Swampers Head North to Iowa

[Debraw]

Ok fresh update!!! Ice Diving Trip Report

We are headed to dinner, be back in a little while. I did two dives! Only one to go!!!

 

[Timeliner]

Can You Say , " Environmental Kit " ?? ~~`

I bet you can !! {{ Accent on the mental part of environmental }}
Those are some serious Holes in the Ice.

I just love crazy people they are so fun !!
Please...I want to be crazy some day too !

It all sounds painfull like the Dry Ice treatments my dermatologist used to do on me in the 60's
All you kids should be Acne Free for at least a week now

 

[alcina]

Hope you have a great time! My new hubby and I were given an Ice Dive for Xmas but the weather was too nice to do it and we ran out of time - we'll live vicariously this time since our weather now is about 105F today

 

[ZzzKing]

I hope it is not too crowded with Cozumelenos on their annual ice diving vacations.

 

[ScubaTexan]

You're a better diver than I am, Gunga Din!

 

[Debraw]

Can You Say , " Environmental Kit " ?? ~~`

Yeah we all had environmental kits except one diver. Everyone had a free flow problem except me. We all had frozen inflators that caused BCD's to fill and so we had to detach them. We all used our drysuits for bouyancy. All the free flows happened on the 2nd dive after we had been out of the water. Tomorrow we will do one dive and then quick surface interval ( no standard on time between dives), switch positions and then start breathing on the regulator after you dunk your head under. Dives are no more than 15 minutes right now. We will probably try and do a little longer tomorrow. I have no underwater video yet. We just had to much going on and to much it get acclimated to. I used my new ice cap under my Bare dryhood on the first dive but at the end of the dive I guess I moved the cap to much and it went under my mask and then my mask flooded REPEATEDLY. That was tough since were about 50 feet away from the hole. I just held onto the line, kept blowing out and swam back to the hole. Water hits your nose and just is unbelievably cold. Water is about 20 foot visibility but it's kind of dark from all the snow on the ice. It's pretty bright about 10 feet around the hole. I came up from my second dive and Troy was tending line and I could see him so clearly, we waved at each other. That was the best part of the dive. I also got to see the 1938 truck that sits on the bottom of the lake. I exited on the ladder and plopped myslef out onto the ice like an injured seal and realized almost immediately that my lips froze. I skipped the ice cap on the 2nd dive and was not able to cover my lips and cheeks. Uh can you say ...mistake? Will go back in with the ice cap tomorrow, just need to do a little trimming in the morning. Well, that's it for me. I am hitting the hay for tonight. It's cold and I am tired. Good diving, nice place, and great company. See y'all tomorrow! You Betcha!

 

[ScubaTexan]

I saw on a documentary once that ice divers use Vaseline on their lips and nose to try and keep freezing down. You could also use (don't laugh) KY Warming Gel.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

I"m kind of suprised to see a Piston reg being used for ice diving, I'm curious how it is performing vs anyone on sealed diaphrams?

Any chance of underwater pics?

 

[Debraw]

That reg in the picture is a Atomic B2, with the cold water kit installed did not freeze on the first dive, just on the 2nd AFTER the dive. It is sealed. There is a diver with a sealed diaphragm, GT3, non-DVT and his froze also AFTER it had been out of the water. My reg is a Atomic B2 with seal and it has not froze up..yet, did not freeze after I got out of the water. My reg is the same as Troy's and was sealed at the same time. . The other piston reg is a Sherwood Oasis and has not froze either ( the instructor's) . The Aqualung Legend, diaphragm, froze also. I honestly don't know if any regulator could survive these extreme conditions, and the key is not to exit the water between your two dives of the day. The reg should never hit the air until you are ready to stop diving. I would have to say at the end of the day, the pistons did better than the diapraghms, overall. You have to remember it's 37 degrees in the water and 19 degrees in the hut. Sudden change doesn't do anything good.
There are so many things to think about, gear, exposure protection, restrictive movement, cold, ice, weight, lines, you name it.
We are going to try for UW pics tomorrow. There was just to much going on today.

 

[Teknadv3x]

I"m kind of suprised to see a Piston reg being used for ice diving, I'm curious how it is performing vs anyone on sealed diaphrams?

Any chance of underwater pics?

These guys are using Sherwoods which are a breed of there own (sealed piston).

http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/nsf/diving/index3.html