With all the recent ScubaBoard hype about solo diving and solo divers, I've seen a few folks on here dismiss that entanglements are a hazard to solo divers. Stuff like "There's no fishing in the quarry, so there's no line or nets" or "The water's only 30' deep" or "I'll just get out of my gear and cut it if I can't reach it." Well, this thread's for you - from one solo diver to those tempted to solo dive - know the risks and be willing to accept the consequences of not being able to help yourself.
Had some interesting training a couple weeks ago. Part of this training involved actually practicing in the water what we were told about and shown on the surface.
One of the points made was that monofilament, nylon or kevlar fishing line (not to mention SS leaders!) are the primary entanglement hazards that kill divers and can be invisible (even in clear water). Huh?? Why didn't the divers just cut themselves out. Various reasons like can't reach the entanglement, knife won't cut it, panic, moving around making entanglement worse.... It was also pointed out that most dive knives are ineffective at cutting the stuff.
So - this specialty course involved blackwater (aka zero viz) search dives while on a tether. Part of the drills involve the primary backup divers' signalling a problem and asking for help. Backup diver then goes down the line. With touch signals, the B/U diver is told where the "entanglements" are and cuts them off and brings the "freed" diver to the surface. Well, I was a B/U diver for one of these. About 5 minutes into the dive, the diver signals "I'm OK, but alert B/U diver." OK - I'm a lert. A long couple minutes go by and he signals "I'm OK, but send B/U diver." The instructor asked - was that planned? Nope. Good - he says, that's the best kind.
So down I go, pulling out my shears as I descend (we use a contingency strap clipped to the line so it can be followed hands-free). Get to the diver and he signals entanglements on his fins (At this point, it's all touch signals since there is literally NO viz). I unclip me from his line and find BOTH of his fins snagged on a gill net. Snip snip snip and he's free. Up we go. Turns out he had tried and tried to cut himself out but just kept making it worse. He also said he had great difficulty even reaching the back of his fins to cut the net. This diver is a young, fit pararescueman with the Air National Guard. He has survived the Navy Seal dive training program, so you would think he was well-equipped to deal with a bit of fish net? Good wake-up call for all of us!
Oh - did I mention that this was a contaminated lake and folks don't fish there? So why was there a net? Who knows.... We found a bunch of monofilament as well. One of the guys also found a handgun while searching for the "missing" carabiner.
Had some interesting training a couple weeks ago. Part of this training involved actually practicing in the water what we were told about and shown on the surface.
One of the points made was that monofilament, nylon or kevlar fishing line (not to mention SS leaders!) are the primary entanglement hazards that kill divers and can be invisible (even in clear water). Huh?? Why didn't the divers just cut themselves out. Various reasons like can't reach the entanglement, knife won't cut it, panic, moving around making entanglement worse.... It was also pointed out that most dive knives are ineffective at cutting the stuff.
So - this specialty course involved blackwater (aka zero viz) search dives while on a tether. Part of the drills involve the primary backup divers' signalling a problem and asking for help. Backup diver then goes down the line. With touch signals, the B/U diver is told where the "entanglements" are and cuts them off and brings the "freed" diver to the surface. Well, I was a B/U diver for one of these. About 5 minutes into the dive, the diver signals "I'm OK, but alert B/U diver." OK - I'm a lert. A long couple minutes go by and he signals "I'm OK, but send B/U diver." The instructor asked - was that planned? Nope. Good - he says, that's the best kind.
So down I go, pulling out my shears as I descend (we use a contingency strap clipped to the line so it can be followed hands-free). Get to the diver and he signals entanglements on his fins (At this point, it's all touch signals since there is literally NO viz). I unclip me from his line and find BOTH of his fins snagged on a gill net. Snip snip snip and he's free. Up we go. Turns out he had tried and tried to cut himself out but just kept making it worse. He also said he had great difficulty even reaching the back of his fins to cut the net. This diver is a young, fit pararescueman with the Air National Guard. He has survived the Navy Seal dive training program, so you would think he was well-equipped to deal with a bit of fish net? Good wake-up call for all of us!
Oh - did I mention that this was a contaminated lake and folks don't fish there? So why was there a net? Who knows.... We found a bunch of monofilament as well. One of the guys also found a handgun while searching for the "missing" carabiner.
You probably prefer zero viz diving as well 
