Gearing up and Training for Cavern/Basic Cave

[TSandM]

Reels and spools are different. A reel has a handle that allows quick reeling in of line. They come in sizes, ranging from 100 feet or so to huge exploration reels. If you are running more than about 50 or 75 feet of line, it's absolutely maddening to hand-wind the line back onto a spool. At least in Mexico, many primary lines are more than 50 feet inside the cave, so a primary reel is a must.

Spools, which have to be wound manually, are used for short distances, like most jumps and gaps, and spools are also carried for emergency purposes, like executing lost line and lost diver searches. You really do need both.

AJ is spot on with the idea that you can buy a lot of this stuff used. I paid $115 for my primary reel -- It's a Halcyon that retails for a good deal more, but I bought it used and in perfect condition except for a single splice in the line.

 

[PfcAJ]

Lynne buys stuff used and she's a DOCTOR!! What hope is there for the rest of us plebeians?

 

[ucfdiver]

Most instructors have several reels for you to try. If you're iffy about spending $100 on a halcyon or lm reel used, just try your instructors first, then try a crappy one...it should sell you on the LM/H.

 

[victorzamora]

these are not the same things. you need both.

I know what the difference is, but a lot of people on the boards use them interchangeably. I was wondering if for caving I'd need a spool or a reel. Also, people keep mentioning that each team only has one reel. Is this true and if so is it true for the training as well?

Now, most importantly...I'll buy a nice reel. That seems to be the most common theme of the thread amongst the many questions I asked. I already sent my instructor an e-mail, so we also have that out of the way.

 

[PfcAJ]

You need 1 reel and a few spools. The reel (with a handle) needs to be around 400' long, 1 spool needs to be 150' (a safety spool, so fixing broken lines and finding the permanent line should you lose it. This is bad), the rest can be little 75ft deals and are used for jumps and gaps. Don't use the terms interchangeably, it leads to confusion. Personally, I own two reels (400ft and 1200ft), one 150' spool, and 3 or 4 75ft spools.

Even though you use one reel per dive (usually), every cave diver needs to own one.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

A new Ralph Hood / Larry Green reel can be had new for $100 and spools are dirt cheap.

 

[PfcAJ]

line trap city on those guys...

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

I've not had issue with them and I see quite a few of them tied off to gold lines. What failures have you seen?

 

[PfcAJ]

Theres HUGE potential for the line to get wrapped around that little axel and fram, just like the old plastic dive rites ones (which I used to use). Potential for headache where its not needed. I also wouldn't enjoy that cap nut on the handle when I'm using a goodman handle in the left hand.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Most folks refer to that as a feature

It is advertised as being very easy to remove bird nests if you're prone to that sort of thing. Yours was the first negative review I've seen in that regards. Seems a lot of folks really like them between here and CDF.

Thanks for the input.