to clip or not to clip?

[aainslie]

I once dropped a tank near a line but didn't clip. I then hit a narrow area, and produced quite a bit of silt. On the way out, the silt had moved to where I'd dropped the cylinder. I swam right by it without seeing or feeling it, and then had to decide... do I keep swimming and dip into thirds, or do I go look for it and risk dipping even deeper into thirds if it took me too long to find it? I exited fine... but I'll never leave a cylinder unclipped again unless I know the cave REALLY well.

Also watch flow as well as silt. A cylinder can be moved surprisingly far in flow if it's been breathed down somewhat.

It takes pretty bad technique to risk damaging even old line when you clip off. Do it carefully and the risk is minimal.

[Xenia]

I always thought that this is standard, to have continuous line to your stage bottle. In case you get back on a siltout, how will you find the stage? At Lafayette Blue, where there's a lot of silty spots and I could not find a spot to drop my stage to save my life, Bobby showed me this cool trick to get the spool on the main line and get the stage on the spool. As has been mentioned in this tread this is a nice alternative.

[cavemark]

I clip to my line if I go in on a primary or the Main line if not. I came back to the ear one day and someone else had clipped their O2 bottle off (next to mine) to my Primary about 10ft from the Gold Line. I thought about just unclipping it and leaving it there, but instead I took it and clipped it to the Gold Line. I figured that since they hadn't run a primary it was their stupid problem and I wasn't going to compound it by having them lose their bottle too. They would just find it a little closer than where they dropped it, but wouldn't have to go looking for it. As for me pulling the line that they came in on, I figured they could do a lost line drill to find the exit if they couldn't see the light.

[floridabob]

+1 for the line. Too many potential issues. You may need to plan and carry it further than necessary to find a good spot, but that's the price of admission. Multiple stops for drops of each team member just adds time... But without much benefit that I can see. Pretty common to drop scooters and stages at the same spot even if it means a longer carry to be efficient with time. More gas never hurts if you need it.

[argyris]

I always clip stage bottles to the main line. I teach my students to follow it as a standard practice.

[stickydeco]

Exactly!! I couldn't have said it any better.

That supposed "Instructor" obviously has NOT ever had to get back to their stage(s) in a bad silt-out or with messed-up lights. Well, I have, and while stages and scooters don't always need to be placed right on the line for all the reasons noted in this discussion, they should be set down at least within an arm's length and NEVER "out of the way." What a STUPID IDIOTIC thing to tell someone. Why would that nut-job instructor even bring up stages in an Into Class to begin with? More and more, I think there are some real moron instructors out there, assuming that is what s/he said.

[Wizard]

If you have an "old line" or similar reason why you would not clip on, I carry a spool with 15-20 feet of line on it. Tie the line on with an arrow and loop the spool line around a rock and leave bottle clipped on. In a bad situation or a "we gotta go", Find the arrow, get the bottle and forget the $10 spool. Or pull the spool if time warrants that. YMMV

I'd never leave a stage off a line like sitting by a rock or in the mud, NEVER.

[FW]

That's an interesting idea...what did you use to distinguish your bottle from a friends? We all have the the exact same setups around here...same tanks, we put together our rigging together and have the same regs...so they are physically identical.

Duct tape a line arrow to your tank?

As long as we have dug up this old thread, does anyone have an answer to his question? I never have a problem, since my rigging is not "standard" and my regs are not very common anymore.

[Sludge]

my regs are not very common anymore.

... and I've never run across another stage with a Mark 20UL/Clear G-250 on it!

[FW]

... and I've never run across another stage with a Mark 20UL/Clear G-250 on it!

You can tell they are clear with your lights out?