Entanglement Poll

[bortolani]

Happened to me this spring to find myself entangled 1m. from the surface in an anchor chain ... pretty scaring =-) .

I had just lead a group of divers (I run a diving center) and while they were surfacing along the rock I spent few minutes alone to check the anchor.

Then, while I was reaching the surface swimming close to the anchor chain, I felt like a weight on my shoulders.
I understood that it was the chain trapped in my first stages but I was just 3 meters from the surface... ... so I continued ascending and that was a BIG, BIG mistake.

The chain pulled me down and, as I tried to hold the chain with my hands, it pulled the reg out of my mouth.
I was able to reach the surface and put the mouth out of water but the chain was pulling harder bringing me down again.
I took the other reg but it could hardly reach my mouth and I started drinking some sea water while breathing.

The guy on my rubber boat did not understand what was happening and was just telling me to move to the back of the boat.

Luckily enough, a boat nearby caught the scene and a guy came to my rescue. In the meantime half breathing and half drinking seawater I was taking my BC off with one hand while with the other I was holding the chain to stay close to the surface.
Everything was difficult because of the dry suit and the increasing panic.

However the rescue guy arrived and helped me to get rid of the BC and surface.

After that all my friends are still pulling my leg

Several lessons learnt:
1) Never dive solo, even for 5 minutes
2) Don't believe you won't panic
3) It doesn't matter if you are just 1 meter deep: if you cannot breath you die.
4) If anything goes wrong UW, always apply the rule: stop, breath and think
5) Accidents happen in stupid ways!

----------------------
Bruno

 

[dsgobie]

I was doing fin pivots with a class in about 20fsw and another instructor came by, dropped about 100' of line from his surface float right on us all. By the time I seen it coming it was too late. It tied up about 4 of the students pretty good. It took me, a knife and the other instructors DM to undo that mess.

 

[GQMedic]

It's happened to me, my buddy at the time didn't even see me get tangled up in the kelp. I had it all over, but I was pretty streamlined. It wasn't a big deal, what I could not remove without cutting, a knife remedied. Kelp breaks pretty easily if you bend it. After pulling the "salad" off of me, I was back to stalking fish in no time at all.

Been tangled again, and again, I'm to were I don't even use my knife to get out of it anymore. I just find the strands that have me caught up and easily pulls them free of me and go about my business having not had to hack up some "salad".

I've been caught in abandoned fishing line, pulled most off, what I couldn't pull off, I cut. It wasn't an earth-shattering experience. It was at most, a minor set-back of maybe a minute at most. I also have a pair of the difty difty ultra cool sheers as a back up to my knife, a few years have gone by they have yet to be "used". But the sheers are certain handy I'd imagine if I ever get what I'd feel to be a serious tangle. The only thing I've ever been caught up in that made me give significant notice of was a tight squeeze in a cavern at Catalina Is. Sucked in my lard and voila!

 

[annie]

Great Thread - am I right in thinking that I really need to get shears for monofilament - they would be a lot better than a knife?

 

[Adrian Kelland]

Annie

Any knife needs to push against something to cut it. Shears cut against the other blade.

Look up 'tuf cut' or 'tough cut' or 'trauma shears' on medical equipment suppliers. Some outward bound/ dive shops have them. Ive seen them for as little as UK£1.75 plus postage, so it makes sense to get a group purchase.

Adrian

 

[JustAddWater]

I've encountered both kelp and monofilament entanglements. None of the situations have ever been more than a minor inconvenience in the dive, and were easily taken care of by myself or buddy. The monofil. was a bit more of a pain because it was harder to see and the threat of being hooked, but I'll knock on wood that no case has been a major deal. Kudos to a good knife and buddy, and beware of the kelp catchers.

 

[Lloyd]

I had a piece of cable snag my first stage on a salvage dive of a sailboat. Just had to ditch my tanks, untangle, then don my tanks again. My heart skipped a beat when I was jerked back, but it was really no problem.

 

[DiverBuoy]

During my PADI Wreck Diving speciality my instructor ignoring the rule of thirds, botched the reel, cut the line, became low on air and ABANDONED me .. he just indicated "I'm going up" and left me.

Unbeknownst to both of us I was entangled so badly in the cut reel line which was taught to interior of the ship so I became pinned and completely unable to move or free myself. Keeping in mind low visibility conditions, basically I was dead. Then along came a twin tank nitrox diver with a couple of pony bottles who cut me free. By the way "Hero" if your out there I'm still thanking you - THANK YOU!

I had only been diving for 2 months, and clearly I learned how over my head and underprepared I was for penetrating the Yukon on single air tank, with no pony, at a depth of 105' sw. I still remember I wasn't the least bit panicked but how intense my thoughts were toward my family and my children. After 5 whole minutes of me trying to work my way out but in reality only deeper into my entanglement ... my rescuer came along.

 

[Braunbehrens]

I was on the Yukon a couple years ago, and found a single fin, deep in a compartment that didn't lead directly to the outside. Kind of freaky. I still have it...I think it's a black split fin, maybe apollo.

 

[steeldiver]

fishing line a couple of times that reguired cutting loose.
And have calmed down a few divers who felt trapped in surface kelp.
Howatrd.