You may have forgotten, but early in this thread - expert Ken suggested just that. Its was not long after he admonished me for a "generally, normally" true statement, probly having more to do with the way I talk, when I asked about the kids being brought up without their gear - which was suggested back then, and he raked me again for that question, saying it happens all the time - even tho not the case this time.
I haven't forgotten ... but with the exception of post 43, that entire discussion revolved around conscious OOA divers performing a self-rescue ... which is very different than a rescue/recovery team bringing a diver up from depth. You'll also remember that I disagreed with this comment at the time, and still do. A cold-water diver's exposure protection is typically going to make them 20+ lbs positive (depending on size and thickness, it could be much more than that), which if you are bringing them up ... as opposed to just releasing the body to float up on its own ... is going to become increasingly difficult to manage as you approach the surface.
First rule of rescue is don't put yourself in a situation to become another victim. Trying to manage a body that's 20+ lbs positive and becoming more so as you ascend is a great way to find yourself in an uncontrolled ascent.
I don't think it happens all the time ... I think it was established somewhere around post 112 that this is a practice that was taught decades ago, and has since fallen out of favor as equipment evolution made the practice less desireable than other available alternatives. Generally accepted practice today is to swim the diver up ... only ditching weights as needed to make a controlled ascent. Then, once on the surface, release weights to make it impossible for the diver to submerge again. Generally speaking, you'll want to retain the equipment for analysis ... but the priority is getting assistance for the diver, and if the equipment's in the way you jettison it for later retrieval. That is what happened in this case.
Some time later someone did mention that they'd heard that the kits were thrown overboard to make room on the rescue boat and that guy was called a rumormonger by someone else, then later on the divers who found the gear explained how it was tied together with yellow rope -
It was posted in one of the later press releases that the CG folks removed the BCDs, tied them together, and jettisoned them ... intending to come back later and recover them.
all this discussion happening along with side issue posting about training standards (wasn't that your part?), etc.
No Don ... my part was to point out to people who insisted that they somehow KNEW what caused this accident. Those causes ranged from insufficient training to a lack of responsible supervision to a failure of the buddy system. My "part" was pointing out that there wasn't sufficient information to make any of those assumptions.
It was difficult to follow for us actively pursuing and I'm surprised I remember it that well, I think.
It was difficult to follow because, in the absense of any factual information, the usual suspects were busily filling in the blanks with whatever speculation happened to fit their pet agenda.
People need to remember that family members almost always read these threads ... out of a very human need to find reasons for what happened. They are usually not divers, and will cling to whatever rationalization they read without adequate knowledge to sort through the agendas of the people doing the speculating.
There's nothing wrong with speculating in cases like this ... if you make it clear that's what you're doing. Many people did ... including myself. The only ones that got objected to were the ones who insisted on making statements sound factual ... without having any evidence to back up their "facts". Such things make for interesting discussion at times ... I'm just of the opinion that smearing the reputation of an instructor or agency following the death of two people probably isn't an appropriate time.
Later information released by news sources, rescuers, and parents of the kids involved demonstrated that much of what was presented as "fact" wasn't factual ... but that didn't prevent people who had read it from repeating it as though it were. That's the downside of speculation in cases like this ... and the reason why we need to be careful about what we say in the absense of evidence. People tend to believe what they want to believe ... even when it turns out not to be correct.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
