The threads centered around the recent accident at Ginnie has led to some interesting discussion, both here and other boards.
One such example was this one: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cave-diving/303744-calculating-search-gas.html
The one discussion that has really piqued my interest though, revolves around leaving a lost buddy marker.
Based on discussions elsewhere, it seems some of us were trained that in the event of buddy separation to leave a backup light on the mainline in the event they are exiting without one.
When I took my cave class, LED lights were not widely used or available and the backups we had were much more limited in burn times. IIRC, I was taught to clip the light to the line, but not leave it on, so as to conserve the battery for my lost buddy who might be exiting blind on the line.
With the advent of LED backups with ridiculous amounts of burn time now, leaving it burning should be no issue. This provides the added benefits of serving as a beacon for the missing diver and alerting other teams that may be in the system of a problem.
After kicking the idea around for a bit I've been working out some team protocols for my buddies. Before I throw them out to the rest of you for comments/criticism, I thought I'd get some opinions on leaving a Lost Buddy Marker.
Note: We all already know that prevention is the best cure so I'm going to ask that we keep this on topic with solutions, rather than bashing training methods. If the comments get too far off track, I will ask that they be moved or deleted.
How do you feel about leaving one of your backups behind? What other methods do you use to indicate to a lost buddy that you are searching for them, or that you have already left the cave?
One such example was this one: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cave-diving/303744-calculating-search-gas.html
The one discussion that has really piqued my interest though, revolves around leaving a lost buddy marker.
Based on discussions elsewhere, it seems some of us were trained that in the event of buddy separation to leave a backup light on the mainline in the event they are exiting without one.
When I took my cave class, LED lights were not widely used or available and the backups we had were much more limited in burn times. IIRC, I was taught to clip the light to the line, but not leave it on, so as to conserve the battery for my lost buddy who might be exiting blind on the line.
With the advent of LED backups with ridiculous amounts of burn time now, leaving it burning should be no issue. This provides the added benefits of serving as a beacon for the missing diver and alerting other teams that may be in the system of a problem.
After kicking the idea around for a bit I've been working out some team protocols for my buddies. Before I throw them out to the rest of you for comments/criticism, I thought I'd get some opinions on leaving a Lost Buddy Marker.
Note: We all already know that prevention is the best cure so I'm going to ask that we keep this on topic with solutions, rather than bashing training methods. If the comments get too far off track, I will ask that they be moved or deleted.
How do you feel about leaving one of your backups behind? What other methods do you use to indicate to a lost buddy that you are searching for them, or that you have already left the cave?
