How much line on reel for Cavern course?

Well, I bought myself a dive rite blue safety reel, and I ended up using too much of the line on it to tie off bolt snaps onto lights and gauges as well as re-run the line through my spring straps. Doh!

Anyway - what size line or how many feet of line do you typically need in a cavern course? I would assume around 130' as that is about the penetration limit for it...but just wondering if anyone would know for sure.

Typically, you want 150 - 175 feet of line for cavern. Your penetration limit is 130 linear feet, but you also need a primary tie-off outside the cavern entrance, and secondary tie-off just inside, and then you may be routing your line around various rocks, so you need quite a bit more than 130 feet of line to get 130 feet inside the cavern. Nothing wrong, of course, with stopping short of your limit.

If you plan to progress to Cave Diving, you may want to use a larger reel (400 ft.) during your training to get proficient with using it, since cave divers use a longer primary reel. The 175 ft. reel was not a wasted purchase, though, because it now becomes your safety reel.

In either case, you will want to mark your line so that you know how far you have entered.

Take your training and skills seriously, and dive safely. Enjoy your diving!

theskull

Go to;
http://www.memphisnet.net/10/FishCatalog/Twines.html#anchor1076165

You want the White Braided Nylon Seine Twine. Size will vary depending on the use.
I use mostly #21 and #36

Yowza! I'm not buying 12 spools worth of it!! I just need to re-fill my spool! I was planning on reefscuba.com to fulfille the order.

theskull - thanks for the info on that. I think I'll just fill it with #24 line and get 175' on the reel. I definitely will be taking it seriously. The hope is to be able to spend enough time @ Ginnie to actually be able to take Intro To Cave as well. It's been a dream of mine since I started diving. Of course, if I don't take it this year it's an excuse to make another road trip.

Thanks again for the info!

There's been a rumor going 'round the net for years that some Home Depot's carry BRAIDED nylon twine.

Absolutely none that I've been to carry it (I've only seen twisted), but some folks do insist that their local stores have it, so you might check...

Roak

Unfortunately the nearest home depot is about a half hour away frome me. I called around a little bit...I did find some nice white nylon braided rope at a local hardware store, but it was 3/8". A little excessive I think. Heh.

I just ended up ordering a 1lb spool of #24 line from ReefScuba.com. That'll be enough to fill up my reel a couple of times over, and I can also fill up the reels of the people I'm going to Ginnie w/ to take the class. From what I can guess our reels came with #48 line cuz there was only about a 100' or so on the reel.

Shoot - I just noticed that you could buy it by the pound on that link you gave me pipedope. Doh!

That's what I get for being overtired when looking at stuff...ah well.