive with a BP/W and a steel tank...that is 10 lbs negative at the start of the dive.
 
Hmm, maybe I should try this with my doubles, stage and deco bottles and scooter? Also it would be difficult to take off gear when 'stuck in a hole'. Better to not get stuck in the first place, and when line is on my valve, can I not reach back and cut loose?:huh:
 
Meng_Tze:
Better to not get stuck in the first place, and when line is on my valve, can I not reach back and cut loose?:huh:

or call your buddy over to help

you know, you have to be afraid to get further entangled when you are entangled to begin with, and wrestling your gear off is bound to complicate the entanglement

call your buddy over; have them cut you free

if that doesn't work, i'll just cut my harness and get free of my gear, cut the entanglement, and call the dive

move as little as possible; do as little as needed. don't complicate the entanglement
 

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