Thinking and restrictions

[Garth]

I have been curious about the cave diving sport for a little while now and have enjoyed reading posts on here. I picture myself once I'm trained to be more of a line follower. but I'm interested to here about what goes through your head when your penetrating a tight restriction?

This is to spark conversation about the mental aspect of diving that makes a diver excel and safe while in hostile environment. I'm not cave trained yet so it should be noted that I wish nothing more but to read the discussion. Maybe someday following proper training I can join the discussion.

So what goes through your head?

[Garth]

Maybe I should clarify. We all have heard that diving is mostly mental and in a cave is more than mostly mental I presume. But what do you do to prepare yourself mentally to enter a cave and especially a tight cave?
Maybe your not willing to talk about it but I am interested to hear about it.

[OFG-1]

Good post, there are a lot of restrictions on thinking these days. No one seems to be able to do it anymore.

[RAL]

It depends on how well it goes at the moment.


RAL

[WJH]

For me it is a 2-part logistics problem. The first part is to analyze the angle of attack--what angle do I need my body and gear in to make it through. The second part, as I'm making the attempt is to be very aware of just how tight the restriction is and analyze whether I am very sure that I can make it back out when I return. I have turned one dive when I was sure I could get through but not totally sure that coming back out would be as easy. Also, for me, the problem ends there, as I don't think that I need to get through any restriction that involves removing gear (other than stages) to make it through--I reserve that option for the problem of getting back out through a restriction that I navigated while wearing my tanks.

WJH

[Sludge]

It's easier to go frontward than backward. If you have a question as to whether or not you can pass the restriction without getting stuck, back into it. That way, you won't find yourself stuck and unable to back up.

This is all academic for me. I avoid minor restrictions and WON'T do major restrictions.

[Garth]

Okay, I'll start for me (an open water/quarry/deco approach).
I start by gathering my equipment putting it in my truck in the same order and in the same place. This might only help me remember to bring everything. Having everything you planned on having seems important to me. When I get to a dive site and I am missing something it changes my mental state IMO.
I also assemble my gear the same order every time. My tech instructor said it was a good habit to get into so it has stuck with me.
I also only implement one or possible two new ideas for a given dive (ex. I have been using a bungee for my deco cylinder to bring it tighter against my body.) helps me keep my mind on what I am doing as well as assessing that one new technique.
I like to talk about diving while getting gear out of truck but not when I'm putting/placing items of gear together.
Aside from the buddy checks, bubble checks and Predive talks about what we would like to do I like to followup with a minute of hang time to relax and hear my breathing. Making sure my hoses are tucked and untangled for reg donation.

I'm relatively new and all of my dives don't require passage through any restrictions. I guess I wouldnt be able to feel the feeling of being wedged until I am but was just curious to hear from those who have.

If you can mentally get through tight cave passages, what couldn't you prepare yourself for?

[d_berman]

Hi Garth
I'm a self professed line following newbie, so I know there are others with some insight.
From my dry caving days I found a couple "truths"

-That which you first think is "tight" will grow larger (next time you go there it will seem like you go thru much easier as you are more comfortable with it)
-If truely tight you have to mentally calm yourself, otherwise your body will swell up (adrenaline); For each person this is a different realm (and I think mentioned in other threads??); I like to think about the other side of the push. Fortunately(?!?) I have not really had to go there when diving, or at least if I have then I've currently blocked it out.
-With time (and beer??) that which you used to fit thru is no longer possible (or desired??)...

[DA Aquamaster]

I used to do some dry caving and have in the past explored the occasional abandoned mine, I never enjoyed it all that much and had strict limits on how tight a space I went into as crawling through tight spaces in the dark made me feel slightly claustrophobic. However, I was also a wreck diver and noted that tight spaces there did not have the same effect - at the time I attributed it to a greater interest in the wreck that over shadowed the negative aspects of it.

Several years later I started cave diving to improve my wreck diving skills but never had any plan to become interested in cave diving itself. This impression was magnified by a technical diving friend of mine whose, Cavern and Intro cave training that was by his own report "four days of telling myself 'I won't freak out, I won't freak out'...". As far as I know he does not cave dive even though he has the card, and in his case not cave diving is probably a good idea. As far as I know he was also never big on wreck penetration either, especially at 200' or below. Probably also a good thing in his case.

I expected the same basic trajectory in regard to cave diving but discovered I loved it in the first 5 minutes. Four years later I now focus my diving almost exclusively on cave diving and if I wreck dive at all any more it's more of an opportunistic event. Why that change in focus occurred has everything to do with control. Wrecks are in open ocean, are frequently unstable, are fairly dynamic over time and you have far less control over the conditions and the dive environment. Caves on the other had tend to be more stable, are more predictable over time and are far easier to access on a planned and consistent basis. That allows me as a diver to have far greater control over the dive and far greater confidence in ebing able to predict, address, and control for the risks that may be encountered. I've also concluded that it is the weightless aspect of diving that allows me to penetrate very tight spaces with none of the uncomfortable feeling I got in a dry cave.

I have also noted over time that my definition of "tight" has changed significantly. I can make the same dive now that I made a few years ago and not even notice "restrictions" or small, tight, silty passages that seemed significant to me in the past. Part of that reflects a growth in the skills that allow me to negotiate tight spaces efficiently without issues, part of it is a change in configuration, but much of it is due to a change in my mental frame of reference. Four years ogo I would not have envisioned myself moving tanks etc, to wiggle through a tight space nor would I envision myself digging sand out of a restrcition to wiggle through in the resulting zero viz.

Skills that I think help me are strong spatial awareness abilities (to keep you aware of the space around you) and what is sometimes referred to as a kinestetic sense - in short the ability to sense and know where parts of your body (and equipment) are located. The combination helps you visualize how things are going to work before you actually attempt it and it helps you identify in advance what may prove problematic. The rest is just being very aware of how things are going to work in reverse and being congnizant of things that could "wedge' you in place, and avoiding that situation.

I also have a vivid imagination and I think it's important to maintain the focus on the dive and use that to image the possible rather than to focus on a negative outcome. I think if a diver imagines all the ways they can die and then focuses on one or more of them at a time they need to be focused on working the problem, they are half way toward panic and toward making that imagined demise a reality. I prefer to focus on what can kill me during the pre-dive planning phases and develop the plans to address those problems, so that if the event occurs, much of the needed cognition has already occurred - and most imnportantly you have something else to focus on other than failure, and that tends to keep any potential for panic at bay.

Panic as well as the need to bolt is something that a cave diver (or any technical diver) needs to fully eliminate, as acave diver needs to be fully committed to resolving the problem on the spot with the resources at hand as their is no surface to bolt to and any help additional equipment or non compressed gas to breathe will be several minutes to hours away. If a diver can't get there, they have no business being in a cave, but the reality is that there are divers who cave dive who I don't hink have hinestly gotten there.

[FW]

FWIW, I have been doing that type of cavediving for 35 years. Roughly in the order of most importance:
1. You can't use the Thirds rule in anything but big tunnel, and still water. Andrew doesn't think it even works there, and I agree.
2. As a rough rule, I increase my reserve for each restriction. The amount depends on how tight the restriction is, and how much silt is there.
3. I look ahead for places to turn around. If I can't see any, I try to memorize what I am going through, in case I have to back out.
4. I won't squeeze through a really tight restriction, if I don't see a way to turn around. Backing up through something like can be really time, and gas, consuming.

There are plenty of larger caves yet to be explored, and it isn't worth risking my life for.