Tell me your best entanglement story

[Texasguy]

Seems like it is such a big and scary potential problem: the entanglement.

Throughout my diving I have not had any problems, perhaps, I don't dive where people fish. Thus, tell me your story, I want to learn and raise my awareness.

1) What lead to entanglement? Why was not noticed? Preventable?
2) What was the mental state throughout the ordeal?
3) How was it resolved? What tools used, were they adequate for the situation?
4) What would you do differently?

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

1) What lead to entanglement? Why was not noticed? Preventable?

Desire to access the engine room of a local wreck (65' fishing vessel, sank en route to being scuttled after it ran around). Oh, it was noticed - no way to miss it (see below) or really to prevent it. If you want in/out of the forward hold and engine room, you have to go through a cloud of wire.

2) What was the mental state throughout the ordeal?

Slightly narced (wreck is at 185'-190' and all but my last few dives on it were in doubles on air) but otherwise fine...I knew it was going to make a rat's nest on my manifold and I just dealt with it each time it did.

3) How was it resolved? What tools used, were they adequate for the situation?

Patience, lots of reaching back, not rolling or shifting around without specific purpose. No tools required to-date, though just cutting the whole thing clean off has crossed my mind.

4) What would you do differently?

Nothing - I kind of like what a mess that penetration is.

 

[eelnoraa]

1) What lead to entanglement? Why was not noticed? Preventable?

I have only had one encounter. It was my dive buddy. He has a postal grip light attached to a retractor, the kind with vinyl cost metal wire. We were swimming in kelp forrest. He developed a clamp. While trying to grab his fin and pull on it (for relief), he felt on a piece of kelp. I went over to help him. After what felt like a minute, he recovered and we tried to swim to exit. After a few kick, we realized he was going anywhere. Upon inspection, we realize his light/retractor has tangled up with the thick kelp. We then tried to untangle the wire, but with thick gloves, thin wire and low viz, it wasn't possible. Then I pulled out my knife to cut the wire, also wan't happening. Then we cut the kelp (about 1" in diameter bull kelp)

Why wasn't noticeable? I think it has to do with the re tractor. When the light caught something, we didn't know because we can still swim away for a few feet. Only then we release he get caught.

Was it preventable? Absolutely yes. No more re-tractor + piston light especially with re-tractor connected to waist D-ring.

2) What was the mental state throughout the ordeal?

I think we were acted relatively calm, but to be honest, looking at the gas consumption for that couple of minutes, we were definitely feeling stressful.

3) How was it resolved? What tools used, were they adequate for the situation?

Cutting the bull kelp with a serrated edge knife (cut off steak knife). I don't think cutting the metal wire will be easy for any knife. I don't even thing trauma sheer will do it either.

4) What would you do differently?

Never use thin metal wire in kelp. Actually never use re-tractor again

 

[3D diver]

Not much of a story, but it lead to a change in my rig:

1) What lead to entanglement? Why was not noticed? Preventable?

Folks fish along the Monterey Breakwater. Usually you spot the line in time, sometimes you don't. In this particular instance I got kinda wrapped up in it and noticed two things: first it was too strong to break, second I couldn't reach the knife strapped to my ankle. I think there was some kelp involved too, I was too wrapped up in something to bend and reach the knife.

2) What was the mental state throughout the ordeal?

I was annoyed but calm...my buddy was close.

3) How was it resolved? What tools used, were they adequate for the situation?

My buddy cut me loose with a knife. When I was free I looked down and had a hook in my glove!

4) What would you do differently?

I now dive with my knife strapped to my left wrist where I can reach it.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I've never been entangled other than the occasional snagged fin in kelp. A small group of us were going to document an abandoned gillnet once off Los Angeles. Working in two buddy teams we photographed dead sea lions and birds in the net and also freed a few living animals. While I was photographing a sea lion my buddy (Merry) told me the net would drift over me occasionally. We finished our work and surfaced. A few minutes later half of the other team surface, followed by her buddy a few minutes later screaming in panic at the surface. All I could make out was that he was trapped in the net and barely freed himself in time, but his camera was still down there.
I jumped back in and found his camera tangled in the net and retrieved it. It turned out that he got his first stage caught and was unable to cut it free. His buddy had swum off to photograph more of the net. He said he freaked out and swam as hard as he could until the net broke free. After that incident we contacted Fish and Game and they found the owner of the net, who was ordered to remove it from the water.

 

[lemke]

I shot a big AJ around an oil rig, and it proceeded to wrap me rather tightly against the rig leg. Luckily I was using a mono shooting line and not SS cable.

 

[cbm32]

Entanglement story?

I got married. It is a sad story with no happy ending.....doubt you want to hear it.

 

[3D diver]

Oh...if we're including lost nets...

Once dove a NC wreck that had a trawl net snagged on it. It was a solid vertical wall of net, extending as far as we could see, full of dead and dying pelagics---sharks, sail fish, jacks etc. The bottom was also littered with corpses and dying fish. Very dark and spooky.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

A post from long ago.. I was pretty scared..

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-and-incidents/134163-scooter-salvage.html

 

[kafkaland]

Intro cave course. At max penetration, my buddy signaled out of air. I gave him my long hose quickly, and while we were still getting ourselves sorted out to leave the cave like this, the instructor signaled "light failure" and we turned off the lights. Fortunately, the line was within easy reach. So an air-sharing, no-vis exit from the cave. About half way out, after touch-checking a tie-off, the cord of my primary light got entangled with the line. I know I should have clipped off my now useless light properly, but I didn't (task loading came back to bite me) and I promptly paid the price (although to date I'm not sure my instructor didn't have a hand in this entanglement...) So in total darkness, sharing air with my buddy in front of me, signaling him by touch to hold, I had to resolve the entanglement. I did, eventually, and we made it out ok, although dipping a bit into my gas reserve from the combination of air sharing and the delay from the entanglement. I must say I'm glad this happened on a training dive, and not for real. I don't think I ever, ever, ever, want to put myself in an air-sharing, no vis, entanglement situation in a cave without an instructor nearby.