STUCK?

[bullfrog]

Maybe this should be in the sidemount forum, maybe not. Have any of you ever been stuck? For how long? How did you get out? The JB thread got me to thinking about this, as well as diving in Jug hole.

[DA Aquamaster]

I'm not sure I'd call it "stuck" but I've wedged myself in and then hung up a tank cam band. It took a little wiggling to get free and was not a big deal, but it drove a couple changes in configuration:

1. I changed where the buckle on a cam band lives - if I use them at all, as I tend to gravitate more toward hose clamps now.

2. I lengthened the tails on my tanks slightly. The resulting profiel is not as flat as the tanks hang a little lower, but the whole rig is a lot more flexible, can be adapted to fit the cave better and allows a little more room and movement to fix any problems.

In general I tend to focus on avoidance of getting stuck.

[JahJahwarrior]

Several times.

I’ve learned a few things….

1. Don’t try to survey silty cave that’s mostly sidemount, in backmount. I call this lesson “line traps turn into head scrapes when the silt hits the fan.”
2. If you move rocks to fit through a hole, they might move themselves to keep you there. I call this lesson “is it really worth it? And if so, where is your shovel?” hint: sidemount/nomount needs to be flexible so you can move your kit out of the way to move said rocks.
3. Sometimes you have to take off everything to fit. Sometimes when you do that, you drop stuff. Backup lights are your friend and don’t ever end up with both tanks unclipped from something. I call this lesson “it’s not an entrance because nobody fits, silly”
4. Sometimes you have to reconfigure your gear to fit. Sometimes even with that you have to exhale to fit. Sometimes even with that, you end up in funky positions to fit. I call this lesson “you can always try again later” and alternatively “don’t you dare think about what would happen if a dump truck drove on top of this section of cave right now”
5. Sometimes you end up sideways and your mask floods and your reg breathes wet. I call this lesson “cough cough cough this next room better be worth it!”

You have to know when to call it quits. You have to know where every piece of gear is, and be able to visualize it in your mind. But most of all you have to remember that there is nothing worth dying for, there are plenty of holes you can’t fit through, and nobody cares if you do or don’t fit through. Always keep your pride in check, and always always always plan how you can get out before you go in. Nothing has ever scared me as badly in diving as when I’ve realized the silt is hitting the fan, and I don’t know exactly how to get myself out. A line to the surface isn’t enough when you can’t see behind you, or in front of you, and you are reduced to wriggling.

[LiteHedded]

i've been stuck a few times. it happens.

[Sludge]

JahJah, is your computer retarded or is it mine?

[OFG-1]

JahJah, is your computer retarded or is it mine?

Too much fiber, it has a case of the "squo;t"'s.

[dogwatch]

a few times
i can tell you that stuck at 210' on air in zero vis sucks

[darkdiver211]

JahJah, is your computer retarded or is it mine?

Please don't use "retarded" it's offensive.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Please don't use "retarded" it's offensive.

Taking a stand for the irrational-characters a computer(or smart phone?) are throwing out on the forum? Go you.

[Puttzer]

Please don't use "retarded" it's offensive.

There are other definitions for the word retarded.

re·tard   [ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4] Show IPA
verb (used with object)
1.
to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.
verb (used without object)
2.
to be delayed.
noun
3.
a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.
4.
Slang: Disparaging .
a.
a mentally retarded person.
b.
a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard.
5.
Automotive, Machinery . an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.
Compare advance.

Origin:
1480–90; < Latin retardāre to delay, protract, equivalent to re- re- + tardāre to loiter, be slow, derivative of tardus slow; see tardy

Related forms
re·tard·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms
1. obstruct, check.

Antonyms
1. accelerate.