Reel left in Jackson?

Hey folks,

Ozrik and I were diving Jackson yesterday, and all day we'd noticed another reel tied into the main line other than our own. There were a few other folks diving as well (Sludge was there!), so we assumed it was one of theirs and they just left it between dives.

Looks like a red Dive Rite (or similar), was marked by a clothes pin near where it tied into the main line.

However, after our last dive of the evening it was still there and as far as we could tell we were the last people out of the water. There were no other cars in the parking lot, either, so we didn't have a reason to believe there was anybody still in the cave or that there was otherwise and emergency situation.

Anybody know what's up with that reel? Wanted to point it out just in case.

It might be edd's or another instructor. Ive seen this same scenario almost every time ive dove jb.

Someone may be diving multiple days and just left it in until their last dive. We did exactly that on a recent 5 day trip.

I washed all my gear yesterday and all of my reels are present and accounted for. So not mine!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by skoorbevad

Anybody know what's up with that reel? Wanted to point it out just in case.

---

We noticed the exact same thing over Christmas in JB. Several people left their reels over night, in one case with very poor placement of the line and for an extended period of at least 5 days. In the latter case it was a repeated pain in the rear-end to run our line all around the poorly place line. And no, of course it wasn't Edd or another local.

It certainly has to be even more of a nuisance now that the flow is up. Quite honestly, I do not understand why people leave their reel in for almost an entire week and not think about the trouble others have to go through to run their line around or under. Plus the fact that when you exit late in the evening, seeing a line still in there might give you the Willies...

Oliver

Edit: @gasdiver, just saw your reply, no offense intended. I'm sure your line was perfectly laid and not the one that poked us in the rear end twice a day... :-)

It was there Friday night around 8 when we exited...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nakatomi

We noticed the exact same thing over Christmas in JB. Several people left their reels over night, in one case with very poor placement of the line and for an extended period of at least 5 days. In the latter case it was a repeated pain in the rear-end to run our line all around the poorly place line. And no, of course it wasn't Edd or another local.

It certainly has to be even more of a nuisance now that the flow is up. Quite honestly, I do not understand why people leave their reel in for almost an entire week and not think about the trouble others have to go through to run their line around or under. Plus the fact that when you exit late in the evening, seeing a line still in there might give you the Willies...

Oliver

Edit: @gasdiver, just saw your reply, no offense intended. I'm sure your line was perfectly laid and not the one that poked us in the rear end twice a day... :-)

---

First of all, I was not at JB over Christmas. Poor placement of the line is just that, it has nothing to do with leaving it the cave overnight. When we put our line in, on our recent trip, there were at least 3 other lines in at the time. My buddy went to great lengths to run our line away from anyone else and when needed, he ran it under the other line(s). I see nothing wrong with leaving a line in overnight if it is placed properly. People have been doing this since I started cave diving back in the 80's.

@gasdiver
As I added to my post, this wasn't directed at you or anyone else for that matter, it was just theoretically speaking based on experiences.
When we were there at times there were several reels left in JB overnight. Some were poorly laid, while with others the owner had put in a lot of effort to run them away from all the other lines. It's just what it is.

Oliver

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slüdge

I washed all my gear yesterday ........

---

What are you, some kind of fanatical weirdball?? Everyone knows you don't wash your gear, it will not build up that light green patina that we are used to seeing if you keep washing it off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OFG-1

wash your gear, it will not build up that light green patina

---

I do this to distinguish my gear from my customers' gear.

If everyone chipped in $1, could we afford to buy enough gold line so that we could just run the mainline to OW?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slüdge

I do this to distinguish my gear from my customers' gear.

---

Thats too much trouble, just do what I do, wrap your second stages with duct tape, then its easy to identify, and as a added bonus, no one will want to steal any of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slüdge

I washed and rinsed and washed and rinsed and washed and rinsed and washed and rinsed all my gear yesterday, and all of my reels are present and accounted for. So not mine!

---

I fixed this for you....from a fellow CDO cave diver. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OFG-1

...no one will want to steal any of it.

---

That's why in my ski patrol days, a few of us painted the tops of our skis with a spray can of gray primer. People gawked at our skis, and maybe a few of them pointed and laughed, but nobody stole them.

That red reel is often left in for several days. My guess is it belongs to a local diver because I do see it on a regular basis. It wasn't there last Thursday.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jj1987

If everyone chipped in $1, could we afford to buy enough gold line so that we could just run the mainline to OW?

---

I even have have some gold line at home I could use to do this with. No need to chip in any money. I don't think everyone would be agreeable to this though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OFG-1

Thats too much trouble, just do what I do, wrap your second stages with duct tape, then its easy to identify, and as a added bonus, no one will want to steal any of it.

