Lessons What have you become entangled in?

[Guille G]

I see zero reason for a massive dive knife unless you plan on having underwater knife fights with other divers.

True, but if you are not underwater knife fighting, are you really scuba diving?

 

[Jonn]

I see zero reason for a massive dive knife unless you plan on having underwater knife fights with other divers.

They’re handy for all sorts of jobs, not just cutting free from entanglement. But if you DO have an underwater knife fight, a bigger knife is certainly better!

 

[Bigbella]

Monofilament line as many others have mentioned, was a major source of entanglement, along with both single and treble hooks penetrating thick gloves and into my hand, on two occasions -- the worst being double prongs from a #4 thrust through that "webbing" and into the meat between the right thumb and index finger.

My diving partner at the time said that he could clearly hear me yell, "sh*t!" through my regulator. He was also a first year intern at a local hospital and removed it with my Leatherman, beside speeding traffic on HWY-1 in CA, after handily cutting off my glove, while I held a flashlight.

Bled like a stuck saint.

Loose monofilament netting as well as gangion tied to underwater objects were other proven hazards, over the years, especially at night.

Here is most of what I now carry -- not all necessarily at the same time; not really that insane -- along with EMT shears . . .

 

[Searcaigh]

Everyone loves their dive knife (and divers really love arguing about dive knives). What have you become entangled in out in deep blue that’s warranted whipping out your trusty steel to cut yourself free?

Funny that you posted this, I had my first ever entanglement last Sunday with my DSMB line after attaching it on a pipeline we discovered so that the boat could record the coordinates on the GPS.

By the time I discovered I was attached my buddies had buggered off, and despite banging on my tank for a few mins, nobody came back. I was at 28m in 3-4m visibility.

I had a choice of cutting the line, which I didn't really want to do (50m line on an Apex reel), and obviously repairable.

I could have de-kitted to sort it out too, but I had a stage attached (30 cu ft with 90 bar in it - slightly floaty) plus my DSLR housing and no weight attached to me in a 7mm suit (probably would have been okay), but with nobody nearby seeing my predicament maybe not the safest choice.

After a bit of feeling around I discovered that the line was entangled around the bit of string that holds the tank valve plug, so I managed to quickly free myself by cutting that off, and put the derlin valve plug in my wetsuit pocket. Swam around looking for my buddies in 3-4m vis and couldn't find anyone so I went back to the pipeline and collected my reel and started ascending meeting my buddies at around 21m

First time I've ever been entangled in line, but at least I know I have the right tools to deal with these situations.

 

[happy-diver]

What have you done with the din plug

 

[Searcaigh]

What have you done with the din plug

It's still in my wetsuit pocket. Tank is in my LDS and I'll re-attach it when I pick it up this week.

 

[Kharon]

The only thing I've ever gotten tangled in is the damn dive flag line.

 

[icechip]

Early on in my diving, no one wanted to tow the flag so I volunteered. The friggin' thing wrapped me up faster and tighter than anything. Haven't towed one since.

 

[Doctor Rig]

It’s bad enough to get entangled with kelp, monofilament line or netting like those mentioned, but hopefully entanglement shouldn’t be self induced.

Last fall, I experienced a self induced entanglement. I had recently bought a thigh pocket which hangs from a BC belt and is secured around the thigh with 2 straps. I was doing some pool diving with this pocket on and going through practice drills which included doffing my tank & reg. While removing my tank and bringing it around to the front, my regulator hose was subjected to a twist which was just enough to unscrew it from my regulator. I didn’t exactly notice that the hose wasn’t connected but I was very aware that an air hose was whipping around my body, hitting me and making all kinds of noise. I couldn’t get away from it to see what was going on because I had not removed the two pocket straps around my leg. I was entangled in my own gear. My only option, was to surface dragging my rig, where I closed the tank valve…. and yea, started breathing again, LOL. I was in a pool, no big deal, but a good learning experience.

My take-away……
(1) Check you kit regularly and make sure everything is in place and secure/tight
(2) Minimize any part of your kit that keeps one from easily ditching it, if necessay and practice, practice, practice removing your kit so you don’t have any surprises.

Buy the way, I’m not using that pocket any longer (when attached to my BC).

Anybody have other examples of self induced entanglement to share?

 

[Landau]

Minimize any part of your kit that keeps one from easily ditching it,

You just convinced me not to get a "Cargo Thigh Pocket" for my Scubapro Hydros. This sounds similar to the one you were using but with a single leg strap instead of 2.