October 1st starts Jug Hole

[Kelly Jessop]

October 1st starts the dive season for Jug Hole. Things to remember:

Clean all gear and remove invasive species that may be present (yep that includes that duckweed at OG from that morning)

Pay at the iron ranger and display cards on the dash. If you have an annual pass, write your pass number on the blue envelope, because we want the park to get credit for attendance.

It is a long walk so have a cart, or borrow the one left by the NFSA. (Ken Hill says it is 911 steps)

Cavern divers are allowed in the cavern zone, and only FULL cave divers in the cave. Yes I know there are intro/Cave 1 divers in sidemount,but the bedding plane and restrictions are outside these limits.

Dives must be done 1 hour before sun down,but remember the walk back and taking gear apart will take a lot of time.

Have fun

[OFG-1]

It is a long walk so have a cart, or borrow the one left by the NFSA. (Ken Hill says it is 911 steps)

Can't you get them to install a tram?

[ltb7733]

is the combo lock still there?.....who has the combination?

[FW]

is the combo lock still there?.....who has the combination?

It WAS on the NFSA webpage, but I don't see it now.

Update: They moved it to the Contact Us page, but it is still there.

[ltb7733]

thank you

[loquat149]

The ranger told me yesterday they now want divers to sign in using the clipboard next to the iron ranger. This is easy to miss, but he did say they'll be installing a new sign soon that'll bring this to your attention.

Dave

[rddvet]

divers in sidemount

I hope that people will remember that just because you have sidemount gear, you're not automatically OK to dive Jug. Make sure you're sidemount gear is trimmed out and you can actually dive it.

Today a photo was forwarded to me of a diver diving Jug hole this season. The diver in the photo was not sidemounting, the diver was horribly bottom mounting (think of that PADI sidemount ad we all make fun of). There is no way in hell that the diver in the photo got through the cave let alone the bedding plane without dinging and banging the cave. It was awful. The diver in the photo should have never been in there looking the way they did, and the diver's buddy taking photos is just as guilty because I would call the dive if my buddy looked that awful.

So the caveat should be it's a sidemount cave, but that doesn't mean just cause you're using a sidemount harness that's good enough.

I am by no means perfect, but I at least know I'm not going to damage the cave.

And before you ask, I'm not emailing anybody the photo. I personally think it should be posted so maybe the diver will learn a lesson, but it's not really my place. It was a forwarded image and I don't know the diver at all. My understanding is the diver is known by many and liked by many, and if I posted it I suspect people I know will get an earful over it. I've been told that the diver has had buddies discuss their sm skills with them, but replies by saying that's how they were taught. Sounds like a lost cause.

[patpicos]

my first SM dive was in jug...i didnt look like a clown and didnt bang #### up.... fun little dive to be done once in a blue moon

[Kelly Jessop]

I hope that people will remember that just because you have sidemount gear, you're not automatically OK to dive Jug. Make sure you're sidemount gear is trimmed out and you can actually dive it.

Today a photo was forwarded to me of a diver diving Jug hole this season. The diver in the photo was not sidemounting, the diver was horribly bottom mounting (think of that PADI sidemount ad we all make fun of). There is no way in hell that the diver in the photo got through the cave let alone the bedding plane without dinging and banging the cave. It was awful. The diver in the photo should have never been in there looking the way they did, and the diver's buddy taking photos is just as guilty because I would call the dive if my buddy looked that awful.

So the caveat should be it's a sidemount cave, but that doesn't mean just cause you're using a sidemount harness that's good enough.

I am by no means perfect, but I at least know I'm not going to damage the cave.

And before you ask, I'm not emailing anybody the photo. I personally think it should be posted so maybe the diver will learn a lesson, but it's not really my place. It was a forwarded image and I don't know the diver at all. My understanding is the diver is known by many and liked by many, and if I posted it I suspect people I know will get an earful over it. I've been told that the diver has had buddies discuss their sm skills with them, but replies by saying that's how they were taught. Sounds like a lost cause.

Good points. Important to remember that there is a difference in sidemount configuration and sidemounting . For most it is moving tanks to the side and using Hogarthian basics,but this isn't sidemounting.

[nakatomi]

I've been told that the diver has had buddies discuss their sm skills with them, but replies by saying that's how they were taught. Sounds like a lost cause.

I saw the pictures too, I think they were posted yesterday on Facebook. A group of three divers, one of which had seriously dangly SM tanks in the pictures.
According to the comments, the diver is well aware of the situation and received a suggestion on where to get training/advice with this issue.
So in fact I don't think it's a lost cause after all.

It's good you brought it up and it's important that we speak up when we see something like this happen. I'm FB friends with someone from the dive team and will bring it to their attention that the configuration issues are not taken well by the community, maybe that can help speed up the process of fixing it.