Rebreather World - View Single Post - Weight belt/harness management in emergency

sven · 19th May 2006, 13:46

I assume your question is how to deal with the sudden negative buoyancy, when flooding the loop and/or the unit completely? If this is the case, here my thoughts:

At the bottom:
No problem, normal bailout.
Partially inflate SMB.
I may consider to drop my weight belt to get less negatively buoyant - it really depends on the deco obligations and distance to the anchor line, current, distance to dive buddies, ... The added negative buoancy from a fully flooded unit is slightly more than the amount of weights I am wearing.

On the anchor line:
Hold on tight! See above.

Blue water ascent on SMB:
Hold on tight!
Drop weights.
Start finning up quickly!

On the surface:
Drop the weights immediately.
Bailout.
Use SMB (a bit hard to inflate on the surface though, especially while struggling to stay on the surface!).
Then drop the torch, if I still can't establish positive buoyancy with manual inflation of the BCD.

This is what (my) logic would dictate. How would I react in reality? I don't know ... and I don't want to try either ...

19th May 2006, 13:46	#4 (permalink)
sven Blogs Admin / Forum Mod Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Evolution Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Posts: 551	Re: Weight belt/harness management in emergency I assume your question is how to deal with the sudden negative buoyancy, when flooding the loop and/or the unit completely? If this is the case, here my thoughts: At the bottom: No problem, normal bailout. Partially inflate SMB. I may consider to drop my weight belt to get less negatively buoyant - it really depends on the deco obligations and distance to the anchor line, current, distance to dive buddies, ... The added negative buoancy from a fully flooded unit is slightly more than the amount of weights I am wearing. On the anchor line: Hold on tight! See above. Blue water ascent on SMB: Hold on tight! Drop weights. Start finning up quickly! On the surface: Drop the weights immediately. Bailout. Use SMB (a bit hard to inflate on the surface though, especially while struggling to stay on the surface!). Then drop the torch, if I still can't establish positive buoyancy with manual inflation of the BCD. This is what (my) logic would dictate. How would I react in reality? I don't know ... and I don't want to try either ... __________________ Regards, Sven [SIZE=1]The Sydney Project website: [URL]http://www.sydneyproject.com[/URL] My Blog: [URL]http://sven.rebreatherworld.com[/URL] "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." Mark Twain[/SIZE]
(Offline)