Martz Snap&Gap Is Gone

[Dominick Gheesling]

Just a heads up:

We dove at Martz yesterday 6/23. The Snap&Gap to the Mainline no longer exists. Did not cause a problem as we knew how to install a jump and had extra spools.

Just putting this out as general information for anyone planning a dive at Martz. You should add an extra spool to your dive plan or you will come up short.

Dominick

[diveconjeff]

And how were the conditions?

[Dominick Gheesling]

And how were the conditions?

Electric Blue!

[helodriver87]

We went in Martz Saturday morning. Like you said, no sign of the snap and gap. Conditions are gorgeous though. Flow is there, but very manageable. Wish I could've spent the whole weekend there.

[IowaCaveDiver]

Was removal of the snap and gap part of the new line plan?

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[Dominick Gheesling]

Was removal of the snap and gap part of the new line plan?

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Not sure. Maybe. Too much for me to keep up with Just thought I'd make a public service announcement.

[Dominick Gheesling]

Was removal of the snap and gap part of the new line plan?

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Just went through and checked the report from the line committee. Snap&Gap at Martz removal was not part of the suggested actions. I do remember seeing somewhere on the interweb that it was in bad shape and needed to be replaced.

[kylejones982]

Ted McCoy and I were swimming past it a couple weeks ago and found it was in total disarray and the snap gone so we cleaned up the line and dropped an arrow for people to tie a jump reel into.


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[Kelly Jessop]

A debate that occurred a number of years ago was the danger of snap and gaps, and getting rid of them. Ginnie used have two snap and gaps, and invariably they would never be used correctly and would leave a team in danger of not having a continuous guideline or make an unverified navigation decision. The rule was when you went down a tunnel you gapped the line and would put it back when exiting, which was done correctly so rarely, which was a frequent problem at Madison. Also a team putting back a snap and gap may not be aware of another team needing that for a continuous guideline that may be in the same section of the cave. Steve Berman used to demonstrate to his students that an accidental pull on the line by snagging it could disengage the bolt snap and cause the removal of the continuous guide line. It became commonly accepted to eliminate snap and gaps, and either have a gap where a reel was run, or have a well marked T. Since cave diving sees a turn over of people approximately every 3 years, there aren't many people who remember past incidents, and why something was done, so a snap and gap appeared at Madison. I would petition the line committee see what they think, and consideration should be given to leave it a gap, or make it a T.

[oceancurrent]

Thank you very much, Kelly, for sharing helpful historic perspective. I always enjoy reading your posts. Keep them coming.


100% agree with significant snap-and-gap confusion potential and am glad they are continuing to get phased out.