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Kent Lind <kent.lind@no*.go*> writes: > ... Assuming that speed > equates to skill, I should think that you would want to put > one of your most skilled divers in the lead so that if the > last light fails, you have someone good leading the team out. > Also, don't you want one of your most skilled and fastest divers > in front to deal with new problems such as broken lines or gaps? > ... As for the position of the light, why not put it in > the lead (or at least second). ... Normally cave divers travel single-file. If a diver has a problem and needs help from a following diver, all he has to do is stop and turn around. If he needs help from a leading diver, he has to signal (which he can't do in a no-light situation) and/or play catchup, and that's a bigger problem. Therefore, if you're assisting a diver who has a problem, you follow them out; you don't lead the way. Having your most skilled divers first and last right from the start of the dive makes sense; lead chooses the way, and tail watches over the whole group (although of course every diver shares responsibility for following the line and monitoring all buddies). Roles reverse when the dive turns. In the situation that you're down to one light for the whole team, that diver absolutely must go last and make sure that nobody gets left behind. Certainly she'd try and cast as much light forward as possible for the other divers, and even a dim glow will help with line-following. If there's a problem forward (eg. the lead diver finds a broken line or an unclear branching) and the team stops, then she can jump over the team to cast some light on the issue, and drop in behind the last diver again when they start moving. The problem as originally stated said there was enough cave for two divers at a time, so this is do-able. If the team was down to one primary plus one backup light, then it'd make sense for the diver with the backup light to lead, with the primary still coming last. Disclaimer: I don't have a huge number of cave dives, but I'm reasonably certain the above makes sense. -- Anthony DeBoer <adb@on*.ca*> -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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