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Maybe I should state then that I feel a line alone is not good enough. Perhaps awareness or some other techniques (progressive penetration, etc..) should be incorporated. A line, by itself, to me does not seem sufficient safety and can lead, perhaps, to complete reliance, which I think is flirting with danger. Mark ---------- From: Phillip Finch To: Mark Welzel Cc: techdiver Subject: Re: My goodness! Date: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 9:57PM Mark: You don't seem to consider that it's possible to hold a reel AND be aware of your surroundings at the same time. This isn't an either-or proposition. I guarantee, competent cavers pay at least as much attention to their environment as you do to the wreck you're diving, especially if it's a complex cave system. They study maps, they watch tapes, they keep notes, they survey...they LEARN the place. But they still use the line. >I don't know how I would apply lines to caving, >my experience does not lie there, but I would >feel pretty vulnerable with just a line to find my >way home. Only an idiot would go into a cave or a wreck with *just* a line. A line is not a substitute for awareness; and awareness is not a substitute for a line. They both are--or should be--essential elements of diving discipline in any environment that has zero-viz potential and no immediate way out. >My sometimes unpopular belief that no penetration lines >should be run into a wreck stems from my feeling that >you should not count on that line being there to guide >you out. Then don't count on the line, if it makes you happy. Pretend it doesn't matter. Just use the damn thing. And if you refuse to use it, stop telling people that it is optional equipment, because that is a lie, and it is going to somebody.
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