tethered or not?

[cerich]

OK, the 'standards say " tethered, but I have seen lately much more of a "line in sight ala cave" in use.

What say and do you? Do we need to re evaluate the way we teach and the way standards are written?

 

[rjack321]

I have only done untethered ala cave. But it was a unique environment (Morrison's Quarry, Quebec) and I don't believe the approach is universally applicable.

Teach both approaches and let informed divers make fully informed choices. Even tethered ice divers with only recreational level skills can have huge problems as shown in the USCG Healy accident.

With that in mind, just teaching tethered "recreational" ice diving should just be scrapped.

 

[Cave Diver]

When doing a tethered dive, how is the diver attached to the tether?

What are the pros and cons of each method?

 

[cerich]

tied with a bowline or caribiners to a chest harness, line to surface tender, not tendered think follow the gold line style...

 

[Cave Diver]

tied with a bowline or caribiners to a chest harness, line to surface tender, not tendered think follow the gold line style...

I think I would prefer untethered. With out any practical experience to back my opinion up, I think I'd lean towards dropping a shot line and marker bag though the hole, descend on that and then run a reel to points of interest on the bottom. If I was planning to remain close to the surface, I might not mind being tethered so much.

Like Richard said, I don't know that there would be a universal approach, as things would vary with depth, visibility, etc.

 

[rjack321]

Like Richard said, I don't know that there would be a universal approach, as things would vary with depth, visibility, etc.

Limeyx and I did a mine once that was so dreadful I wanted a tether. We couldn't see diddly so we were bouncing up and down between the floor and ceiling (~6ft), bumping into walls constantly etc. You know the vis is bad when you can't even tell if your own 18w HID is still on or not. (it was).

 

[jjones9527]

Ice diving, tethered or otherwise, needs respect and limits. Keep in mind what could happen should you face an inflator freeflow on an untethered dive. How far up is that ceiling going to be? Will you be able to find your guideline when/if you get back to the bottom? The list goes on. I don't bother with tethered diving, however there is much more to think about when ice diving than just what method you use. It may be similar to cave diving, but there are significant differences.

Gotta go make dinner, otherwise I'd put a little more thought into this post

 

[cerich]

Ice diving, tethered or otherwise, needs respect and limits. Keep in mind what could happen should you face an inflator freeflow on an untethered dive. How far up is that ceiling going to be? Will you be able to find your guideline when/if you get back to the bottom? The list goes on. I don't bother with tethered diving, however there is much more to think about when ice diving than just what method you use. It may be similar to cave diving, but there are significant differences.

Gotta go make dinner, otherwise I'd put a little more thought into this post

yup, once did a untethered dive running a reel...from the shore. Came back to find the ice had blown back in. So there we were , two experienced ice instructors who knew better. we swam along the edge of the lake until clear water. luck smiled...

in a river with current...that is a dang hard one to make the untethered argument.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Ice diving, tethered or otherwise, needs respect and limits. Keep in mind what could happen should you face an inflator freeflow on an untethered dive. How far up is that ceiling going to be? Will you be able to find your guideline when/if you get back to the bottom? The list goes on. I don't bother with tethered diving, however there is much more to think about when ice diving than just what method you use. It may be similar to cave diving, but there are significant differences.

Gotta go make dinner, otherwise I'd put a little more thought into this post

What difference does the distance of the ceiling make?? I've had free flows without ascent. Is there something about ice diving that makes an ascent during free flow a definite issue?

 

[jjones9527]

A small freeflow can turn into a full blown mess very fast due to the cold water. One incident in particular that drastically changed our risk assessment started with a single stage freeflowing, and turned into multiple regs as well as an inflator, causing a runaway ascent. This resulted in the death of a highly trained and experienced diver. The specific incident has been posted on SB, and there may be a thread here as well from last year about it.