In an emergency, would you turn the dive or take a closer but unverified exit?

[MORGAN]

I guess it depends to some extent on what is meant by verified. In the places I commonly dive where there's more than one choice of exits, (Peacock, Manatee, Madison) I know all the potential exits and plan my dive and emergency plans accordingly. My gas planning is always based on going out the way I came in, unless I'm planning a traverse. But at any given point in the dive, I know where the nearest bail-out point is in case things go really bad. I may not have verified that Challenge Sink is still there on the day of the dive, but I'm familiar with it and am willing to bet that it's still there if I need it.

It would be different in a less familiar system that had multiple potential exits, some of which I knew and some I didn't, like some of the big systems in the Yucatan. I'd be much more likely to exit the way I came in or at least by a familiar exit if I needed to, rather than trust an exit I'd never seen and whose presence was known to me only by a map or by line arrows pointing toward the theoretically closest exit. In that case I'd be willing to swim quite a bit farther to get to an exit I knew.

[Kelly Jessop]

Even if you pick choices #1,#2.... or #5 as your answer,it is critical that your buddy have the same choice,or discussed before getting in the water. Exit during an emergency can be complicated if one plans to go ahead,while the other wants to return to the original exit.

[deepdiverbob]

I think it also depends on the nature of the emergency. If someone is going to need medical help, it might be quicker to go to the opening at Challenge, but to climb out and get help might take longer than swimming back to OG where there is usually another team close by or at least your cell phones to call for help.

[OFG-1]

You left out the old Navy tried and true method of dealing with emergencies:

When in danger;
When in doubt;
Run in circles;
Scream and shout

[RN]

I think it also depends on the nature of the emergency. If someone is going to need medical help, it might be quicker to go to the opening at Challenge, but to climb out and get help might take longer than swimming back to OG where there is usually another team close by or at least your cell phones to call for help.

Again, that's only if you know what Challenge is like. By unverified exit, I take it to mean I've never been there and don't know where the line ends in relation to the daylight zone. While the line does end in OW at Challenge, I only know that because I've been there, making it a verified exit.

[TraceMalin]

When in doubt follow the rules.

[Webmaster]

I think the nature of the emergency would dictate the choice.

If I have enough gas to get back to where I started, then I'm going that way.

If I think I don't have enough gas to get back, due to loss of gas, dislocated knee, whatever, then I'll do what I need to get out.

[LCF]

They say a coward dies a thousand deaths . . . I'm a horrendous chicken, and the thought of swimming in the direction of an unverified exit in an emergency, only to discover that there's a restriction I can't pass, or that the passage goes deep enough that the gas I thought was enough turns out not to be, is so vivid and so horrible that I'll stick to what I was taught. Only if I can SEE my way out am I going anywhere where I don't know what things are like. And in some situations, finding yourself with an unlimited air supply isn't the entirety of the answer -- if you can't get up onto land from where you've ended up, you're not a whole lot better off than you were when the issue started.

[navycaver]

You should be planning all your dives with enough gas to exit the way you came in. The only prudent thing to do is exit the way you came in. Keep this in mind - if you have not verified the exit how do you know the line will end in sight of natural light. What if the line ended 100' from from open water and around the corner from it. Let's look at Devil's as an example. From the beginning of the gold line you can't see natural light from either the Eye or the Ear. What if the end of that line you were gambling on was set up the same way? What if you chose to go toward the Eye and instead went into the Catacombs? Unless you can see natural light heading toward an unverified exit is too much of a gamble, under any circumstance.

Rob,
Very good point, If I could I would change my poll response. That is a good comparison. Thanks!

[Squirrel Girl]

You should be planning all your dives with enough gas to exit the way you came in. The only prudent thing to do is exit the way you came in. Keep this in mind - if you have not verified the exit how do you know the line will end in sight of natural light. What if the line ended 100' from from open water and around the corner from it. Let's look at Devil's as an example. From the beginning of the gold line you can't see natural light from either the Eye or the Ear. What if the end of that line you were gambling on was set up the same way? What if you chose to go toward the Eye and instead went into the Catacombs? Unless you can see natural light heading toward an unverified exit is too much of a gamble, under any circumstance.

I'm pretty sure you can see light from the Ear but not the Eye at the beginning/end of the gold line. (if it's daylight :-p)

When I read this original question, I was thinking of a system like Peacock where there are numerous exit points. I may not have been to every one of them, but that's a well discussed system and I very well have talked in detail about what might become an emergency route out. Yes, there might be some doubt of the 100% safety of the route out, but then there's always some danger. I mean there could have been a collapse on your original route. Likely--no. Possible--yes. So while I agree that you should follow the rules and blah, blah, blah, I can well imagine a scenario where you want the NEAREST EXIT!

Here's my story. One day I make this very, very fun dive to Waterhole with FW and Carl. Great, fun, relaxing dive. Good air consumption for me.

Next day, FW has left and Neil is now joining Carl and me. We're short of time before Peacock closes and we simple plan a dive from the main entrance to Olsen and return. Something I've done many times. Well, something is not right this time. Carl takes off like a bat out of hell. Weird, since we dove so well together the day before. Neil's plenty far ahead, too. What's with these guys? Neil turns around and gives me an "OK" signal. Nope, I am not returning it. We are just a little more strung out than what I feel comfortable enough to let them think all is "OK."

Finally I figure it out. My right fin is coming off. I find a (rare) rock that I feel like I won't be destroying the cave environment if I kick against. I shove my foot back into the fin properly and within 2 strokes, it's back all floppy. WTH? At this point, I see by the arrows, that Olsen is closer than the main entrance and that is WHERE I'M GOING! We pop our heads up, discuss the situation, and I discover that I hadn't used fin keepers like I normally do, the zipper on my bootie went down, and that was why my foot wouldn't stay in the fin. We sort that out (albeit w/o the fin keeper) and return without incident to the main entrance.

I swear, if I die in a cave it's gonna be due to a fin issue. I've had problems with the attachment of spring straps as non-original equipment (I finally decided I will no longer dive fins that don't have springs as original manufacturer equipment).

My point to all this is, sure, *normally* we dive our plan and keep an extra third (maybe more) of gas for emergencies. Normally, we can exit the way we come and all is well. Theoretically, that makes sense for a gas issue (isn't that what we think is most critical?). But a progressive fin problem can be much, much more dangerous. What you could have exited safely on reserve gas may not at all be sufficient if you can't swim at the rate you went in at.

There are any number of ways this scenario could come into play. It could be from a progressive fin failure. It could be from something much worse than happened to me. It could have been a non-recoverable fin failure (because, theoretically on my actual dive, I could have stopped in the cave, discovered my zipper was down and fixed it by myself on the way in--though in reality I didn't). I could have lost a pin into the silt that had held the strap on the fin. What if your buddy had a weird accident and injured his leg? Had a weird medical thing--leg cramp that just wouldn't resolve or something. Could you pull him out?

Earlier on in my cave diving journeys, I thought I was getting into a OOG emergency in Peacock (turns out I wasn't, but I was concerned), and suddenly all that good theory, wasn't working so well for me.

So, it's not likely to happen, but I've had enough (and varied) fin and other problems that I can envision where I want that nearest exit. In a cave like Peacock, there's a good chance that my buddy has been to that entrance that I haven't. We may have talked about that entrance. Or I've talked about it with someone else. So, no it's not 100%, but that's where I'm going during my emergency.

I do think Kelly has an important point. You better have a good way to sort things out with your buddy during said emergency so you don't waste precious time arguing, or going opposite ways.