I just remembered something from years ago. Sheck Exley made his students practice laying line in the Ichetucknee river. It is great practice for places like Devil's Eye, Little River, and Manatee.
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I just remembered something from years ago. Sheck Exley made his students practice laying line in the Ichetucknee river. It is great practice for places like Devil's Eye, Little River, and Manatee.
Here's another real simple tip based on my limited experience. Don't ever let anyone shame you into not running a reel. If you feel the need for one, whatever the reason, make that desire clear.
This should be covered in any cave class, but I'm not sure that is the case and it is worth repeating anyway.
1) Use primary reel/jump/gap line practices that make it easier for you and other teams to keep lines separate and easy to identify. One example is to l approach the mainline (when running a primary) or the line you are jumping to, from as a near right angle as possible to take up minimal space at the start of that line and to prevent two lines running more or less parallel where it could create confusion in a low viz exit.
This is important as the marking for the jump is usually directly across from the jump and if you go straight at the line you end up having two lines tied in a nearly straight line. Doing this hogs space on the line you are jumping to and if two teams make the same mistake it gets less clear and can potentially get tangled in a lights out/silt out exit. It's much better to run the line instead around a rock or cave feature near the line you are jumping to in order to hit the line at right angles whenever possible. A good example of this when running a primary is Orange Grove where divers often make the last turn by the sign and then come straigh up to the start of the gold line - in the same direction the mainline is running. A better option is to loop around a rock and then come into the mainline form either side. It makes it easier for multiple teams to tie in. Litte River is an even better example on busy days.
2) Stay out of the middle of the passage and don't cross from one side to the other if it can be avoided. This is important with a primary to reduce the spagetti/spider web effect, and it is important at jumps in heavy traffic areas or in places where scooters are used to stay out of the way and avoid entanglement issues if the viz deteriorates.
3) Be considerate of the divers who may have placed line ahead of you and be considerate and try to leave a workable route for divers who may be coming behind you.
4) Don't let your buddy always run the reel. Line running skills are perishable and they require practice to develop and maintain. 90% of it is just developing an "eye" for laying line and identifying good placements and tie offs and developing that eye takes practice in different caves and environments.
5) Be strategic and think ahead, even in the little details. For example, in P3 I'd prefer to do deco while doing something, so I will do a secondary tie off at 20' as it allows me to pull the line on the way out and ascend straight to the balcony to go play in the passage to P2 - and the line then runs straight from the blacony to my secondary tie off, so there is no need to sawtooth deeper to remove a secondary once the deco is done.
yes, dear...Originally Posted by DA Aquamaster
proud cave tourist!
Good advice, and to add to the 20' part.
We were encouraged to look for tieoffs at (or as close to) 10',20',30' of depth (if possible) to make it easier to find your depths on a low vis or stressed exit, and also to provide good staging points for O2 bottles etc.
Actually in diving don't ever let anyone shame you into doing anything you're not comfortable with.
Bill Ripley
Rebreathers are something that we have to go to in order to dive the way we want to dive. They are not something we go to for any other reason.
Let your buddy run the lines.
Yay! I take this to mean that you, as my esteemed team mate, will be running lines and making the jumps on about half our dives this next trip.
as long as you get out of my way!
proud cave tourist!
I suspected that was the problemas long as you get out of my way!
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