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okay- i definitely am NOT speaking from a DIR point of view. first let me point out that there is quite a difference between a runaway horse & a boat. assuming the boat is anchored or moored correctly the up & down motion should largely be absorbed by the scope of the line. if the circumstances dictate you should be able to have a long (as much as 15 ft of line for rough water) Jon Line. the method of attachment to the anchor line may vary. I personally choose to use the Jon Line "HOOK"(since i have a close relationship with the inventors ;-). that allows for an easy escape if needed, & i elect to attach the other end to my harness. Yes mags i am a lazy old fart that likes to relax while i do my hang. so i will plead guilty to trying to enjoy the hang rather than making it more of a chore than it is. hank In a message dated 8/11/1999 4:39:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, mmowens@pa*.co* writes: << Subj: Re: jon line attachment to diver? Date: 8/11/1999 4:39:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: mmowens@pa*.co* To: daniel@st*.co*, techdiver@aquanaut.com Daniel, I can't claim to speaking from any point of official DIR authority, but I'd agree that attaching yourself to the jon line is a BAD idea. Maybe my opinion will help. I used to work with horses for a living, and one of the important lessons driven home by my instructors (which I later drilled relentlessly into all my students) was never to in any way attach a rope to yourself that has a horse on the other end. Don't even wrap the rope around your hand, fingers or any other body part. No matter how placid and well trained the animal is, there's always the chance that something could set him off, and you really don't want to be dragged around by a 900 lb. animal, or have your hand / arm / other body part instantly crushed as he jumps in the opposite direction. No matter how big and strong and macho you are, the horse always wins the first round. I have witnessed a few people badly hurt, and many more pretty badly shook up by failing to follow this simple rule. The same is true for a boat -- below the surface, there is no knowing when a big freak wave will come (and they do sometimes) in the middle of a relatively placid sea. And a boat is much bigger than a horse. Nobody can win against a boat. If you are attached to the line, you may well end up in a place you really don't want to be -- like suddenly at 10 feet when you should be at 30, or suddenly at 40 feet, breathing O2. Whether you're dealing with a horse or a boat, if all hell breaks loose, you can simply let go of the line. Trying to catch it again may be difficult, if there's a strong current but at least you escape uninjured and can maintain a constant depth while doing so. (Carrots and sugar cubes usually work pretty well on horses <g>) Here in the Northeast US, I have seen new divers unclip people's jon lines from the anchor line as they white-knuckle their up or down the anchor line -- afraid to let go of it for even a second. In this situation, having the other end of the line attached to you provides no benefit to you at all -- you're still separated from the anchor line. Any claimed benefit from attaching yourself to the jon line is easily refuted: (1) Less work. Are you really so lazy that you can't be bothered to hold on to a little piece of rope? (2) Prevents loss of the line. Buy 100 feet of nylon rope from K-Mart for $5. You can make lots of jon lines from this for cheap, so if you lose one, who cares? (3) Hand gets tired from holding the rope. Hopefully you have two hands. Use the other hand for a while. (4) Need both hands to mess with a piece of equipment. Unless you're of those types who can't walk and chew gum at the same time, you should be able to manipulate the equipment 99% as well while still holding the rope. What possible benefits does your friend claim to derive by attaching the rope to him/herself? At 11:38 PM 8/10/99 -0700, Daniel Steeves wrote: >looking for a simple answer - i have been in a heated debate as >to whether or not attaching one's self to the shotline-connected >jon line is advised or not... and i wanted a hopefully quick and >dirty DIR response > >i personally do not believe that i should physically attach any >line to myself during a stop (or at most other times for that >matter) and that i am far safer just hanging on to the line/reel >with my hand - (obviously the person with whom i am arguing >feels that connecting it to a ring or via a wrist strap is fine, >hence the argument) > >i hope that i am not re-sparking some massive debate here, but >inquiring minds want to know >thanks >=== >o o > o o ____ daniel steeves > o (_/\_) living and diving > o =()= in Qatar >_______________ >> -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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