Who Loves Ice Diving? I do!

[JDostal]

Nessie once bubbled...
The worst I have seen was a solo-diver who had nobody at the surface, no buddy underwater and had attached his rope with a nail into the ice.

Wow...that's amazing.

We're safe. The line is attached to a D-Ring (Either on your BC or a harness), and you also have a loop that you keep your hand in to ensure that you have a good hold on the rope if your carabiner or know fail on your BC. Everyone has someone tending the line, and we have a safety diver that is sitting in the hole all set to go at a moments notice.

In addition to that, our ropes are attached to 6" titanium ice screws in the ice.

I'm not sure what else we could do to make it much safer - it's pretty much everything I learned in the PADI ice class.

 

[frogxman]

Give me the water, I'll go diving.:mean: I love ice diving as it is much more organized event than just an outing and the whole team work together to cut the whole, to prepare harnesses etc. And then there can be a warming up food. Alltogether a good day outside.
It's just an strange feeling when you get out of the water and in 5 minutes can not move not only your fingers, but also your hands - you are covered with ice (at least that happened to me in my neoprene suit).

 

[mddolson]

Omicron bubbled:
I'm not sure what else we could do to make it much safer .

Shovel snow tracks on the ice, like the rim and spokes on a wheel leading back to hole.

Twin tanks,isolation manifold, redudant regulator!

Stand by divers, line tenders and surface crew who you trust with your life.

Respect for the environment: treat it like a space walk;
"You have one chance to do it correctly!"

Mike D

 

[dc4bs]

mddolson once bubbled...
Shovel snow tracks on the ice, like the rim and spokes on a wheel leading back to hole.
Mike D

Hey, neat idea. I'm guessing that the shoveled tracks will show up as brighter areas above you when you are under the ice?

"Follow the yello brick road" back to the hole if all else goes pear-shaped for whatever reason(s)?

 

[JDostal]

We shovel spokes onto the ice - I forgot to mention that part. We actually make them look like large arrows.

Like my post said, every diver has a line tender, we have a safety diver in the water ready to go as well as other people on the surface.

I don't run doubles w/ a manifold. The cost is a touch prohibitive at the moment.

Other than that - I think we're doing it pretty safely.

 

[JDostal]

dc4bs once bubbled...

Hey, neat idea. I'm guessing that the shoveled tracks will show up as brighter areas above you when you are under the ice?

Yeah - it's a two fold purpose. It allows more light to filter down into the water, and it makes the hole much more noticeable.

A 6' triangle hole is not that big of a thing to see, but 30' spokes radiating out from it are a LOT easier to find....

If everything goes "pear shaped"

 

[SwimJim]

Hey MikeFerrara

I've got a technical Ice diving question for you. My wife makes some killer chili. I was asked to bring some along on the last ice dive I did. Whats the best way to keep chili hot out on the ice? Do you guys use a colmann stove or some kind of crock pot lash up?
As you know keeping the chili at the correct serving temp is critical to a successful ice dive.

Thanks

Jim

 

[mddolson]

Omicron bubbled: "I don't run doubles w/ a manifold. The cost is a touch prohibitive at the moment."

Ain't it the truth!

A single tank alternative is an H valve, with redundant regulators.

Free flows are common even in ice diving with antifreeze equipped 1st stages. With a redundant reg, you can shut down the free flow and switch to your back up.

MikeD

 

[MikeFerrara]

SwimJim once bubbled...
Hey MikeFerrara

I've got a technical Ice diving question for you. My wife makes some killer chili. I was asked to bring some along on the last ice dive I did. Whats the best way to keep chili hot out on the ice? Do you guys use a colmann stove or some kind of crock pot lash up?
As you know keeping the chili at the correct serving temp is critical to a successful ice dive.

Thanks

Jim

Good question. Keeping the chilli hot may just be the most important aspect of good ice diving. We use a propane Colmann stove. I also have an old canvas tent and a BIG propane heater that I set up on cold days especially if we have wet suit divers.

 

[bwerb]

First, an answer...one of the lines I rep. to retailers is the "Thermos" and "Nissan/Thermos" brand of products. We make some huge stainless steel vacuum insulated food jars which will not only keep chili hot, it will actually keep cooking it. They are awesome for any seriously cold environment and you don't have to bring a stove. Make it at home and take it along.

On to my question...do you use the same drysuit and insulation and neoprene hoods for ice diving as for cold water diving or do you do something different to protect yourself from the cold at the surface? Do you cover more of your face with something? I can just imagine surfacing in really cold temps and getting frostbite around your exposed (and wet) face. Just curious.

Brian