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This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01BF1CA1.FCBAAFCE Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" List, The recent fatatlities at Madison Blue have made me reflect on cave and wreck situations I have been in where if the line had broken I would have had similar problems. How many of you have gone through tight restrictions in tanninc or fine clay/limestone silt where you couldn't see jack squat? I know I have and what a pain it the ass it would be to all of a sudden run out of line on the exiting portion of a cave dive. I was taught to take my safety reel, tie off to the end of the line and go in search of the other end. I can think of many spots I have been in where that could be almost impossible due to current blowing the line downstream or multiple possible routes through a zero visiblity area. It is also a pain in the ass to find broken cave line amongst stalagmites in a zero vis environment. Cave line is tough, but after reading about the recent unfortunate accident at Madison Blue and all the broken cave line that USCDT found in Wakulla it makes me realize that it might be smart to run your own line through certain areas where a broken line could mean life or death. I don't mean every single tight place where there could be zero visibility, but in those areas where there could be multiple paths and only one leads to the exit. An anology that springs to mind is from when I used to rock climb. Most American climbers use one thick rope for their climb where many of the European climbers I used to know would use two ropes at a time for their ascent in case one failed. In a life threatening environment like caves I don't think it would be a bad idea to run a separate line on top of the already existing cave line in the appropriate places. The divers at Madison blue might be alive today if they had tried that. Dive safe everybody, Greg Kuiper ------_=_NextPart_001_01BF1CA1.FCBAAFCE Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version = 5.5.2448.0"> <TITLE>Madison blue fatatlities</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">List,</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">The recent fatatlities at Madison = Blue have made me reflect on cave and wreck situations I have been in = where if the line had broken I would have had similar problems. = How many of you have gone through tight restrictions in tanninc or fine = clay/limestone silt where you couldn't see jack squat? I know I = have and what a pain it the ass it would be to all of a sudden run out = of line on the exiting portion of a cave dive. I was taught to = take my safety reel, tie off to the end of the line and go in search of = the other end. I can think of many spots I have been in where = that could be almost impossible due to current blowing the line = downstream or multiple possible routes through a zero visiblity = area. It is also a pain in the ass to find broken cave line = amongst stalagmites in a zero vis environment.</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Cave line is tough, but after reading = about the recent unfortunate accident at Madison Blue and all the = broken cave line that USCDT found in Wakulla it makes me realize that = it might be smart to run your own line through certain areas where a = broken line could mean life or death.</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">I don't mean every single tight place = where there could be zero visibility, but in those areas where there = could be multiple paths and only one leads to the exit.</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">An anology that springs to mind is = from when I used to rock climb. Most American climbers use one = thick rope for their climb where many of the European climbers I used = to know would use two ropes at a time for their ascent in case one = failed.</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">In a life threatening environment like = caves I don't think it would be a bad idea to run a separate line on = top of the already existing cave line in the appropriate places. = The divers at Madison blue might be alive today if they had tried = that.</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Dive safe everybody,</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Greg Kuiper</FONT> </P> </BODY> </HTML> ------_=_NextPart_001_01BF1CA1.FCBAAFCE-- -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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