PvtStash
Contributor
When someone is shooting an upline with a reel do they lose the line? (after they're out of the water/back on the boat?) Someone's gotta go an untie it right? or are lines one time use?
Shooting an upline...
- Thread starter PvtStash
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2 ways you can approach this. Either you shoot the line and reel it back in as you make your ascent, or, if you want to make sure you stay over a particular area like a wreck, you find something (like a railing) you can loop the line under, shoot the bag and let more line out as you make your ascent. When you get to your bag, unclip, and reel your line back up. The end of the line will drop down to your loop around point, then come back up to you.
1. If you are doing deco where you are drifting along with the boat (often easier as you do not have to fight the current), then shooting a bag to the surface without attaching the line to anything is in order. However, divers need to do this as a group so the boat only has to follow one bag.
Divers may on occassion do this when they fail to find the anchor line, but this can cause problems in a current as they will drift away fom the boat. In a shipping lane or in places like the north atlantic where waves can be large or fog can roll in quickly, it can be very hard for the boat to find the diver once they are finally able to pull the hook and go looking for you.
2. Option two is to use a jersey upline where a heavier line is used to shoot the bag. The line is then cut and tied off to the structure of the wreck. Traditionally a biodegradeable line was used to reduce problems with the line being left in place. However, wet line on the real would rot, so it had to be removed and dried after each dive, even when the reel was not used. If not the rotted line would break when it was needed. Consequently, some divers use nylon line.
A normal reel with standard #24, 36 or 48 nylon line is not a great idea in this application as the line is not strong enough to hold you in any kind of current. Also, if you are, for example, in 150' of water, you may need 250 feet of line to ensure the bag reaches the surface in a current.
3. Using a variation of this with a large jersey upline looped through something on the wreck with a bag on one end and you on the other is problematic. The drag on you and the bag caused by the current will be different and wil vary with depth so you and the bag will be working the line back and forth across what ever you looped the line through. Wave action on the surface will add to this effect and as a result even a heavy upline line will wear or break. Don't even think about using a small diameter #24, 36 or 48 line.
In the event the line breaks, you no longer have any attachment to the wreck and you are going to lose your bag. Plus, you are at least somewhat positively bouyant to maintain depth and line tension, rather than hanging from the bag, so when the bag breaks it may not be immediately obvious and you may ascend and encounter decompression issues and or an out of control ascent before you realize what is occurring.
Divers may on occassion do this when they fail to find the anchor line, but this can cause problems in a current as they will drift away fom the boat. In a shipping lane or in places like the north atlantic where waves can be large or fog can roll in quickly, it can be very hard for the boat to find the diver once they are finally able to pull the hook and go looking for you.
2. Option two is to use a jersey upline where a heavier line is used to shoot the bag. The line is then cut and tied off to the structure of the wreck. Traditionally a biodegradeable line was used to reduce problems with the line being left in place. However, wet line on the real would rot, so it had to be removed and dried after each dive, even when the reel was not used. If not the rotted line would break when it was needed. Consequently, some divers use nylon line.
A normal reel with standard #24, 36 or 48 nylon line is not a great idea in this application as the line is not strong enough to hold you in any kind of current. Also, if you are, for example, in 150' of water, you may need 250 feet of line to ensure the bag reaches the surface in a current.
3. Using a variation of this with a large jersey upline looped through something on the wreck with a bag on one end and you on the other is problematic. The drag on you and the bag caused by the current will be different and wil vary with depth so you and the bag will be working the line back and forth across what ever you looped the line through. Wave action on the surface will add to this effect and as a result even a heavy upline line will wear or break. Don't even think about using a small diameter #24, 36 or 48 line.
In the event the line breaks, you no longer have any attachment to the wreck and you are going to lose your bag. Plus, you are at least somewhat positively bouyant to maintain depth and line tension, rather than hanging from the bag, so when the bag breaks it may not be immediately obvious and you may ascend and encounter decompression issues and or an out of control ascent before you realize what is occurring.
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