passing in a cave

[cracker]

i have a question about passing in a cave. when you come up behind some slower divers in a fairly tight cave, what is the procedure for passing or do you not pass.

[Sludge]

"Outta the way, Sunday driver!" - Otis Campbell

[LiteHedded]

depends on the passage.
I would pass them

[amphipod06]

I'd wait until the passage opened up enough then pass... just be courteous...

Dive safe,

Celia

[deepdiverbob]

I would think any generous slow moving team would allow you to pass anyway. Although after seeing some teams in the caves last December, I would tell them to slow down too, and enjoy the cave.

[Sludge]

Actually, that's a good question. In the grand scheme of things, all teams go at close enough speeds that we shouldn't HAVE to pass. So what if we want to go at 75 ft/min but get slowed down to 65 ft/min?

But those of us that are impatient can't live with that. So it's what Celia said. If you're going in the Peanut Tunnel and come up on a slow group, just grin and bear it until you get to the breakdown and can pass.

[Webmaster]

I believe that's dependent on whether you're wearing a drysuit or a wetsuit. You wouldn't want a sudden buoyancy shift to run you into anyone. But you can always dump some gas in anticipation.

[MORGAN]

I usually cave dive in a wetsuit, so I just let 'er rip. My drysuit doesn't have a p-valve, so if diving dry I have to hold it. Sometimes on a long cold water dive I'll use Depends.

Oh - your question was about "PASSING in a cave" - never mind!

Mike

[chimie007]

I'd wait until the passage opened up enough then pass... just be courteous...

Dive safe,

Celia

I'm with Celia... Going in, I wait until there is room or they move to the side. There is no rush and the cave will be there tomorrow.

Going out, well sometimes there are reasons to flash them and pass.

I remember once coming out of Cow. I had done a stage dive to a passage off the line pretty far in the cave. Deco was racking up so once I got back to the main line I was eager to get out of the cave ASAP.

Just as I get back up not my fault, I get stuck behind 3 big guys in doubles going slow slow slow. Silt flying off the floor. Nothing bad but bad technique for sure. Heck one of them was an instructor I figured out later. Anyhow, the passage is large but they are so spread out that I can't pass them easily without mixing with the team. I'm thinking how long it will take for them to pass the restrictions coming out... deco is racking up.... they are going as slow as one can... the last guy as no clue I'm following him so he's not gonna let me pass...

Finally I get a break. We get to the section where the ski tow rope goes one way and the main line goes another passage for about 75'. My chance I tell myself... they all follow the main line... I go super speed on the tow line..... As I make the sharp right up turn, I get face to face with the 1st guy... I get the deer in the headlight look from him... I think I scared the poor guy, anyhow I kind of did the "oh sorry I'm passing by" move underwater and kept on going. I don't think the guy was too happy but hey I needed to get out. They still go out of the water before since I was on deco quite a bit.

[packman]

"Outta the way, Sunday driver!" - Otis Campbell

LOL...actually, I am probably one of the ones being passed