Safety stop body position

[Porter88]

I've had diferent Dive Masters tell me that on a safety stop your body should be horizontal, that way your whole body is at the same depth. Others have said that it should be vertical so you can see other divers above you, and the boat. Others have said whatever is comfortable. Which is correct?

 

[dbulmer]

My preference would be horizontal because I find buoyancy control easiest in this position and it's quicker to move from horizontal to assist a buddy.

 

[pasley]

I usally use horizontal only becase it is comfortable and easy to maintain my depth in that position. I normally dive a drysuit and going verticle may lead to some neck seal burbing and leaking as well. Having all your body at the same depth also sounds like it may be a good idea, but I have not read any scientific data to support it. Not saying there isn't any, I just haven't read it. So vote me as, use the position you deem appropriate for the time and place.

Let's change the OP queston to "Is there a mandatory or recommended body position (verticle or horizontal) for decompresion (mandatory) stops in tech diving? That would be your best guide. If there is not a official tech diving certification agency position on body position for mandtory decompression stops in tech diving, then I would argue for use what feels good for a non-mandatory safety stop.

 

[Nwcid]

Or even taken another step further this will also matter what kind of diving you are doing. If you are diving from a boat and on a line you will actually stop. If you are diving from a sloped shore then there really is no stop, keep swimming and looking at stuff keeping your depth at your "stop" level.

 

[Dsix36]

I have to say that regardless of what others or any agency might say is recommended or required, it will always be safer to do what is the most comfortable to each individual diver. This may very well change with experience, as in my case.

I say this from a very near disastrous personal experience. I was not yet comfortable with holding my stops in a horizontal position and lost control of my buoyancy. I went for 90' to 20' to 90' to 20' to 90' in very short order. I actually "saw" my cat and that snapped me out of my spiral of doom. I dropped my legs and instinctively did what I knew would work for me. I managed to complete the rest of my 45 minutes of deco without issue and added 10 more minutes for the heck of it.

This is not about looking good in the water or doing what everyone else is doing, it is about having fun and saying safe.

 

[TSandM]

I think the concerns about offgassing are PURELY theoretical and really not of significant magnitude to make any difference to the recreational diver.

In a dry suit, unless you are hanging on the line, it is far easier to hover in a horizontal position. This is also true if you are using big, negative steel tanks, which will want to pull you over backwards if you are upright.

It is much easier to move forward and back when you are horizontal, so if you are getting blown off the upline, you can get back there more easily from a horizontal hover. Same with being able to assist a buddy, say somebody who has gotten vertigo on ascent.

If there is boat traffic, or if you are coming up through a crowd, you may want to be vertical in at least the last ten feet or so, for safety reasons.

Edited because a post was added while I was writing: Reading that story makes me very, very glad that I trained with folks who would never have signed me off to do staged decompression diving if I couldn't hold a stop -- in WHATEVER position -- within 3 feet, while maskless, sharing gas, or otherwise task-loaded. Your instructors did not do you a service.

 

[Scott L]

In open ocean diving, conducting the 15' stop horizontally then transitioning vertically on the remaining ascent makes a lot of sense to me. In S. Florida, one's ears and vision approaching the surface is highly prudent IMO...

 

[LowDrag]

If in a vertical position does t really make a difference where your feet are? Your lungs are where the off gassing occurs. So with your lungs being under less pressure than you lower extremities wouldn't you still off gas the same?

 

[Dsix36]

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Edited because a post was added while I was writing: Reading that story makes me very, very glad that I trained with folks who would never have signed me off to do staged decompression diving if I couldn't hold a stop -- in WHATEVER position -- within 3 feet, while maskless, sharing gas, or otherwise task-loaded. Your instructors did not do you a service.

As much as I would like to be able to blame my instructors, or anybody else for that matter, in all good conscience I must admit to diving beyond my training on this particular dive. I will still hold true with my original post on this matter though. I could hold my stops just fine, but I was trying to look "cool" like the other divers and it was more than just a little obvious that this was a bad idea. This was a bit of a CF for an ascent anyway. With 7 divers on the line in very strong current, the ball was puulled down to 70' with us. The top diver on the line came down and signaled for use to let go and shoot bags. I let go and drifted off to Iceland, I ended up alone and should have dropped my legs right then and there, but foolishly did not. I lost control of my buoyancy when I task loaded myself by trying to shot my bag before I was stabilized in the water. Any way you want to look at it, it was nothing but pure diver error on my part. Fortunately I did not get bent or even worse. I kept my mouth shut about the adventure for several months due to knowing about the pile of crap I would get over it. I would rather speak freely and possibly help another than be quiet and not.

 

[Nwcid]

If in a vertical position does t really make a difference where your feet are? Your lungs are where the off gassing occurs. So with your lungs being under less pressure than you lower extremities wouldn't you still off gas the same?

That is not off gassing. Gassing, on or off, is the movement of nitrogen at the tissue level.

Here is a good article that touches on the subject, http://www.nwgratefuldiver.com/articles/deco.html