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

[tomhauburn]

It seems like "zero viz" is subjective. I have been sump diving in true zero viz where when I touched my light to my mask glass I still couldn't see it. It doesn't get anymore zero viz than that. I was very glad that I was diving solo and you can bet that there was no way that line was coming out of my hand. I have to agree with Forrest, losing the line in that type of condition would be almost impossible to recover from.

Something gets real tight when you cannot see the light at your mask. Best to close your eyes at that point since they are useless. BTW ya'll got some good shots on your last TAG visit.

[LCF]

One of the things I love about Mexico is that there is almost always SOMETHING to tie off on. Even in real zero viz (which, thanks to Rob Neto, I've actually experience -- and no, Rob didn't blow the viz, I did, but he set it up in advance so we could experience it) you could feel something to tie to, and execute a line search. After all, I did mine in the absolute dark, and found the line after 12 minutes. There are a lot of places I've been in FL where doing a lost line search would be a nightmare, with nothing to tie to, and the line not anywhere it would be easy to find.

[ianr33]

There are a lot of places I've been in FL where doing a lost line search would be a nightmare, with nothing to tie to, and the line not anywhere it would be easy to find.

I remember reading a terrifying account on this board of a lost line search. 2 divers lost the line (broken) in a long bedding plane. One diver pinned himself to the ceiling,other clipped a line to first divers D ring and went looking.
Edit: Here is the link http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...34-Broken-line Total horror show!

In a silty area you could probably plant a backup light in the floor and use that for a tie off.

Totally agree though that real life is likely not as easy as the drill!

[LCF]

I've never been convinced that a backup light would make a very good anchor point.

That IRAP story is absolutely chilling.

[ianr33]

I've never been convinced that a backup light would make a very good anchor point.
.

Me neither! Might be the only port in the storm though.

[citracaver]

One of the things I love about Mexico is that there is almost always SOMETHING to tie off on. Even in real zero viz (which, thanks to Rob Neto, I've actually experience -- and no, Rob didn't blow the viz, I did, but he set it up in advance so we could experience it) you could feel something to tie to, and execute a line search. After all, I did mine in the absolute dark, and found the line after 12 minutes. There are a lot of places I've been in FL where doing a lost line search would be a nightmare, with nothing to tie to, and the line not anywhere it would be easy to find.

I can't tell you how many times while sump diving here in Florida I have wished for just ONE thing to tie off on. I have had to abort exploration dives with going passage in front of me because I had spooled out over a hundred feet of line in twisting passage with no tie off options whatsoever. In one case I couldn't even set a silt screw because the silt was so fluffy it wouldn't hold. Reeling back in was fun with all the line traps in horrible vis... You can bet that if I had dropped the reel or lost the line here I would have been screwed. Can't do a line search with no tie off points... Even dropping a weight for a tie off spot wouldn't really work because the silt is so deep it would just swallow it.

[ARY]

It seems like "zero viz" is subjective. I have been sump diving in true zero viz where when I touched my light to my mask glass I still couldn't see it. ...

In your case that was not exactly diving in a water when 75% of surrounding mass is a sedimental of mud and clay. Loosing line in a virgin cave is to add to the stress of being in a part of uncharted earth and being there alone. 6 month ago I lost line right after finishing tying off in a virgin cave. I had to make a right decision of which end of the line in your hands needs to be cut to release the reel after tying the knot. I just cut off the reel at the the end of explored tunnel when a dense percolation and silt surrounded me and I drifted off the line in these 1 or 2 seconds while fixing the reel and slack on my butt. It probably took less than a minute but it surely felt like forever until clouds from the upstream unveiled for a moment my recent tie off. I grabbed line and trolleyed it all the way back to the woods and air. Not sure if lost line will give you more or less stress if you lost it being in a team or alone. Survival chance in a team could be also a controversial topic when apart from large and clear caves.