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Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 06:57:47 -0800 (PST)
From: Todd Baldi <sandiegoaes@ya*.co*>
Subject: Re: Spools
To: trey@ne*.co*, ScottBonis@ao*.co*
Cc: techdiver@aquanaut.com
Scott,

Just out of curiousity, why were you testing new gear
and techniques in front of students on a trimix
training dive?

TB

--- Trey <trey@ne*.co*> wrote:
> 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'.
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> `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
> 
> --
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