Woman critical after West Van scuba diving accident - Canada

[DandyDon]

With a pair of trusty EMT shears it doesn't matter.

If recreational BC, there would be dumpable weights or a belt.

If Plate, maybe not, depending on exposure suit. Might have to ditch kit.

 

[Roko]

I think the trick with the plate is to balance well what's ditchable weight, and what's fixed to your rig.. I'd hate to have no ditchable weight. (For recreational diving.. can't speak for Tech) I think right now roughly half of my weight is ditchable, and I have sheers easily accessible if I need to cut off (or be cut out) in a hurry.

It's unfortunate that weights don't get ditched in a panic in so many of these cases. I've got integrated weight pockets at the moment on my BP/W (thinking of just going to a separate belt, but that's neither here nor there), but I made sure to find out where I can replace them to get over that psychological barrier for losing them in an emergency.

It's a bit sobering when an incident is somewhere you dive a lot.

 

[Roko]

To add to my last, in the Army the phrase "Train like you fight, fight like you train" is thrown around a lot, and I really believe in that mantra from my experience. If weights are only "simulated" dropped in training, I believe it can be harder to wrap your head around actually dropping them in an emergency -- When your brain shuts down in a panic, it's muscle memory and trained reflex that carries you through your actions.

But I suppose repetitively dropping weights in training would make for a lot of lost weights, as I don't think it would stick in your mind if you do it only once or twice in OW then never again -- repetition is key. Worth it IMNSHO, especially if you make sure the weights/pockets/belt are brightly coloured and retrievable.

 

[DandyDon]

But I suppose repetitively dropping weights in training would make for a lot of lost weights, as I don't think it would stick in your mind if you do it only once or twice in OW then never again -- repetition is key. Worth it IMNSHO, especially if you make sure the weights/pockets/belt are brightly coloured and retrievable.

We don't drop on practice dives as it's an 84 ft hole with silt bottom and crowded at times, and on trips - again, too deep, not good timing. The first time we simulated tho, it was clumsy, drove home the need to practice.

I think maybe I will wrap my weight pocket handles in red tape tho, in case someone else needs to find them...

 

[Roko]

That's what I'm thinking.. my pockets are nice super-diver-black.. They should be neon.. Especially since most of the time they're just tucked away inside the carrier anyways.

I agree with some dive sites not conducive for actually dropping weights for training.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Interesting point.. I think I will be putting some marine grade reflective tape on both sides of my weight pockets!

 

[Ayisha]

I think the trick with the plate is to balance well what's ditchable weight, and what's fixed to your rig.. I'd hate to have no ditchable weight. (For recreational diving.. can't speak for Tech) I think right now roughly half of my weight is ditchable, and I have sheers easily accessible if I need to cut off (or be cut out) in a hurry.

bold added

I am quite sure that rec divers do not need ditchable weight. Rec divers should be weighted correctly as they do not have extraneous gear. Rec divers should be able to swim up their rig if they are weighted correctly to be neutrally buoyant at the end of the dive if their tank were to be nearly empty.

Being able to ditch weight to float a few inches higher at the surface (for someone who is correctly weighted) is very different from the tech concept of ditchable weight, which could be any type of ballast, like a can light, camera equipment, etc.

 

[Crush]

bold added

I am quite sure that rec divers do not need ditchable weight. Rec divers should be weighted correctly as they do not have extraneous gear. Rec divers should be able to swim up their rig if they are weighted correctly to be neutrally buoyant at the end of the dive if their tank were to be nearly empty.

That depends either upon your risk tolerance or upon the degree of redundancy in your lift. If you are properly weighted and have a drysuit many would argue that you needn't worry about ditchable weight since a sudden catastrophic failure in your lift bladder could be overcome. If you are diving wet, and your thick suit might reach a compression of -20 lbs or more, good luck trying to swim that up if there is a sudden and dramatic failure of your lift bladder - better to be able to ditch weight and worry about DCS as you suck sweet air on the surface.

 

[Ayisha]

As long as rec divers don't think they should overweight themselves so they have excess weight to remove. You might be surprised that some people actually think this way. More divers are probably over-weighted than correctly weighted. Most tech divers, OTOH, do start out quite over-weighted but have lift redundancies and ditchable weight. Most divers are able to ditch weight, whether it's on a belt or in pockets. Hopefully it's all reachable. A balanced rig is of course the way to go. If injury is imminent, I agree that bent is better than dead. Let's leave a buoyant ascent at the bottom of the options, though, if we can, with the first option to do everything we can to avoid the accident followed by the next safest options if necessary.

 

[DandyDon]

I wouldn't want to drop weights at depth if I could avoid it at all. My home bud dropped his weight belt on our first post-cert dive, 62F water, 7 mile Farmer John suits, popped up like a cork. He didn't tell me until long after that he ached for months - we were brand new and his GF was whining, but it could have been much worse if he'd held his breath. He hadn't thot that DAN dive insurance was needed either. :shocked2:

Diving Vancouver, whether in the thickest neoprene suit I had or a dry suit, I'd expect to be carry a lot of lead entering the water. I'm pretty good at estimating with various wet suits I own, fresh vs salt. My bud gets confused and I lost track long ago of how many times he needed to add after entering. For us two tall, fat boys tho, saltwater below 60F, I'd say 28 for me and 32 for him as I've learned to watch his weight calls. We could try him at 30# as that's all our BC pockets hold, but I think we'd need to strap some more to him - 20# ditchable for either of us, on surface.

Warmer climes, I may only have 14-16# total, 8# ditchable with him a little more. He's lost weight lately but taller, and - other factors. We're all somewhat different.

Others I have dived with: I've seen those who could not stay down on a SS, and I've seen some who sank like anchors with the DM suggesting much less for the next dive - but some don't need much at all, mostly the slender folks, which I have not been since the Marines. Anyway, there is a lot of variance, and some over weighting mistakes.

If I was doing my first ever real rescue on someone I didn't know, gawd - I wouldn't know what to expect from their gear. Kudos to the poor fellow who tried but had to escape as he did his best and was her only hope, but in the emergency situation how many of us would prepare for the possible need to dump her weights, and know what to grab & how?

I'm doing to try to keep that in mind in case I ever come across a similar need, and if I can't find lead to drop - consider their kits. I would think that anyone would float in a 7 mil, saltwater, no kit, but that is drastic. Having seconds to decide is scary.