Buoyant ascents

[BRT]

I didn't know there was some guidance about below 18 meters versus above 18 meters. I think the answer is supposed to be:

When you run out of options, then you gotta shoot for the surface.
If you had just run "out" or are very low on air and it is hard to inhale... AND you are neutrally buoyant.. then you can probably kick up gently and sip the air.

For me, if I had some air in the tank, I would pop some air in the BC, begin a buoyant ascent and try very hard NOT to kick and to conserve my energy. I would plan on riding the BC up and vent air and try to come up as slow as I think I can.

What if you are diving without much of a wetsuit, you are weighted to be heavy and to be able to work on the bottom and you slam yourself under a ledge and it rips off the second stage hose from the regulator? Now you have nothing the breathe, nothing to inflate the BC and are negatively buoyant. Unless you are very shallow and/or a very strong diver, you should probably be thinking about ditching lead. In a situation like this, you HOPE you have some ditchable lead, but if you have little or no wetsuit on, you probably have less than 10-12 lbs of ballast to ditch. Dumping 10-12 lbs is NOT going to send you rocketing to the surface.

If you are wearing a 25-lb weightbelt (i.e., a thick suit) then dropping all that lead IS going to give you a faster ascent rate. However, as mentioned by others, if you flare out on your back and remember to dump air as you approach the surface, you should not be going that terribly fast.. If your lungs are healthy and you exhale - it is very unlikely to get an AGE - even with an accelerated ascent rate.

Yesterday, i had a buddy who felt uncomfortable, aborted a dive and then forgot to vent the BC on ascent, allowed it to get completely full when coming up a line.. and then let go of the line and kicked up toward the surface for the last 15-20 feet. The diver did not get bent or hurt and went on to do another dive an hour later.

I think the best answer is.. ditch the lead if you think you must.

I dropped a 12 lb weight pocket once and didn't know what had happened. I hung onto rocks and dried to dump air out of my bcd and drysuit. I don't know if I rocketed to the surface when I let go but it didn't take long from 60 feet. Made me split my weight up to more places.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I dropped a 12 lb weight pocket once and didn't know what had happened. I hung onto rocks and dried to dump air out of my bcd and drysuit. I don't know if I rocketed to the surface when I let go but it didn't take long from 60 feet. Made me split my weight up to more places.

Well that is the idea.. dropping 12 lbs of lead is supposed to make you lighter and it may well expedite your trip to the surface, but in a terrible emergency.. that is not such a bad thing... you apparently survived... Did you flair out on the ascent to slow down?

12 lbs in a pocket sounds very cumbersome to me, but I use a rubber freedive belt for most or all of my lead. Very comfortable and stable.. The adjusting your weighting sounds smart to me.