Have you ever been entangled?

[Scott L]

Has anyone been forced to remove their rig in order to remedy an entaglement issue? Fortunately I have never encountered the problem but I am curious as to details of actual situations. I concur with the shears, my second selection....

 

[Standingbear56]

Has anyone been forced to remove their rig in order to remedy an entaglement issue? Fortunately I have never encountered the problem but I am curious as to details of actual situations. I concur with the shears, my second selection....

Over the years I've had to remove, untangle and replace my scuba unit. Mainly when diving from a NE dive boat where the "same day, same ocean" buddy system is generally in effect. Being an instructor who is always demonstrating this technique, it was never a big deal. Never had to do it while side mount diving as there is nothing on my back to get snagged. If a valve/hose gets tangled in something, I can generally see it and reach it without any problems. In the worst case situation, I can remove the entire cylinder/regulator that is tangled and then untangle it.
Take care,
George

 

[FredT]

Dive Rig removal is a necessary skill, especially diving oil rigs.
Entanglements abound and often buddy's don't. Being able to skin out of your rig is the first step to getting free.

Entanglement in an illegal monofiliment gill net in near zero vis was about my worst one. I left about a 20' hole in the net by the time I got cut out, then arranged for the game warden to find the fellow who placed the net.

 

[sandmanz32]

A knife is not necessary, but useful. I only carry shears. I got in a situation once where I had to remove my rig to free myself. Diving in a local lake, was swimming through a forrest and swam through a huge ball of tangled fishing line. That stuff is evil i swear, you can't see it in good vis much less 1-3'vis. Earlier posters hit the nail on the head. Keep your cool, once i realized i was stuck(kicking not going anywhere), signaled for my buddy, he didn't hear me. Cut all i could cut with the shears and i still couldn't free myself. At that point I reached for my harness buckle pulled my rig off and seen my 1st stage was literally incased in the crap. After about 15 minutes of my buddy(finally showed up) and I working to free my rig, I threw it back on, did my safty stop, and surfaced. If i had paniced, I more than likely be dead. Your buddy is not always there for you. YOu need to beable to handle your own safety underwater. I brought the big ball of line up with me, I still have it.

 

[Scott L]

I not a solo diver per say but I wind up being alone a good amount of the time in that I do a lot of hunting. I have to admit that being entangled in whatever is my only fear with diving, that's why I asked the question. I have also heard from other posters of the common sence practice of attaching a lanyard to your cutting tools as dropping one could be disastrous. Thanks again guys!

 

[Wayward Son]

hell yeah. I keep a knife on the inside of my right shin, a Z-knife on my belt & a pair of shears on my left shoulder strap.

 

[Nemrod]

Entanglement seems to be a primary diving hazard, but my OW textbook really fails to mention anything about it. It mentions that a diver's tool (knife) is "very handy" to free yourself in case you become ensnared and for tapping on your cylinder to get your buddy's attention. It never really even stresses that a diver's tool is a critical piece of equipment (although I just assumed I would always carry one).

I was thinking that if my certified dive buddy from my OW class and I decided to rent some gear and go dive in my local lake, we would really just have to figure out what to do on the spot if one or both of us were to become entangled.

I imagine that the thing to do would be to stop, get your breathing under control, think, and then act in a calm and non-panicked manner. Seems easy enough (right), but I am sure this can be very difficult to do under the stress of entanglement - especially if the stress was compounded by other problems such as having your mask knocked off, your air supply knocked from your mouth, or losing contact with your buddy.

So my questions for you are: Have you ever been Entangled? What was the progression of how it happened, and how did you react? and: What advice would you give to a recently certified OW diver about entanglement?

Yes, and I untangled myself with a large, sharp knife. N

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I have been entangled a number of times including on purpose during training. only once did I use a knife and that was during training where we were directed to. I haven't encountered anything besides fishing line, rope, cave line, and netting but nothing steel or metallic. I carry a knife and shears and one of the cheapo z-knifes so I have a variety of options and tool locations. If I'm in sidemount or in overhead I now have a helmet with lights and a razor utility knife mounted on it as well.

 

[Thalassamania]

I was diving with three recently authorized research divers at a location where there is a large permanent gill net that all the divers had been instructed to stay well clear of. We were diving as two separate buddy teams. My buddy and I had completed our dive and were returning to shore on the surface when one member of the other team surfaced alone, near the net. I asked him were his buddy was and he said he did not know, that was why he surfaced. I looked around for bubbles and saw some coming up not far away. I told my buddy and the other diver to follow me and dove down on the bubbles. I found the "missing" diver tangled in the net, struggling to get free. She had gotten into the net as she surfaced since the current had bowed the top of the net over her. She had first taken out her knife to cut herself free but had dropped it, and it was now out of reach on the bottom. She had then tried to take off her tank and had somehow managed to wind her intermediate pressure hose around her neck and was now badly fouled in the net. I signaled the two divers with me to buddy-up and stay clear. I approached the fouled diver, got her attention, and had her shift from her regulator to my octopus. I helped her to complete the removal of her tank and we surfaced together, leaving her tank in the net. After settling her down, my buddy and I submerged and recovered her tank from the net and her knife from the bottom.

 

[TSandM]

I've gotten stuck in kelp a couple of times. Both times, it resulted in buddy separation. Both times, I got myself untangled. One time, my buddy realized pretty quickly I was gone and came back to me -- the other time, we were on scooters, and by the time my buddy realized I was gone, it was impractical to search for me. That could have been ugly, had I not remained calm and simply worked methodically at removing kelp. Kelp is way better than line or nets, because it came from below you and is going to above you, so you can follow it more easily.