From: sdodd@OES.ORST.EDU (Stephen M Dodd)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Re: Weight belt oops at 50'
Date: 14 Oct 92 17:31:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bw4GoL.EvK
Organization: Oregon Extension Service, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Or.

In article <1992Oct14.162243.24207@mailer.cc.fsu.edu> mayne@cs.fsu.edu writes:
>In article <Bw4Asx.Du5@news.orst.edu> sdodd@OES.ORST.EDU (Stephen M Dodd) writes:
>>
>>    There is no doubt that a free ascent, exaberated by being 36 lbs
>>    light, could produce an embolisim.  It is possible to have great
>>    damage in as little as 5 feet, near the surface, where the effects
>>    are greatest.  By the time I got to the surface I figured I'd be
>>    moving pretty fast.
>
>It is very easy to second guess sitting here dry and warm, but do
>you think you'd have been that out of control if you ascended
>holding on to the anchor line? I realize that it was at an angle
>and there was surge and all that, but it would seem that it would
>be enough to keep you well below terminal velocity on your ascent.
>

   No.  I now feel that I could have made it to the top safely if I had
   just arrested my acsent speed by kicking down.  If, I was still able
   to orient myself down.  The anchor was also probably a sure thing.

>>  As there was a significant current I could not
>>    expect to remain in the area long...
>>
>>    In addition, there are lots of other ways to die in an open ocean
>>    situation like this.  One would be to surface slightly injured too
>>    far from the boat for them to help you.
>
>All the more reason to use the anchor line, no?
>

   And I did after regaining my weight belt.

>> I'm half past 40 and we know that this is the most likely
>>    age group to fall to stress while diving.  On and on ...
>
>I'm pushing 40 and I think that if anything I'm better able to
>handle psychological stress than when I was younger. It comes
>with experience.
>

    Me too.  But the physical capacity is waining.  When younger I used
    to count on pure power to get me out of spots.  I used to be a snag
    diver and I have seen more situations than I want to recall.

    It is humbling to become a simple life form clinging to the top of a
    reef like a crustaceon in a very powerful ocean.  perhaps, its this
    power that we divers wish to experience.  I have often noticed a
    sense of calm in the light of "pilot overload" in stressful
    situations.  You need to focus on what you can do to work with the
    situation.

>By the way no criticism of your choice of action is intended.
>You avoided possible problems and saved the dive and the weight
>belt. I don't see how the outcome could have been better. It is
>just that your account seems to exaggerate the danger. But I
>compliment you on sharing the experience so we can all learn
>from it. Maybe one of these days I'll get up the courage to post
>an account of a recent regulator failure I experienced and open
>myself up to second guessing by net.divers. These kinds of discussions
>may be useful to help avoid and/or handle future problems.
>
>Bill Mayne

   The apparent exageration stems from all the "weight belt" stories
   I've heard.  I am sure now that I was in fact in a very manageable
   situation.   I wanted other net divers to share that with me.
   However, I do know people who have died from this.

   I did want to point out to the net that on this occassion I noticed a
   definite effort required to stay on task and resist the temptation to
   allow events to proceed in an ad-hoc basis.  This is where the real
   danger lies.  

   I also wanted to add this experience to the discussion on the net
   some time ago about dry suits and bouyancy control.  I no longer
   believe that an unplanned ascnet in a dry suit can't be managed with
   enought effort and early intervention.

   I was prepared to tank up and hit the water again right after this
   incident.

   Steve
-- 
- Stephen M. Dodd, System Analyst, Oregon Extension Service
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
sdodd@oes.orst.edu          Internet          Oregon State University
503-737-3550                                  Corvallis, OR 97331
Newsgroups: rec.scuba