Entanglement Experiences: Especially Both Hands/Arms.

[Thalassamania]

Thalassamania,
If you would be willing, many here would like to hear some step by step procedure(s) that would be useful and successful with a backplate and Hog harness, 200 to 300 gram undies. I think most of us do our best to visualize what procedures we'd use/try with a net but I got some valuable insights from netdoc's post and would like to hear some procedure for nets in current, etc.

We can practice doff and dons all we want but it seems like it's pretty hard to truly practice for a net in current entanglement. (All that phantom knife slashing doesn't provide much definite
practice...in the mellow/shallow conditions I practice in.)

Anyone dealt with a gill net entanglement here who'd be willing to give us a step by step?

Thanks.

There is no step-by-step, every net situation is guaranteed to be different. The major problem that I've observed is that the top and bottom of the net are often in different places meaning that the the net is either stretched out beneath you or billowing over you. In either case the entanglement will most likely involve your instruments, snorkel, light, and/or your rig (this assumes that you're squared away with respect to things like fin straps). If all you've done is blunder into a net with your hands out in front, and all you've tangled is your gauges and maybe your snorkel, disentangling, backing up, observing which way the net is going and getting to a safe position should not be a big deal (I hate to see the guy who's overdriving the visibility on his scooter and plows into one, that's going to be a mess).

Where the problem comes in is when, for one reason or another, you get your rig fouled in the net in ways that you can not see. Some diver fell that their best bet at this point is to cut everything that they can until they're free ... there's something to be said for this approach but two [SIZE=-1]caveats[/SIZE]: before you start fussing be damn sure you know which way the net is going, which way the current flows, where you're going to go once free, and stay oriented; have a wrist lanyard for your knife, I once cut a diver out of a gill net who was as stuck as could be and whose knife was on the bottom, directly below us.

My approach is to put my paramediic shears on a lanyard over my wrist and then get out of my rig, gently untangle it, back away from the net cutting only as I have to, and once clear don my rig and get to a safe position.

Yes, we have taken nets of several designs into the pool and "confined water" to work with and we've even done observations on how fishing gear operates by climbing around on trawler nets whilst they were fishing in shallow water.

 

[jim T.]

Thalassamania,
Thanks! Excellent post. The 2nd paragraph is especially helpful.
Trying to ascertain which direction the net is flowing in current
and whether the majority is above or below you before acting is
just the kind of tips I'm looking for.
Do you always remove your rig lst or try to cut lst and only remove if absolutely necessary.

It would seem like this kind of entanglement class would be an excellent offering by every agency if done under as realistic circumstances as possible. At least in a juacuzzi style pool to simulate current...

Guess that cuts into the "diving is safe for every member of the family" while downplaying the potential risks thang too much.

 

[Thalassamania]

Thalassamania,
Thanks! Excellent post. The 2nd paragraph is especially helpful.
Trying to ascertain which direction the net is flowing in current
and whether the majority is above or below you before acting is
just the kind of tips I'm looking for.
Do you always remove your rig lst or try to cut lst and only remove if absolutely necessary.

We've seen this a FEW times in the field. We've played with this a lot in the pool. I'm not really sure what I'd "always" do except stay calm and move slowly and deliberately, trying simple solutions first and escalating slowly ... which is damn hard to do with there's a problem of unknown magnitude keeping you from getting to the surface. I say the hardest thing to deal with is the fact that SAC varies as the square of pucker factor.

 

[Thalassamania]

Thalassamania,
Thanks! Excellent post. The 2nd paragraph is especially helpful.
Trying to ascertain which direction the net is flowing in current
and whether the majority is above or below you before acting is
just the kind of tips I'm looking for.
Do you always remove your rig lst or try to cut lst and only remove if absolutely necessary.

We've seen this a FEW times in the field. We've played with this a lot in the pool. I'm not really sure what I'd "always" do except stay calm and move slowly and deliberately, trying simple solutions first and escalating slowly ... which is damn hard to do with there's a problem of unknown magnitude keeping you from getting to the surface. I say the hardest thing to deal with is the positive feedback loop wherein SAC varies as the pucker factor to the power of time elapsed.

 

[jim T.]

Wow! Double pucker factor!
Thanks Thalassamania. I think I'll go cruise the gillnet boat docks again and study 'em some more. It's definitely helpful to visualize contingincies with a visual aide. I also will pay more attention to "net behavior" when I pass fishing fleets on my motorsailer. I'd always watched for the end of the set floats with binoculars but watching the net itself, near the surface, could be illuminating.
I didn't formally appreciate how invisible they become under water.
They're pretty darn noticeable on the surface!

When encountering them underwater are there usually floats still attatched?
I had assumed they would be the lst visual tip off available in most cases
that a net is near. Or else, the surrounding heavier rope. Guess it's not going to be that easy...

 

[Timeliner]

I got hung up in swamp weeds the other day from hood to fins. I was wrapped up like a snake caught in a lawn mower. I couldn't do much but laugh at the time.
I got wrapped up in a noose of weeds around my neck and shoulders while moving through them and about the same time got hung around my fins. This is not uncommon and I didn't think too much about it at the time. At first I twisted around just to see what my fins were hung in and in pretty short order I got caught up in more parts of my gear and limbs. So I just had to quit moving, sink, and settle deeper into that crap for a bit and just remove it. It was just lake weeds too, not fishing line and it was strong stuff when a bunch of it was wrapped around me.
It was just lovely Crap. Swamp mud is so like 5 star you know .
I resisted pulling out a blade and didn't need it in the long run. I came to the surface after that looking like a sewer clog. It really didn't take that long to get un stuck. I'm just glad I didn't freak and just chilled. I'm actually glad it happened really.

 

[jim T.]

Timeliner,
Thanks for contributing to the thread. Glad you saw it as a good practice/learning experience.
I've gotta ask. What's to see on a swamp dive?

 

[Timeliner]

Timeliner,
I've gotta ask. What's to see on a swamp dive?

Sometimes not too much but often that is the point. Sometimes it isn't about what you see but how you feel. Often times you break through and find spots that clear up a bit and allow you to explore. The Swamp I was talking about bordered a deeper area of a lake. On the way to the clearer areas you have to make your way through the fun stuff

 

[jim T.]

Cool, thanks.

 

[b1gcountry]

The most I've ever gotten entangled while diving alone is when I'm helping with an OW class and setting a flag, or marker buoy. I've gotten it wrapped in my first stage, but mostly in my snorkel. Another good reason not to wear one.

Tom