Remove DIR plate underwater Weight belt over harness

[lamont]

We had some golf ball sized peices between the tanks after a couple of our cave1 dives. And there was the recent collapse last week at chac mool. I guess that doesn't wig me out much. Kinda like rock or icefall climbing.

But you're right it probably happens more often in MX than in FL - and more than I'm willing to admit to myself.

But to this day only 1 person's been killed in a collapse. I guess I look to that as my statistical lucky charm.

I heard there was a guy still buried under rocks in one of the rooms in MX somewhere... That'd make 2...

 

[Jason B]

I heard there was a guy still buried under rocks in one of the rooms in MX somewhere... That'd make 2...

I've heard that there is a 6ft man eating catfish in the lake near my house (of course I don't believe it).
Where did you hear about this? The cave agencies only seem to be aware of 1.

Here goes a snip from a University Of Florida publication.

Koszty reaches for the name of the one death on record that he recalls may be attributed to external, geological changes.

“Parker Turner,” Koszty says, tentatively.

While Turner explored a cave with a teammate, a sand slide in the cavern area plugged the exit. The sand moved into the cave violently, triggering a current that caused silt – fine, sedimentary particles that obstruct vision underwater – to be blown an estimated 500 feet into the cave. Although the teammate survived, Parker remained trapped in the sand and debris.

Within the diving community, this fatality is regarded as the sole deadly case without fault of the reputedly cautious diver.

Not saying right out that you are wrong, just curious as to your source.

 

[lundysd]

Doffing/Donning gear underwater was a skill I regularly practiced in my OW class, both on the bottom and in the water column. It is a wonderful drill to do in a controlled environment because it task-loads you and forces you to be intimately familiar with your rig. I also like taking off fins and mask if you're in the pool because then your only real source of buoyancy control is your lungs. If you can do this skill well, then it is a sign that you're doing pretty well for buoyancy, sit. awareness, and task loading.

Would you ever do it in anything other than a completely controlled situation (or a charlie foxtrot entanglement with no buddy)? Probably not -- it's still fun though

 

[CompuDude]

Being able to doff your rig in the water is a useful skill to have. One practical situation where I have used this on several occasions is when diving from a small craft with no ladder or platform ... such as an inflatable or a panga. It's common practice to first doff your rig on the surface, tie it off or hand it up, before attempting to hurl yourself back into the boat.

Indeed. (Of course, we've both done this in the same place, so we're talking about the same thing.)

Pass the weight belt, doff the rig, pass the rig. THEN try to launch yourself high enough up the gunwale that you can pull yourself out of the water.

Must be able to take the gear off. Having the weight belt on the outside makes the exercise easier, IMO. It's a PITA to put it on last, admittedly, but it does come off easily enough. Weight belts are not generally known for spontaneously dropping off, from my experience (and reading), although in theory anything is possible. I can accept those odds.

 

[alwaingold]

If I have to think that through for line entanglements, does that mean that I am rolling the dice when diving a single without a pony bottle?

Oh, Ted, always looking for a reason to carry a pony bottle

I too have never had to remove my gear underwater (but have done it on the surface for small boat diving). One time, I saw someone practicing this skill so that he could wedge his body into a small crevice to get to a lobster. Perhaps that's why it's included in the OW curriculum

 

[Blitz]

Yeah, but I don't plan on being in a cave or in a wreck that is that bad. Runaway inflators, I get that one, but it can be managed (to an extent).

things i find scarier:

- complete siltout blizzard or no-lights situation in an overhead without any line.
- cave collapse or wreck collapse.
- runaway inflators.

 

[DomaNitrogen]

Well the idea of removing a normal gear is not hard and mostly all of us trained for that in the OW, But the challenge (atleast for me) was to remove a Hogarthian style gear. But from what i've practiced it's not harder; if you can remove normal Jacket you could remove Harness with no quick release and a 7' hose wrapped around your body with a crouch strap and a weight belt over that.

 

[limeyx]

Yeah, but I don't plan on being in a cave or in a wreck that is that bad. Runaway inflators, I get that one, but it can be managed (to an extent).

Good luck finding any cave or wreck that you can go in that you cant silt out, or are guaranteed not to lose the line -- I dont think such things exist.

 

[JeffG]

Good luck finding any cave or wreck that you can go in that you cant silt out

Heck...for a wreck, its not "if"..its "when" you lose your visibility.

The moment you enter, the clock starts ticking.

 

[Adobo]

Oh, Ted, always looking for a reason to carry a pony bottle

I too have never had to remove my gear underwater (but have done it on the surface for small boat diving). One time, I saw someone practicing this skill so that he could wedge his body into a small crevice to get to a lobster. Perhaps that's why it's included in the OW curriculum

In my experience, removing the rig on the surface is far easier than putting it back on on the surface.

The thing with removing your rig at depth is that presumably, you have to put it back on. Again, the first part is easy, the second part is not. In the situation where you have line tangled on your manifold, as an example, I can see where in the absence of your buddy (Bob), you wind up taking the rig off and untangling the line.

Now comes, what I see as the difficult part, especially when you have doubles on with a can light and an argon bottle. Remember, when you started this exercise, you were attached to the rig. Now, you and the rig are only attached via the longhose that you have in your mouth. And quite likely, the rig's buoyancy and your buoyancy offsetting each other to make you both neutral. In other words, the rig might be trying to sink and you might be trying to float. Or vice versa.

In my view, it is very bad to get separated from my buddy. Very very bad. I lose all of the help that I might need in any of a number of scenarios (gear issues, gas issues, entanglement issues, navigation issues, etc.) My misguided approach to diving, perhaps but I spend more time thinking about how to stay with my buddy and keep my buddy squared away (and hoping he/she is doing the same) rather than worrying about how good my CESA is or worrying about my skill in donning and undonning my gear under water.