Donating a cylinder in an OOA

[Walter Pickel]

it is (with al tanks) very easy and fast to do.

Unless it is already zero viz in a real sidemount cave. I dive long hoses and QDs for second stages. I try to cover all bases and worry about the fantasy off passing tanks off if an issue arises.

[phillip1]

Agreed but you still need to practise it just in case no matter how unlikely, hey i even had a cave collapse on me and i used the force to escape cetain death, and a cave collape is almost as unlikely as being hit by lighting (or so I like to think)

[Kelly Jessop]

and a cave collape is almost as unlikely as being hit by lighting (or so I like to think)

Don't know,I've been in 3 cave collapses,and got struck by lightening 1000' back in Peacock. I don't put these in the unlikely category,but in the,"if you do this long enough expect it to happen to you"

[NEON]

Just don't do it. Especially if wearing steel cylinders. Losing half of one's ballast increases respiration rate and reduces swimming efficiency for an emergency exit. A 7 foot hose is perfectly efficient for gas sharing in the side mount configuration. I've shared gas via long hose through side mount restricitons during exploration dives. It works. Safe diving,

Brian

Can you please tell us more about this? What necessitated the sharing? Did the other diver loose all the gas? Was it just a training exercise?

My limited understanding is that complete gas lost in SM would be very unlikely but a hose running across one's chest does certainly catch on things in smaller passages.

[DA Aquamaster]

My limited understanding is that complete gas lost in SM would be very unlikely but a hose running across one's chest does certainly catch on things in smaller passages.

A complete gas loss is unlikely, but if you lose half your gas, at max pentration the margin is thin, and sharing a bit of a teammate's still ample reserve de-stresses the situation.

Also, I route the long hose straight up from the right tank. so the hose is really no different along the chest than it would be with a short hose. On the left tank, you could do the same thing with a reg with a left side inlet fitting, or with a reg with a right side inlet fitting, you could run it straight up from the tank, then around the back of your neck.

[jj1987]

Don't know,I've been in 3 cave collapses,and got struck by lightening 1000' back in Peacock. I don't put these in the unlikely category,but in the,"if you do this long enough expect it to happen to you"

Marchand on here had a rock about the size of a basketball fall on him. Parker Turner died from it. I hear madison has changed since it's been lined. I think Marsonk on here had a big rock fall on him in Ginnie as well. Several incidents in MX, one even caught on camera IIRC.

As you said, no way a cave collapse is infrequent. Hope everyone on here realizes it's a risk they take.

[phillip1]

Man one cave here I dive has rocks the size of houses just waiting to fall and one did and buried the line a while back, there is a cave near santo Domingo too were a Volkswagen sized boulder totally buried the line.
I know it happens that's how I messed up my knee, it will never stop me from going cave diving it's the cave diving equivalent of surfing's classic thinking about shark attacks when at dawn surfing muddy river mouth breaks like La Boca, only a bit less likely in caves (again so I like to think) as there are way fewer cave divers for collapses to eat, but then again maybe not.

[DA Aquamaster]

Marchand on here had a rock about the size of a basketball fall on him. Parker Turner died from it. I hear madison has changed since it's been lined. I think Marsonk on here had a big rock fall on him in Ginnie as well. Several incidents in MX, one even caught on camera IIRC.

As you said, no way a cave collapse is infrequent. Hope everyone on here realizes it's a risk they take.

I guess I define cave collapse differently. I had a football sized rock fall on me in the Hill 400 tunnel apparently due to percolation i- but I regarded that as "a football sized rock falling on me", not a "cave collapse". The former is an interesting event, the latter is a serious "oh ****!" moment.

On one of my trips to Peacock in the last year or so, I noted a large rock sitting squarely on the line just short of the waterhole sink. It was not there the last time I had been there. That rock is large enough to have seriously squished a diver had it fallen at the wrong time, but again I would not regard it as a "cave collapse" as it is not blocking the passage, and short of actually landing on them, would not have seriosuly ruined anyone's day.

And to get it back on topic, that rock would not have required either a handoff of a tank or a long hose for two divers sharing gas to get past. Although I think trying to exchange tanks in a semi-small tunnel in the total silt out that would have resulted when it fell would have been interesting. A lot easier to just hand off a long hose...

[jj1987]

I guess I define cave collapse differently. I had a football sized rock fall on me in the Hill 400 tunnel apparently due to percolation i- but I regarded that as "a football sized rock falling on me", not a "cave collapse". The former is an interesting event, the latter is a serious "oh ****!" moment.

On one of my trips to Peacock in the last year or so, I noted a large rock sitting squarely on the line just short of the waterhole sink. It was not there the last time I had been there. That rock is large enough to have seriously squished a diver had it fallen at the wrong time, but again I would not regard it as a "cave collapse" as it is not blocking the passage, and short of actually landing on them, would not have seriosuly ruined anyone's day.

And to get it back on topic, that rock would not have required either a handoff of a tank or a long hose for two divers sharing gas to get past. Although I think trying to exchange tanks in a semi-small tunnel in the total silt out that would have resulted when it fell would have been interesting. A lot easier to just hand off a long hose...

Call it whatever you want. The fact is rocks fall from the ceiling all the time. Some have been large enough to potentially block exit and kill someone. For instance, JB has collapsed with something large enough to trash the viz in recent years (no one was injured to my knowledge). Madison is another good example.

Billyf and Tegg on here have an interesting story about a river cave wanting to hold them captive as well.

[Squirrel Girl]

Just don't do it. Especially if wearing steel cylinders. Losing half of one's ballast increases respiration rate and reduces swimming efficiency for an emergency exit. A 7 foot hose is perfectly efficient for gas sharing in the side mount configuration. I've shared gas via long hose through side mount restricitons during exploration dives. It works. Safe diving,

Brian

Good to hear from an expert! At least one buddy I have says I should use a 5' hose. I've got a 7' and I'm keeping it! Phillip1, I have had my hose come out on a dive. But I added a third rubber retainer, and now it seems quite secure. I always try and keep the hose nicely run so it would deploy properly.

I figure, it would be a pain--not impossible, but a pain--to swap tanks. Doing it during an emergency just seems like an extra thing likely to cause stress and delay in getting out. But everyone knows how to breathe off a spare reg. With a hose long enough for a SM restriction, just hand it off.