---

:rollguy:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MORGAN

I fixed this for you....

---

No, I just do a double rinse after fresh water diving. Quadruple rinses are for after salt water diving.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RN

...I even have have some gold line at home I could use to do this with. No need to chip in any money. I don't think everyone would be agreeable to this though.

---

It has been closer to the entrance in the past. It isn't uncommon for people to disagree on where a permanent line should start. Some think it should be at the entrance for the convenience of cave and DPV divers. Others think it should be out of sight of OW/Cavern divers.

I always ask at Edd's if someone has put a line in. Someone from the shop often puts a line in on busy/holiday weekends in order to make things easier on everyone.

when we rent the hole in the wall house we leave our primary line in for the week. It is tight against the wall, usually on the right side. Why pull it out every day? the last we were there was november though.

I'm with JJ for once, If it becomes standard practice to leave lines in, why not run the gold line to the front of the cave? Maybe like it is in Twin now?
I never have understood why the warning signs are not before you enter the cavern. Or are they placed where they are because people would vandalize them?

As I see it, the gold line at JB really isn't open for discussion. The park and Edd has the the say so on this. With the park changing things when they gave the sign in to Edd and allowing open water divers there, moving the line out like twin would just be dangerous and certainly entice people to go in.

Well they could go in while you are diving. You can't stop that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kevin Carlisle

As I see it, the gold line at JB really isn't open for discussion. The park and Edd has the the say so on this. With the park changing things when they gave the sign in to Edd and allowing open water divers there, moving the line out like twin would just be dangerous and certainly entice people to go in.

---

It sounds like leaving reels in for extended periods is standard practice (I cannot recall ever being in JB without at least one line in place). If that's the case, I don't really understand what the harm is in having a yellow line there and no rats nest vs a rats nest of white lines.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jj1987

It sounds like leaving reels in for extended periods is standard practice (I cannot recall ever being in JB without at least one line in place). If that's the case, I don't really understand what the harm is in having a yellow line there and no rats nest vs a rats nest of white lines.

---

No its not. I have been around there a long time now, you have a few people who do it when they come in from out of town and we put one in during events to try to not have a hundred different lines in. What NEEDS addressing is instructors who aren't teaching students how to run reels, or not failing them when they can't. There aren't any safety issues with where the gold line starts at JB, just people getting lazy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kevin Carlisle

No its not. I have been around there a long time now, you have a few people who do it when they come in from out of town and we put one in during events to try to not have a hundred different lines in. What NEEDS addressing is instructors who aren't teaching students how to run reels, or not failing them when they can't. There aren't any safety issues with where the gold line starts at JB, just people getting lazy.

---

Want to give me an ETA on that? Maybe we could compromise, and run the gold line out into open water until that happens! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jj1987

Want to give me an ETA on that? Maybe we could compromise, and run the gold line out into open water until that happens! :)

---

You need to talk to Edd, im pretty sure that answer is NO, most of my dive buddies would agree with that. As for a time frame, ummmm probably since instructors are out for money and ego, my best guess is NEVER.
James, you can swim that short distance, it wont kill you. At least its not Little River ;-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kevin Carlisle

You need to talk to Edd, im pretty sure that answer is NO, most of my dive buddies would agree with that. As for a time frame, ummmm probably since instructors are out for money and ego, my best guess is NEVER.
James, you can swim that short distance, it wont kill you. At least its not Little River ;-)

---

Dude I did a swim dive *AND* ran a reel recently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By71p...ature=youtu.be

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jj1987

Dude I did a swim dive *AND* ran a reel recently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By71p...ature=youtu.be

---

Yeah yeah yeah, I know. Viva la Mexico is your tune now :-P

All gold lines should be left at the end of the cavern zone. Then more would have totruly run a reel every time. I have seen to many not get tought propper instruction about reels because all they are tought are in systems that the gold line runs to OW. Even Twin should have it cut back to like it used to be.

If you have not been tought properly, then ask and maybe some mentoring will help or next time down get with me and I will teach you.

SLIM

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FW

It isn't uncommon for people to disagree on where a permanent line should start.

---

Understatement of the week... :)

I don't think leaving the gold line back there is a bad thing. I could certainly use practice running a long reel. I don't see the point of leaving it in overnight, however, unless you're in there for a good reason -- it may give the wrong impression if the locale isn't as meticulous with signing in divers.

Logic in this thread:

An OW diver will follow a gold colored line into the cave.

The same OW diver will not follow 3 or 4 white lines into the cave.

Cave divers sometimes do not run a white line into the cave because there are a bunch of other white lines going into the cave. Some think this is a bad idea, some are indifferent, some think it is a good idea.

