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you know .... call me a wimp but ...i don't like not knowing exactly how to get out of any overhead environment all by my self. i started in diving as a free diver as a child, i would spend hours ...all day swimming on the surface and free diving, when i started scuba diving the gear was an accessory, something nice but not essential i always relied on my swimming ability to get me out of any stupid jams i got my self into.....use all the air ....swim up (young and stupid), a lot of the old time wreck divers started as free diving spear fisherman and i think they and me have an idea way in the back of our minds that if all else fails we can just swim away and go to the main air supply the sky. not true in overhead environments....and really deep dives but i still have an uneasy distrust in being DEPENDENT on any peace of equipment. i don't go into wrecks with out a line but i feel a little uncomfortable the whole time i am inside there a sneaking little feeling...what if...? one time when i greedily went into the first class dish hole in the andrea doria and did not run a line because it would take time away from digging and loading up dishes and we were using double aluminum 80's at the time and air and time was a big factor, every one else was not running a line , i made a mistake and came to a dead end in 210 feet of water inside the wreck and not the hole gimbal tourched in the ships side,i can't even describe the feeling... , it was a solo dive...i eventually found an other way out and lived but i will never forget that lesson .... but even with a line it is not a safe proposition, lots of razor sharp stuff in there and other abandoned lines, people run them in there and then abandon the line and it eventually chafes at the tie offs and becomes a entanglement hazard for everyone else,( which is why some of the wreck crowd abhor lines) you could get confused, put the reel down for just a second to pick up a gold bar or something and then realize you can't find it, even if you don't put down or drop the line wreck penetration is a big roll of the dice how ever you do it.when you learn a particular wreck using the progressive penetration method there is an ever present danger of going just a little too far on a particular dive and getting lost .i bet there have been little episodes in each of the progressive guys history that they have survived and learned to avoid repeating. they are lieing if they deny it.( i have heard many storys ) wreck penetration is a real problem ,line heavy enough to be very safe from chafing or cutting on razor sharp electrolysis steel is impossibly thick so you have to take risks to do what you want, and it is significantly MORE risky than using a guide line in a cave even with expert line running technique.imagine doing a lost line drill in a silted out wreck and finding other cut lines electrical wires, all kinds of junk , remember you have neoprene gloves on... if you want to avoid that particular risk you have to stay out of the wreck. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send list subscription requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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