Silt out diving?

[northernone]

Putting out a dive experience to share.

My pursuit for new dive sites had me river diving. At 17ft depth the surface fades from Orange to black. Gauges viewable at 6 inches. Lights off, one very peaceful hour dive in the dark. Playing with trim in the current and drills. Glowed up my gauges with my dive computer but otherwise the dive was done by feel. Besides a mini heart attack from a brush with a soggy tree trunk it was enjoyable.

Anyone else intentionally diving environmentally blind? I'd recommend it (with safety precautions) for tuning awareness.

Came up with the idea from my cave training blackout drills.

Happy diving!
Cameron

 

[IDS_Bill]

Putting out a dive experience to share.

My pursuit for new dive sites had me river diving. At 17ft depth the surface fades from Orange to black. Gauges viewable at 6 inches. Lights off, one very peaceful hour dive in the dark. Playing with trim in the current and drills. Glowed up my gauges with my dive computer but otherwise the dive was done by feel. Besides a mini heart attack from a brush with a soggy tree trunk it was enjoyable.

Anyone else intentionally diving environmentally blind? I'd recommend it (with safety precautions) for tuning awareness.

Came up with the idea from my cave training blackout drills.

Happy diving!
Cameron

We have been looking for a guy in a local lake at 270ffw. Down there it's black and once you start digging, there is zero viz. I have to use a timer to let me know time is up while I am headbutting trees, snagging on rebar and getting lost in debri since it is where they blew up the old dam. Pretty much a terrible dive since every time you grab something you hope it's not a body while hoping it is at the same time.

Definitely not something I would do for fun

 

[northernone]

You have my respect. Thank you.

As someone who has lost friends to the waters you recovery divers help bring closure and let the grief begin. So, thank you again.

I can appreciate how the hide and seak element is spoiled when it isn't fish you are nearly bumping into. I suspect bloated bodies would spoil pretty much any kind of diving though.

As a side note, are you solo? How does a team function in those conditions? A tether sounds hazardous. How about coms?

 

[Kharon]

I did a lot of no-viz diving while I was volunteering for Eurasion Milfoil Remediation. Once you touch the mat everything goes black. What amazed me is that early in the first season of volunteering I'd blow through two 80's in a morning of diving. By the end of the season I was so used to it that a lp 65 would last me all morning with a reserve of 900-1000psi.

+1 on respect and thanks to recovery divers. I could not do it.

 

[IDS_Bill]

You have my respect. Thank you.

As someone who has lost friends to the waters you recovery divers help bring closure and let the grief begin. So, thank you again.

I can appreciate how the hide and seak element is spoiled when it isn't fish you are nearly bumping into. I suspect bloated bodies would spoil pretty much any kind of diving though.

As a side note, are you solo? How does a team function in those conditions? A tether sounds hazardous. How about coms?

I dive these solo since there is no way to communicate in those conditions rather than arm squeezes. I have support divers but it is just me down there at the bottom. Not a good situation but we would like to bring closure to the families. We have suspended the search down there for the time being though - it is just too dangerous and the chances of finding the person are too remote.

We considered Comms but I haven't looked into it very deeply. There aren't a lot of guys out here who are trimix certified so it's hard to find a partner anyway. I'm training my girlfriend in TMx but I like her a lot so I don't want her down there with me. A tether would be rough since there are trees, pipes, rebar, and god knows what else down there (giant catfish? )

 

[Subcooled]

Anyone else intentionally diving environmentally blind?

I do it regularly in my search and recovery dives, Don't know how "intentional" it is, but it is diving blindfolded nevertheless. Sweeping the floor with your hands can be relaxing. A crowbar can give you acoustic response however: if it hits something, a sound will be heard.

 

[Reku]

I dive in no/low vis quite regularly. It's peaceful. It also helps you prepare for when the unexpected no vis happens --- and it will happen. It's just another challenge -- I won't call a dive just because there is no vis. You don't need to see in order to have a good dive.

 

[ReefGuy]

Many Many times. Most of my dives, I cant see my gauges at all when pressed against my mask.

 

[ReefGuy]

I dive these solo since there is no way to communicate in those conditions rather than arm squeezes. I have support divers but it is just me down there at the bottom. Not a good situation but we would like to bring closure to the families. We have suspended the search down there for the time being though - it is just too dangerous and the chances of finding the person are too remote.

We considered Comms but I haven't looked into it very deeply. There aren't a lot of guys out here who are trimix certified so it's hard to find a partner anyway. I'm training my girlfriend in TMx but I like her a lot so I don't want her down there with me. A tether would be rough since there are trees, pipes, rebar, and god knows what else down there (giant catfish? )

<shudder>. Not even going to comment on this.

 

[FinnMom]

We clean the local swimming beaches every year, and it is strongly expected that the spring crop of new divers will help. You are in 1.5 - 5 feet of water and with a good lamp the vis is about 14" at best. Usually you can the most done by just feeling on both sides as you go, then using the lamp to examine what you find. Beach cleaning was very helpful in getting comfortable in low and zero vis. It was also kinda cool to experience how incredibly much silt-induced blackness can look like a real object moving here and there, sometimes even looking as though it was grasping up at your mask! Eventually you realize this is just clouds of debis (someone just walked past you) and there is nothing there. It's also humorous to be in silt so thick, you can shine your lamp straight at your face and still see nothing. Nice to have the experience in water so shallow, simply standing up will take you straight back to the sunshine.