Solution?

A SINGLE WHITE LINE going from entrance to cave. If OW divers can't or won't follow a white line (or 3 or 4), then surely it is color that is the problem. Now, there is always a line to OW, and everyone wins.

Reality? OW divers don't care about lines. If they're willing to go into the cavern, they'll do it with or without a line. If they have a line (which is tight, well placed) they at least have a snowball's chance. 3 or 4 poorly laid, perhaps slack lines? Less than a snowball's chance.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PfcAJ

Reality? OW divers don't care about lines. If they're willing to go into the cavern, they'll do it with or without a line. If they have a line (which is tight, well placed) they at least have a snowball's chance. 3 or 4 poorly laid, perhaps slack lines? Less than a snowball's chance.

---

Why not put a line with white LEDs on it, and put in a light bar with 500 Watts of lights? This way OW divers that make the bad choice to go into a cave have an even greater chance of survival.... (in jest)

In the end, the problem is the OW diver, not the lines.

like vortex?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SLIM

All gold lines should be left at the end of the cavern zone. Then more would have totruly run a reel every time. I have seen to many not get tought propper instruction about reels because all they are tought are in systems that the gold line runs to OW. Even Twin should have it cut back to like it used to be.

If you have not been tought properly, then ask and maybe some mentoring will help or next time down get with me and I will teach you.

SLIM

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by skoorbevad

I don't think leaving the gold line back there is a bad thing. I could certainly use practice running a long reel. I don't see the point of leaving it in overnight, however, unless you're in there for a good reason -- it may give the wrong impression if the locale isn't as meticulous with signing in divers.

---

You guys do realize that you can run a reel past the very spot where the gold line starts, right? I've seen numerous cave classes being taught at Peacock, where the reel is ran to nearly the peanut restriction as a practice thing.

Slim, I think you're a bit optimistic about cutting the line back. If they've not been taught how to run a line properly as you state, then what good does practicing the wrong way do? If anything, running a crappy reel further ingrains bad habits that will be hard to break when a good mentor does come along.

Perhaps I've missed this, but it seems to me that there is a solution that hasn't been considered. Leave the gold line where it is and if you run a primary on entry, remove it when you exit. That solves the dilemma of multiple lines left in place while their owners aren't in the system. An added benefit is the diver gets the opportunity to practice retrieving a reel as well as deploying it. They are two different skills and quite frankly, a smooth controlled retrieval is the more difficult of the two.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Captain Bil

Perhaps I've missed this, but it seems to me that there is a solution that hasn't been considered. Leave the gold line where it is and if you run a primary on entry, remove it when you exit. That solves the dilemma of multiple lines left in place while their owners aren't in the system. An added benefit is the diver gets the opportunity to practice retrieving a reel as well as deploying it. They are two different skills and quite frankly, a smooth controlled retrieval is the more difficult of the two.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

---

This is the way that I was taught.... I am not sure why this isn't the "standard" amongst cave divers today.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tegg

This is the way that I was taught.... I am not sure why this isn't the "standard" amongst cave divers today.

---

Apparently its harder to cave dive than to cyber dive so they leave the reels in now. I agree with the pull it every time philosophy too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Captain Bil

Perhaps I've missed this, but it seems to me that there is a solution that hasn't been considered.
<snip>

---

I'm not convinced that there is a problem. When you go cave diving, there are all sorts of things that you have to deal with. Dark, flow, silt and lines to name a few. If another team(s) already has a reel in place that should be no big deal to you. It doesn't matter if this other line is run well, or if it looks like it was run by a blind spider, hopped up on PCP. Deal. It should be a minor annoyance at worst. Of course, if you tend to run line like the aforementioned blind spider then you're probably in for some static from other divers (and rightly so). But the fact that another team has left a reel in the system is not an earth shaking event.

Brian

I ain't leaving a reel over night. Only if I was setting up for a traverse the next day possibly. Jumps the same way. I don't worry about people following my lines, they are gonna do that regardless. I worry about someone taking my stuff. My LM reels are expensive!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jj1987

You guys do realize that you can run a reel past the very spot where the gold line starts, right? I've seen numerous cave classes being taught at Peacock, where the reel is ran to nearly the peanut restriction as a practice thing.

---

Exactly! Just because the line at Twin starts at the entrance doesn't mean a line can't be run. I tell my students to treat the gold line as if it were someone's reel and to tie onto the gold line back by the stop sign.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jj1987

If they've not been taught how to run a line properly as you state, then what good does practicing the wrong way do?

---

Because one can't learn without being taught? Unless the diver is a complete idiot or a complete a**hole, there is much to be learned from doing it wrong.