Comfort Level in Crappy (very low to no) Vis

[Duncan Price]

What is this thing you call "vis"?

[Squirrel Girl]

What is this thing you call "vis"?

ROFL

[Wizard]

Duncan, is it so bad you run a line to the car bumper?

[FW]

Duncan, is it so bad you run a line to the car bumper?

He doesn't live in Florida. That would be one really long line

[Garth]

Duncan, is it so bad you run a line to the car bumper?

Hey now there is a good idea for all those divers with 1200' exploration reels that don't actually do any exploration off the line.


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[caverkevin]

Sorry, didn't see my answer. "Couldn't see crap and loved it!" " I’ve been comfortable in low vis since the get go." was the nearest answer I could honestly mark, but not true. Third day of cave training when the lights went out and we had to exit was the moment I fell in love with cave diving. So you really need a more emphatic answer for cave diving in zero vis to fit me. Add it and I'll vote.

[nakatomi]

So you really need a more emphatic answer for cave diving in zero vis to fit me. Add it and I'll vote.

I'm sure you know that zero vis is not always fun and games? It can be a serious and very life threatening situation.
I've been in small passage that was easy to navigate on the way in, but got me keyholed in zero vis on the way back.
People have made grave mistakes in zero vis and paid with their lives, it's nothing to be taken lightly.

[LCF]

I couldn't answer the poll, because there are two different possible questions, to me. One is, can I handle reduced or zero viz to get out of a cave? The answer is yes. I did it enough times during my training (including two over 40 minute lights-out exits with unexpected gas shares) to know I can get that done.

My reaction to deliberately ENTERING a cave with reduced visibility are quite different. I don't like it. I've done two dives with viz bad enough that I couldn't see both walls of the passage, and I was very uncomfortable. One dive, I was leading. It went through several OW areas (cenotes) and I surfaced in one and told the team, "Either we switch leaders, or we turn this dive.".

My only real ongoing fear about cave diving is getting lost, and viz like that makes me very worried.

[Sludge]

What is this thing you call "vis"?

... said the gentleman whose name is an anagram of "dunce in crap."

[RN]

FWIW, "zero viz" is exactly that, ZERO! Some people call 2' zero. If you can see the line in your hand, that isn't zero. True zero viz is when you can't even see the glow from a 24w HID a foot away. I have seen it so bad that you can barely see the glow of a HID when it is about to touch your mask.

Been there. That is true zero visibility. And you're right, most people think reduced visibility is zero visibility. Not so.

The consensus is that if you want to get the attention of an individual in a scenario where there is separation from your buddy, you've searched but your gas reserves are low,then leave something on the line that is different and unique. In this case I write a note on my wet notes,and clothes pin it to the line. This is something that stands out and no longer blends in with the multiple markers that are on the line.

I've done that a couple times. It's hard to miss a wetnote sheet pinned to the line.

I've been thinking I should put some red reflective tape on my cookies to help them stand out, and also if the tape is a triangle on one side (of center) I get some direction from them too. I'd really like some of those directional cookies from gosidemount but they're expensive. What do you make cookies out of? Maybe I can make a bunch.

No need to get expensive cookies or even make your own. I've been using directional nondirectional markers for years. Make a tactile mark on your cookies on one side of them. You can cut out notches along the edge or drill a hole (what I did). When I put my cookie on the line the hole is always on the exit side of the cookie. Easy to see and easy to feel in true zero visibility. And only means something to me. Everyone else just thinks I have holes in my cookies.