Care and feeding of lines 101?

[T. Bix]

At the expense of exposing myself as a newb (BTW: I am a freshly minted Intro diver) and potentially starting a sh!tstorm of criticism about where I do and don't belong, I have some questions about permanent lines and the existence of workshops etc. about such things.
There is a recent report in IRAP and in dive reports about a dive team that dove in a familliar system and ran across a very slack main line. The last thing I want to do is for folks to come on here and tear these guys down for what went wrong. What I want to know is more along the lines of how to make things go right which in my potentially ignorant opinion they did. Sure they silted out the passage but they also kept cool heads and used their resources and training to get out and call the dive as appropriate.

More like what would the correct procedure be for running into a main line that was slack? Should you try to ensure the initial tie off is sound and keep it taut behind you as you advance into the passage?
Should you attempt to make new placements?
In a familliar system would it be appropriate to leave it lie in the silt and run your own line from open water to the point that it connects to the "T" or tie in where it is taut?
And finally other that here is there a place or way to report line conditions locally at these sites? ( like local line committees)

If a moderator feels that this discussion is either pointless or belongs somewhere else please feel free to delete it or move it as you feel appropriate.

[LiteHedded]

if I find a slack or broken line I tighten it up or repair it depending on the passage.

I will confess I've scootered right by a few slack lines. probably not the safest move...

[FW]

Yes, T.Bix is right, this is hard to answer. If there is enough visibility, it is pretty easy to fix a slack line, especially if you have enough gas. The best procedure is to figure out where the slack came from. Most likely a wrap slipped off, and if you can find the spot, just re-wrap it. Look at both directions from the wrap to be sure you didn't pull the line into a line trap. Always think to yourself, can I follow this line with no visibility?

Starting with a slack line in zero visibility is an entirely different problem. In the incident you mention, it wasn't them that made the low visibility. That cave has pockets of lower visibility even on good days. That day, they followed the line into nearly zero visibility. The line was OK when they got to the low visibility, but was slack further into the cave. Should they have turned the dive when they found the slack? That is like asking if a linebacker should have gone left instead of right, after the game is over.

Now how to fix a slack line in zero viz? First this is way out of the realm of an intro diver! Probably even for recent full cave divers. If you don't have previous experience laying line in zero viz, you should just leave the repair to someone that has the experience. I have dived low, and zero viz for nearly 40 years, and a line like that would make me very nervous. There is always a chance of swimming off the end of a broken line, and it would be hard, if not impossible to find the line again. Another big issue is while trying to take up the slack, inadvertently pulling the line into a line trap.

Personally, I would try to find some rocks, etc. and take the slack up a little at a time, while checking behind me for line traps. This is very slow, as you have to actually turn back, and follow the line to the next tie-off, to be sure you haven't created a line trap. From what Skip said, rocks were hard to find in that section of the cave. He had put the line on "silt stakes" (PVC pipe stuck in the silt) but a flood had washed them all away.

Bottom line, if you don't have experience in low viz, turn back if you fine a mess like that!

[FW]

Now along the same topic. What if you were in low viz, on a well laid line, and kick off a wrap on you way in, and don't notice until you are on your way out? Now you don't have the choice to turn the dive, you have to follow the line to get out.

What Skip did was probably the best way. Use both hands on the line. You want to avoid pulling the line, because it if is broken, the ends will be pulled farther apart. If you do find something to wrap onto, only pull up slack BEHIND you. If you pull slack in front of you, you might pull up a broken line, or pull the line into a line trap. If you do come to a broken end on the line, tie a spool on it, and do a lost line drill in the direction you were heading until you find the other end of the break. Try to control your breathing rate, because I know from experience that it will be up

FWIW, I have never failed to find the other part of the line, but I have had a few good (bad?) scares in my life.

[T. Bix]

.....Sure they silted out the passage but they also kept cool heads and used their resources and training to get out and call the dive as appropriate......

.

Thank You Forest, After re-re-reading the original IRAP you are correct and I appologize to the divers that posted the incident and again comend them for keeping cool under pressure.
But okay in no or low viz yeah I recon I'd be thumbing the dive especially in an unfamiliar system. But let's say some to good, or good to great viz. Continous guidline to the surface, avoid line traps with placements and wraps as appropriate/necessary..... Is there really an established protocol or procedure for slack? I can envision pulling along only to find the other end tied to nothing or worse yet all bunched up behind you. In my mind it seems safer to keep it taut behind you on the way in and in front of you on the way out or to your direct access to the surface no matter your direction of travel.

[T. Bix]

Sorry again.... I guess "pulling" is the wrong term in my previous post.... And I imagine if my instructor finds this thread he'll run me through the mill on line protocols in my future training events but as in my Intro course I insisted on laying the line at every opportunity. After all it is one of the things that I know is key to my returning to do this another day.

[FW]

...In my mind it seems safer to keep it taut behind you on the way in and in front of you on the way out or to your direct access to the surface no matter your direction of travel.

If you can be assured of continued good viz, that might work. The safest way is to continually find places to wrap the line, avoiding line traps. If you do encounter a line trap, slack is your friend, in that you can move the line out of the trap. You can't do that without breaking it, if it is too tight.

Another thing all this tells us, is that a properly laid line doesn't have so much line at a wrap that it gets in a mess like Skip and Steve encountered. In that dive, it wasn't wraps that were the cause, it was the flood moving the stakes.

[Attchoum]

The safest way is to continually find places to wrap the line, avoiding line traps.

If you find nothing, get the slack off by wrapping your backup light on the line and leave it behind. You can come a other day to recover it. In the wrost case you loose a backup light but you keep breathing.

I never encourage my student to do placement. placement slip or break way to easy, at less here in mexico. I you can, always do a compleat tie-off it will really secure the line.

[the dude]

i think you will find that even mentioning line placement, especially in well traveled caves on this forum will probably awaken the opinion monster. check out a post that i made a while back, about 15 dives after completing my full cave course:

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...st-marked-jump