Training Tips

[gmount]

Greetings,
I have a question for a seasoned diver or an instructor. In a confined water setting (pool) what is the easiest way to simulate entanglements? I have no experience in setting up a controlled entanglement, yet cutting my way out is quite common. I was going to black out masks or remove them, and criss-cross the pool with monofilament fishing line. I want to introduce this situation to members of my dive team without a high risk.
Thank You.
g

 

[dc4bs]

My LDS is building an atificial shipwreck out of PVC tubing for bouyancy / wreck dive / underwater mapping training in the pool.

If you just get 15 or so 6-8 foot pvc pipes, you can make a cube with a few angle pieces for structure rigidity.

Then you would have a frame to run your mono lines.

Just have a couple safety divers on either side in case the person in there has any problems.

I'll mention the idea to the instructors at my LDS and see if they want to do any entanglement traning using the new "shipwreck" as a frame...

Thanks for the idea.

 

[Liquid]

I think that if you want to get the maximum effect, you'd better use a small fishing net.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

I take about 15' of 1/4" poly line & feed it in & around their gear until they're sufficiently trussed up. While myself & their buddy standby, the student attempts to free themselves from the line, knowing that at any time they can signal their buddy to assist them. It is good equipment familiarization practice, & many of the students will slip the pack from their back in order to free themselves.

It is understood that time is of the essence & in a real situation they wouldn't waste time trying to unravel themselves, they ( or their buddy ) would simply cut the offending material away. We also discuss the possibility of mid-water entanglement & the necessity to maintain depth as much as possible while working oneself free. It is very easy to get tunnel vision when dealing with a fouling situation & begin to descend without realizing it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
D.S.D.

 

[ymy]

When I did search and recovery, my instructor taped our masks with duct tape (his way of doing zero visibility) and got us to do search patterns in the pool. The first time round we got ourselves nice and tangled on the reel we were using ...