Boat ladders and upper body v leg strength

[RyanT]

but also adding a gentle slope so that the ladders aren’t completely vertical. Both of these upgrades will make life easier, and will hopefully be taken care of in the not too distant future."

Yeah, the angle is really important! Having that ladder projecting out for a bit of an angle is really helpful! My buddy and I frequently do recreational dives in Panama from a small boat. The ladder has a bar that hits the boat and holds the ladder out at a comfortable angle. One day, there was a "mishap" and the bar got knocked off the back of the ladder. The result was that the ladder slung down the side of the hull at more than a 90 angle. You've seen those climbers, climbing the underside of a mountain? It was kind of like that. OK, definitely not that severe, but with a tank on your back, it sure felt like it! So yeah, if the bottom of the ladder projects out a bit, it makes things a lot easier!

 

[living4experiences]

You don’t want them hard enough to change the rules to allow them. You are prepared to go on boats that expect people to get up ladders, possibly provoking bends. Scuba is a somewhat macho activity. Consumers are generally at a disadvantage compared to service providers.

You could try getting together in an organised way and trying to influence whoever needs influencing. If it really is a regulatory problem then no one boat is likely to want to pioneer it just to watch everyone else get a free ride. Thus the best way forward is likely to be everyone’s getting together and explaining that ladders are discriminatory and dangerous to people with high nitrogen levels.

I'm not understanding your post. How does getting on a ladder provoke the bends?

 

[Esprise Me]

I'm not understanding your post. How does getting on a ladder provoke the bends?

Strenuous exercise after diving is thought to increase the risk of DCI.

 

[living4experiences]

Strenuous exercise after diving is thought to increase the risk of DCI.

True, but I personally don't consider climbing a half dozen rungs on a dive ladder to be strenuous activity, IMO.

 

[KenGordon]

True, but I personally don't consider climbing a half dozen rungs on a dive ladder to be strenuous activity, IMO.

Try it with a twinset and a couple of 80 cuft stages. Or while weighing a bit much, or when the boat is bouncing about a bit etc.

I think, but would not swear to it, that there is a mechanism that briefly opens otherwise shut PFOs and so allows let bubbly gas into the arterial system. However it works, the advice is to avoid lifting etc soon after a dive.

 

[Edward3c]

True, but I personally don't consider climbing a half dozen rungs on a dive ladder to be strenuous activity, IMO.

When loaded up with a rebreather or twins and stage cylinders it is.

 

[living4experiences]

see Hydraulic Ladder
but especially Boat diving.Do we have it all wrong?!
The latter is a long thread, but there are some jewels among the chest thumping.

Boat diving.Do we have it all wrong?!
I read the first part of this thread until it went off the rails, I skipped to the end, and it was admonished, rightly so, by a moderator. But I got the gist of it. My eyes have been opened, and I do understand more fully about the exertion effects on DCS when you're heavily weighted with gear. Although the threads on SB get really technical with specs and measurements and lots of acronyms I don't know and go off topic a lot, I can now better appreciate the comments of the last couple of posters. This thread itself is starting to veer off topic, so I will end by saying I am the recreational tourist diver, single tank, AOW and nitrox certified. I literally just wanna have fun with as little difficulty as possible, and I rely on the boat operator and crew to make my diving as fun as possible and that includes a quality and efficient ladder to get back on the boat. Cheers to all!

 

[tursiops]

I rely on the boat operator and crew to make my diving as fun as possible and that includes a quality and efficient ladder to get back on the boat.

Unfortunately, that often means trusting the operators to actually have "quality and efficient" ladders. Trust, but verify. Even an operator like Buddy Dive has boats with varying quality ladders.

 

[tridacna]

For those of you who struggle to get their fin straps on their wrist or don't want to hand up fins to a crew member, here's my solution.

Clip both sides to a D-ring on your BC. I find it most convenient on my waist strap. When you're ready to exit, un-clip one side and slide through each fin strap. Re-clip the end and you're ready to climb the ladder. Great for shore diving too. There are commercial ones available but this works best for me.

 

[Kimela]

Unfortunately, that often means trusting the operators to actually have "quality and efficient" ladders. Trust, but verify. Even an operator like Buddy Dive has boats with varying quality ladders.

I'm wondering how this would work in 'real time'. It seems I'd have to check out the dive op before I make reservations. And I guess this would be a great place to start.