Underwater Gear Replacement

[ajduplessis]

Removing/replacing gear at depth is a vital skill. If you can't master your equipment while diving, start working on it.

 

[Mike.D]

Dont want to stray to far from the subject but are you guys saying that it isn't a wise idea to carry weights all on your rig incase you do need to remove your gear to clear an entanglement issue?
E.g I carry 6lb of weight and was considering ditching my weight belt and to carry my weight on tank mounted pouches. Bad idea?
Might have to start a new thread for this one....

 

[ladyfishdvr]

I have practiced this in the pool a lot. If I had a weight belt on it would have been so much easier than having it all in the bc.

 

[Diver0001]

Dont want to stray to far from the subject but are you guys saying that it isn't a wise idea to carry weights all on your rig incase you do need to remove your gear to clear an entanglement issue?
E.g I carry 6lb of weight and was considering ditching my weight belt and to carry my weight on tank mounted pouches. Bad idea?
Might have to start a new thread for this one....

It makes matters easier if the weight is on the weightbelt.

As far as the kit R&R with the twinset... As for getting it back on, I'm in the same camp as Dsix36. I find that once I get under it the rest is easy. I use steel tanks on my kit and it's kind of negative for flipping over the head. In my case I find that the overhead method of getting it back on just feels (and probably looks) a lot less graceful than rolling into it with one arm already in and the getting horizontal under it. At that point you're back to diving and you can just push the set up on your back and slip the other arm in. YYMV. Either way, if whatever you're doing feels right then on is on.

R..

 

[Superlyte27]

Also, ditching and donning underwater may become necessary to clear an entanglement, such as from fishing line or kelp.

First step is to try to clear the entanglement yourself. Second step is to rely upon your dive buddy to clear it. If those fail, the next step is to ditch, clear the entanglement and then don your gear and swim on.

In 10,000 dives, that's never even come close to occurring. That's what knives are for. I bet of the thousands upon thousands of divers on scuba board, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of dives conducted, the issue of needing to exit your gear to free a line entanglement is less than 1. If it has happened, I'd bet some other piece of training or gear was the issue. Lack of knife or lack of common sense.

 

[fisheater]

In 10,000 dives, that's never even come close to occurring. That's what knives are for. I bet of the thousands upon thousands of divers on scuba board, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of dives conducted, the issue of needing to exit your gear to free a line entanglement is less than 1. If it has happened, I'd bet some other piece of training or gear was the issue. Lack of knife or lack of common sense.

Probably not much kelp or fishing line where you've been diving. There are lots of different environments out there.


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[redacted]

If most people are like me, they're wondering why you would need to exit your rig and then get back in it at depth.

Warhammer for one. Also to check out the bubbling noise you hear from behind you.

 

[mathauck0814]

Probably not much kelp or fishing line where you've been diving. There are lots of different environments out there.


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I've been tangled in kelp and fishing line hundreds of times, that is what line cutters are for. I've never had to remove gear to clear an entanglement in California waters.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

In 10,000 dives, that's never even come close to occurring. That's what knives are for. I bet of the thousands upon thousands of divers on scuba board, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of dives conducted, the issue of needing to exit your gear to free a line entanglement is less than 1. If it has happened, I'd bet some other piece of training or gear was the issue. Lack of knife or lack of common sense.

I learned to dive n bad vis on wrecks in NJ. Getting into some line was very common. If a buddy is there, that is the first choice, second choice is trying to work my way out of the line, third choice is remove and replace... last choice is using a knife behind my head where I can't see. Plus, I most often get entangled by my own floatline that I am pulling. It is much better to untangle it, then cut it.

 

[Dsix36]

In 10,000 dives, that's never even come close to occurring. That's what knives are for. I bet of the thousands upon thousands of divers on scuba board, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of dives conducted, the issue of needing to exit your gear to free a line entanglement is less than 1. If it has happened, I'd bet some other piece of training or gear was the issue. Lack of knife or lack of common sense.

Entanglement in line is easy to cut your way out of. When it is cave line and the vis is already zeroed out, cutting the line was not a very safe option in my mind. Removal of rig to free the line was my best choice.

A collapsing chunk of wreck was another time to pull my gear off.

Sometimes it is necessary just to get through that small opening.

This could indeed be attributed to a lack of common sense, or being foolish enough to solo dive. I prefer to think of it as being comfortable and confident in my abilty to do so and thus making a possible nerve racking experience nothing but a minor annoyance.

All skills need to be practiced and kept sharp. There is a reason that we were taught this stuff in our very first OW classes. Even advancded divers need to remember the basics from time to time.