ajduplessis
Contributor
Technical Cave Diving Course Experiences: ajduplessis 16-22 May 2012
I wanted to write a detailed report of my experiences and doings during my technical cave training last week, but decided to shorten it a lot and wanted to talk more about what I felt and learned. More importantly I wanted to give those that consider cave diving to get a feel of where you should be as a diver before attempting to do cave. I my modest opinion, cave diving is the pinnacle of executing your diving skills and knowledge.
Everything started Tuesday last week for me. Our course was at Komati Springs (aka Badgat) which is a flooded asbestos mine (186m or 610ft). This is also where Don Shirley and David Shawn became friends and did their practice to recover the body from Boesmangat before Davids death.
I mostly dive doubles with an isolator, BP/W, long hose, drysuit, can light and the rest of the DIR/hog bells and whistles, thus the equipment and associated skills was nothing new for me.
Lesson 1 (Equipment)
My buddy during the course came from a different equipment setup and had a very steep learning curve. Entering a new environment, with new equipment or configuration and new workloads will destroy your confidence; I dont care how good you are. My message here to potential cavers is:
Lesson 2 (Lights)
One of the skills during the course is "lost diver". During this skill you obviously need to start searching for you buddy, but you also need to leave a backup light (as beacon) and spare gas if you can before you start the search. During this skills session it became quickly evident that OW lights are firstly underpowered (weak) and secondly dont last (burn time).
We also did some line work. The biggest problem here was divers with no-can lights. You want a light that you can quickly hang around your neck to free you hands and also provide downward lighting while doing work. You also want to remove any possible entanglement from anything still attached to your hands as you work with the line.
Lesson 3 (Line work)
This is the backbone of diving, without a bread crumb trail to lead you out of the cave you are lost and therefore dead. A lot of work is done on dry land to explain how to handle the reel, how to make tie-offs and wraps. Once you move underwater things change and the line behaves very differently.
On one of the dives the line became entangled (simple line-over with twist or 2) on a Halcyon reel while entering the cave in 50ft of water. Not very deep or difficult problem; is it? The reel-man struggled for some time (5min plus) before turning the dive and rolled the line over the reel body and exited. On land the entanglement took 3 seconds to resolve. My message:
Lesson 4 (Fitness & Strength)
On our last dive that involved lost buddy and lost line drills while exiting the cave our instructor indicated that our sheep herder (ghost buddy) was missing. The objective was to locate and rescue him from the cave. 190lb diver in double 120s, 2x ALI80 stages acting very well will test your physical ability to the limit.
Lastly, when the lights go out and the darkness sets in, only then will you know what you are made off. Cave diving is one of the most humbling experiences I have had. It is also the most rewarding form of diving. Entering a cave and exploring new areas in crystal clear water and exiting is a truly rewarding experience. I cant wait to get back in!!!!
ajduplessis
I wanted to write a detailed report of my experiences and doings during my technical cave training last week, but decided to shorten it a lot and wanted to talk more about what I felt and learned. More importantly I wanted to give those that consider cave diving to get a feel of where you should be as a diver before attempting to do cave. I my modest opinion, cave diving is the pinnacle of executing your diving skills and knowledge.
Everything started Tuesday last week for me. Our course was at Komati Springs (aka Badgat) which is a flooded asbestos mine (186m or 610ft). This is also where Don Shirley and David Shawn became friends and did their practice to recover the body from Boesmangat before Davids death.
I mostly dive doubles with an isolator, BP/W, long hose, drysuit, can light and the rest of the DIR/hog bells and whistles, thus the equipment and associated skills was nothing new for me.
Lesson 1 (Equipment)
My buddy during the course came from a different equipment setup and had a very steep learning curve. Entering a new environment, with new equipment or configuration and new workloads will destroy your confidence; I dont care how good you are. My message here to potential cavers is:
- Have the right gear and configuration before attempting cave. Be proficient with the required skills for this equipment, like valve drills and air sharing with a long hose.
- Have exceptional buoyancy control and very controlled breathing. Any shortfall here will make it really difficult for you. Example: Can you do a proper valve drill within a 6ft depth margin with no support above or below you?? Can you do a 60ft no mask OOA swim towards buddy, start sharing air and then continue swimming (exiting cave) while sharing air? These are some of the more simple skills require for cave.
- I also want to mentioned lights. Get PROPER lights and use a can light as primary. I will cover this next.
- Have the right reels and know how to use them. Primary cave reel(s) and at least 2 finger spools
Lesson 2 (Lights)
One of the skills during the course is "lost diver". During this skill you obviously need to start searching for you buddy, but you also need to leave a backup light (as beacon) and spare gas if you can before you start the search. During this skills session it became quickly evident that OW lights are firstly underpowered (weak) and secondly dont last (burn time).
We also did some line work. The biggest problem here was divers with no-can lights. You want a light that you can quickly hang around your neck to free you hands and also provide downward lighting while doing work. You also want to remove any possible entanglement from anything still attached to your hands as you work with the line.
- Use a proper can light as primary
- Use proper, high burn time backups lights. Do not compromise here, when the lights go out (and you will do this during training) you will truly understand what darkness really is.
Lesson 3 (Line work)
This is the backbone of diving, without a bread crumb trail to lead you out of the cave you are lost and therefore dead. A lot of work is done on dry land to explain how to handle the reel, how to make tie-offs and wraps. Once you move underwater things change and the line behaves very differently.
On one of the dives the line became entangled (simple line-over with twist or 2) on a Halcyon reel while entering the cave in 50ft of water. Not very deep or difficult problem; is it? The reel-man struggled for some time (5min plus) before turning the dive and rolled the line over the reel body and exited. On land the entanglement took 3 seconds to resolve. My message:
- Simple things can and will become big problems under water. Expect this and think ahead.
- Stop, breath and then act. Slow is fast!
Lesson 4 (Fitness & Strength)
On our last dive that involved lost buddy and lost line drills while exiting the cave our instructor indicated that our sheep herder (ghost buddy) was missing. The objective was to locate and rescue him from the cave. 190lb diver in double 120s, 2x ALI80 stages acting very well will test your physical ability to the limit.
- Become fit, flexible and be in good shape. These are not just good for diving but will also add value to your personal life and when you become older.
- Being fit will help reduce stress and improve breathing rates
Lastly, when the lights go out and the darkness sets in, only then will you know what you are made off. Cave diving is one of the most humbling experiences I have had. It is also the most rewarding form of diving. Entering a cave and exploring new areas in crystal clear water and exiting is a truly rewarding experience. I cant wait to get back in!!!!
ajduplessis
