Have you ever lost the line? And if so how many minutes did it take to find it?

[Jay]

Two of the most infamous lost line incidents are polar opposites in the reaction and composure of the divers.

A diver lost the line entering thunderhole and ended up in a low wide room, but shallow. She patiently waited HOURS for someone to come get her.

The dual fatility at EN years back involved two divers losing the line. One found it eventually and was headed in the right direction when he ran OOA, the other was tangled in his own line and several other old lines. There were other contributing factors, but composure was certainly one.

The depth and amount of gas you have left to search can't be overstated.

[huxley]

I like the idea of not using a line arrow at this point which might lead to confusion and just mark the side you think the exit is with cookie or as you describe the clip. But don't you clip back to the jump line with the clip? I've seen people clipping it to the main line but also seen this come loose which could end up in a mess especially in low viz.

[Jim Wyatt]

The clip should indicate exit direction in all cases, IMO. In this lost line scenario it represents the exit direction that the lost diver *thinks* is the exit direction. If that diver discovers they have travelled the wrong way - then change the clip to the other side of the reel.
Take a look at the image found at: http://www.cavecountrydiving.com/photos/

The clip is indicating the direction the diver *thinks* is the exit direction. No need to take time searching for arrows or cookies, as always---YMMV

[Wizard]

I remember my first lost line drill. Larry told me to close my eyes and find the line and dropped me off into the middle of nowhere. I had wondered about swimming along side the line and never finding it so I had plan. After the tie off I searched till I found the wall, then turning 180 degrees I opened my legs very wide and backed up till my fins both touched the wall and took off foward. Swam right to it. He ask me why I did that and I told him if my fins were 4 feet apart and both against the wall my chances for being squared up at 90 degrees were almost 100 percent, unless I was in a notch of some sort.
He scratched his head, chuckled and passed me.
On the exit at Ginnie one day I saw some poor lady doing a lost line drill at the largest part of the gallery. She was on the floor and the line was way above her on the wall almost to the Lips. Remembered thinking "hope you brought lunch". I wonder if she found it.

[MORGAN]

A useful aspect of good "line awareness" is that if you lose the line, you ought to have a pretty good idea of where it is in relation to you; right or left, floor, ceiling, or wall. And you probably haven't swam very far before noticing that you've lost it. So you have a good idea of where to look; you're not starting from scratch.

On the other hand, doing a lights out lost line drill where the instructor turns you around and flips you over before you start - it could be anywhere! I like the squaring off the wall idea. Just like carpentry - it helps to start off with something plumb, level, or square.

[Wizard]

Here's the two stories that give me the heebie geebies.


http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...34-Broken-line

[Wizard]

And the other.

http://http://www.cavediver.net/foru...522-Lost-Diver

[huxley]

Jim, I did understand how that works and that the clip should point towards exit. Looking at the picture the reel gets wrapped around the main line twice and than clipped to the mainline. Now if you unwrap the reel which could happen (more likely in higher flow systems) you are connected by the bolt snap only. This will result in a loose line and all relies on the bolt snap now.
I wrap my reel around the main line twice and clip it back onto my line which gets wrapped twice in the bolt snap. I was under the assumption that is is standard practice since its pretty much impossible to unwrap and rely on the bolt snap connection only. Sure everyone lost something before that was just secured with a boltsnap only.
Am I missing something on your technique which prevents it from unwrapping?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRnApuO8i9o

[Jim Wyatt]

Am I missing something on your technique which prevents it from unwrapping?

I have never seen one unwrap.

[DA Aquamaster]

Jim, I did understand how that works and that the clip should point towards exit. Looking at the picture the reel gets wrapped around the main line twice and than clipped to the mainline. Now if you unwrap the reel which could happen (more likely in higher flow systems) you are connected by the bolt snap only. This will result in a loose line and all relies on the bolt snap now.
I wrap my reel around the main line twice and clip it back onto my line which gets wrapped twice in the bolt snap. I was under the assumption that is is standard practice since its pretty much impossible to unwrap and rely on the bolt snap connection only. Sure everyone lost something before that was just secured with a boltsnap only.
Am I missing something on your technique which prevents it from unwrapping?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRnApuO8i9o

It's a good question. Jim's answer is interesting as well.

I asked my full cave instructor (Mike O'leary) the same question and got the same answer - it's an old school practice that isn't used anymore as it could become unwrapped leaving the jump line connected only by the bolt snap. And Mike is reasonably old school. I asked Mike because I used to do it that way but was told to clip back on the jump line by my intro instructor - some one who I tended to question for various reasons I won't go into. But the final score was 2-0 against the old practice.

And now Jim makes it 2-1, and he's on the short list of instructors I'd trust.

There seems to be a lack of consensus.