what would you do in a situation like this

[aainslie]

Great idea, still it must be very cumbersome to carry, and complicated to follow a line with more than 30 markers on it

It was a pain to carry, but dead easy to follow.

[scubicious]

It was a pain to carry, but dead easy to follow.

ok then I guess it isn't that much of a problem,
wasn't it a pain to lay down and pick up??

[RN]

I've been in some pretty bad siltouts, and never so bad that I couldn't read a marker. But point taken. In that case, perhaps cut two shapes out of the markers, say a small V on one set and a flat section on the other.

I've been in 2 silt outs where I couldn't see anything, even when pressed against the lens of my mask.

Well I sure as hell dont use gloves unless Im in the ocean.

What is this ocean thing?!?

[Webmaster]

0 visibility means just that, you're navigating solely by feel. And not all caves are a balmy 71 deg F.

I think the CDG manual mentions folks making a sealed plastic tube filled with clear water to read gauges in 0 vis. Put one end against the mask and the other against the gauge, it makes a clean bridge between the two to occlude any particulates.

Marbry

[RN]

I've heard about the water filled plastic tube, actually HD zip lock bag, but haven't tried it. Not sure where I would carry something like that.

[aainslie]

YA know... you could carry a ziploc bag in a pocket, and when necessary fill it from your P valve. That way you wouldn't have to carry it full all the time. And you would have an extra incentive to stay well hydrated....

[Line Squirrel]

I've been in 2 silt outs where I couldn't see anything, even when pressed against the lens of my mask.

I've been in a few absolute zero silt outs, one with some buddies and I don't know how many solo.

I'll take the solo ones only because I know if I just stop moving for a few minutes it will clear enough to read markers, see tie-offs maybe only 3-4 inches away but I can see them.

With buddies...they just can't seem to get it through their head to STOP MOVING!

[Kaneo]

i have been in several as well. when you are 3000' plus back in a cave you sometimes wonder how long it would take for someone to find your body. anyway,,i could not even see the line I was holding

[RN]

I'll take the solo ones only because I know if I just stop moving for a few minutes it will clear enough to read markers, see tie-offs maybe only 3-4 inches away but I can see them.

I guess I just didn't wait long enough. But this was my first time in a really tight passage and I had just lost the line for a few seconds (read below). About 10 minutes later I found the other side of that passage (hadn't confirmed it until then) and the silt was still hanging in the water.

i have been in several as well. when you are 3000' plus back in a cave you sometimes wonder how long it would take for someone to find your body. anyway,,i could not even see the line I was holding

Heh, what sucks is when that line slips out of your hand because the passage is so tight there's really only one way to hold it. It was only a few seconds before I found it again, but it seemed like an eternity...

[tflaris]

1) At some point, some portion of the cave system should have looked familiar and it should have dawned on the divers that they were repeating themselves.

2) When they did not see the split arrows at mid point they should have called the dive.

3) Never trust lines in Mexico. They are constantly changing either by individuals or cave related organizations.

Hijack...............

I was in a group where the team was following the gold line. For some reason in this system the gold line stops. Unlike most sytems elsewhere I dive in Florida. A team before us were restoring the lines back to a original configuration and had placed a jump reel and had bridged the line to the Halocline tunnel. Due to the placement of the reel body's location was concealed behind a formation and without realizing it we had jumped onto a side tunnel. The reel location and the main line location was only transparent after looking at the situation for several minutes. The situation also involve a T in this same area with the line arrows concealed from view by the formations. While I was swimmimg back and forth tracing t he line the tunnel took a right hand turn and the team became split. I did not make the jump and left a marker for the rest of the team which was entering a low vis halocline tunnel. Therefore we had lost signaling capabilities. I left 1 addidtinal marker with my initials on it to let the team know I had turned the dive and was returning to the exit.

Conclusion..........
No one until they are placed in that position will know what they would do. Logic and training should kick-in but based upon the experience of each diver actions will vary.

Main line is not always gold and thick like in Florida where I routinely dive. This was quite an eye opener on where following a pre-conceived idea based upon false information can lead to confusion.

Regretable I have learned that the structure of the line system here in Florida is and can will be dramatically different than other countries and/or states.

Also, I believe at this stage of the dive it is the voice inside the divers head that keeps him/her alive.

Sidebar Note...........
I have overestimated my abilities and had 1 or 2 ah-jesus moments.....Jesus if you get me out of this I promise not to do it again. Now I spend more time going slower and dedicate more time to really looking at the system rather than getting caught-up in a destination dive.

I may spend weeks/months doing a dive that some people may complete in a single dive.

It is not the destination but the point of the Journey.

Good Luck