What have you been entangled in?

This seems to be a pretty common occurrence for a lot of divers, and a lot of things underwater just seem to want to grab and hold onto to you. So what have you found yourself caught on, how did you react, and how did you extricate yourself?

I'll start:

Kelp: lots of it, all the time. It catches my valve, my wrist-mounted instruments, even the edges of my suit pockets. Once I checked my SPG, and trapped myself to a kelp stalk when I clipped it back! Usually I notice I'm going slowly or not at all, look around to see where it is, and either untangle myself or snap the stalk. Getting a kelpy bearhug has never been a big issue, fortunately.

SMB/cave line: my first few attempts ascending with an SMB were pure comedy. If you can't spool up the line while ascending, it goes slack and collects all over you. Turning around to see where you're caught just makes it worse. By the time I hit the surface, I had maybe 15ft of line all around me. This required my buddy to take the spool and free me from my coccoon while I ignominiously tried to make myself useful by rolling up the smb.

while I wasn't "entangled" I did have a somewhat related experience...

diving the Duane, I was on the stern. There was some fishing line that floated across my field of view and within reach. I figured I'd gather it up and dispose of it on-shore.

I started gathering it up and lo and behold, the line was attached to a fish (probably a Bar Jack)!

I pulled it in closer so I could cut the line closer to the fish.. I got it w/in about 5 yards when the thing fought hard and basically yanked the the line out of my hand. this happened two times and I gave up. It was interesting though to have experienced that.

I once descended and somehow my reg hose hand gotten around a stalk of kelp. I actually had to take the reg out, move it around the stalk, and put it back in. And of course the mouth piece picked up a small bit of kelp leaf

By far the worst entanglements I have ever seen were on shore, as I listened to people trying to explain their understanding of deco theory.

Oddly, I have hardly ever been entangled underwater. Fishing line around my fin once, but that's it really.

I just seem to slip right through the kelp, I have more issues with my scooter inhaling kelp fronds and having to clear them out. Entangled...not so much.


All the best, James

I've been trappen in one of these,


It was in my early years of diving,(just finished OW)it was a BIG one,entrance was about 2m/7ft
viz.was at about 2ft/60cm.

My buddy came along with a samurai like knife and he was ready to go cutting behind my head.Well that was a BIG for me,so I used my PADI training,just got out of my BC,got the yoke free,put my BC back on and went along with the dive.
My buddy,a CMAS diver never seen that skill before,so he was impressed.

Lesson learned... Go DIN. Don't dive with buddy's with knives over 4 inches.

300bar:

Lesson learned... Go DIN. Don't dive with buddy's with knives over 4 inches.

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3) Don't go into fish traps less than 2 feet away?

RoatanMan:

3) Don't go into fish traps less than 2 feet away?

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When you can see them.

Lesson 4.LOOK before you enter the water,there MIGHT be fish traps.
Legal ones that is.

BTW this was on one of my 1st Dutch dives, I went along with a experianced local 3* diver.

300bar:

Lesson 4.LOOK before you enter the water,there MIGHT be fish traps.

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Wow, so you jumped straight into a fish trap? That would have freaked me out pretty good (and I'd say that definitely counts as a serious entanglement)!

Gombessa:

Wow, so you jumped straight into a fish trap? That would have freaked me out pretty good (and I'd say that definitely counts as a serious entanglement)!

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Nope,I didn't jump right in.We where 15-20min.into our dive,we just didn't see the darn thing comming.
btw.IT DID FREAK ME OUT.BUT that BIG samurai like knife scarred the hell out of me.


As for lesson 4,Legal traps have surface markers overhere,so you 1st LOOK for the markers.