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Scott, wrong kind of spool. The real ones will not break. Break one of mine and I will SYD. ScottBonis@ao*.co* wrote: > > Hi guys, > > I am always interested in finding out about safer or better ways to dive. So > I read this list and have learned a hell of a lot. The personalities are > "interesting", but the information contained and the contacts available are > simply outstanding. > > Several months ago I read about the recommendation to use spools in lieu of > reels when putting up lift bags. It seemed like a hell of an idea. A friend > had brought several black plastic (delron, I think) spools down to Akumal a > while ago and I had been using them as extra jump reels in the caves here. > They are the kind with six or eight holes in each side of the reel through > which we hook double ended brass snaps to hold the reel. But I had never > thought of using them with a lift bag. > > Now I have to say that I've been quite happy with my Dive Rite reels both in > the caves and when diving deep in open water. At first I had the same > problems with them as all beginners have had in jamming and snarling. But I > have not had any difficulty in putting up a lift bag on my last say, 40 or 60 > tries, so I guess I have learned how. [Yes, grasshopper, when you can do it, > you will have learned.] But the spools were being recommended so strongly > that I decided to try them. > > After figuring out how to hold the spool while the bag went up, I decided to > try it in some shallow water, Carwash cenote at 15 feet deep. And it worked > fine for the 10 or 12 times I practiced it. Next were several practice > trials in Akumal bay at around 30 feet and these too went well. So I figured > I was ready to use the spools in earnest. > > My very first try was during a trimix training dive in Angelita cenote. The > dive plan was for a maximum depth of 200 feet (which in Angelita is pretty > simple since it is only around 198 feet deep). On the way up, we had > inserted a 1 min. stop at 90 feet after we came up through the hydrogen > sulfide layer, to put away our lights and get buoyancy control in the fresh > water. Then the plan called for a 3 minute stop at 60 feet to deploy lift > bags and then deco at 40,30,20, and 10 feet. Of course we had a 130 foot > down line tied to a tree at the edge of the cenote (with an oxygen bottle > hanging at 20 feet), but the dive plan was to only use it in case something > went wrong. > > Now I had emphasized to my two students the importance of being sure of your > actions when deploying a bag and of LETTING GO if something went wrong. The > bag and reel may be worth more than a hundred bucks, but your life is worth > considerably more. > > I watched as each student put up his bag and it went very well. No problems. > Then, as I normally do during training dives, I also practiced putting up a > bag. This time with the spool instead of my trusty Dive Rite reel. And I > once again proved the validity of the age old adage that "It is virtually > impossible to make anything absolutely foolproof because fools can be so > inventive." > > I don't quite know how, but somehow in unclipping the spool from my harness I > must have broken the plastic between the hole in the side of the spool and > the rim of the spool. So the hole extended all the way to the edge of the > rim of the spool. And although I had checked all my equipment (including the > spool) before the dive, I didn't notice it had broken while preparing to > shoot the bag. And as Murphy's law would dictate, after a few revolutions of > the spool while putting up the lift bag, the line caught in the broken hole. > And I felt a feeling I have not felt for quite a while as I was starting to > be pulled upward by the ascending lift bag. So I had to let go, much to the > amusement and jibes coming from my students. Not a good day. Fortunately I > was using an OMS self sealing lift bag (with which I am absolutely in love, > by the way) so the bag together with my reel were waiting on the surface > after the dive. > > So this whole story just goes to prove that even the best of ideas can turn > to brown goo real fast if I don't know what I'm doing. And it establishes > once again the eternal truth of one of the favorite sayings of my instructor > trainer, Al Pertner, that there may be a significant difference between what > I know and what I think I know. (And in technical diving, this difference > can possibly be fatal.) > > Take care and safe diving, Scott > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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