Near disaster; dropped weights - what to do?

[Louie]

Hello fellow dive enthusiasts,

I had a close shave on a recent wreck dive. One of my integrated weight pockets had come loose while negotiating my way through narrow passages and enclosed spaces and as I was out of the wreck, it fell out. FORTUNATELY, my guide (my hero) had eyes on the back of his head, grabbed me by the arm to stop my ascent and take me to a bit of coral where I hung on. He went down to the bottom (luckily, there was a bottom at about 50m) and retrieved my weight pocket.
This could have been disasterous as this was a decompression dive and I was at about 41m when this occured.
So my question is, if this should occur and there is nobody to stop your ascent, what is the best procedure to save yourself or minimise damage?

Cheerio

 

[Bob3]

There's a lot to be said for a good weight belt.
Splitting your lead up between your integrated pockets as well as a belt will minimize the amount of lead you can accidentaly lose.
Also, not overweighting yourself will minimize the amount of air in your BC, making it less likely to take you on an express ride.
What kind of BC were you wearing? Some of them are notorious for having bad habits like that.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Let me expand on Bob3's comment just a little. Your weight should be distributed so that you can ditch enough to ascend without assistance - but no more. With that in mind, accidental loss of your ditchable weight (especially only half of it, as in a weight pocket) will never be so much that you are unable to out swim the lift.
Rick

 

[TwoBitTxn]

What I was taught.....

Rick and Bob have the best ideas.

But in other circumstances, I was taught to make yourself as big as possible. Flare in the water like a sky diver does in the air. That will create the most resistance and you will rise at the slowest rate. Be sure not to hold your breath and I'm sure prayer would be a good idea too.

Follow Bob and Ricks advice.

Tom

 

[tombiowami]

I guess I would wonder right off why you are asking an internet board something that should have been stressed in your deco class.

If one ended up in an uncontrolled ascent I would think immediately getting to a chamber while breathing 02 on the dive boat would be about the only thing to do beyond the flair out. I have read of people heading back down to finish deco if no symptoms of DCI or AGE are present, but I will defer to those that are trained here.

Were you using trimix on that 120' penetration/deco dive?

Tommy

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by tombiowami
I guess I would wonder right off why you are asking an internet board something that should have been stressed in your deco class.

If one ended up in an uncontrolled ascent I would think immediately getting to a chamber while breathing 02 on the dive boat would be about the only thing to do beyond the flair out. I have read of people heading back down to finish deco if no symptoms of DCI or AGE are present, but I will defer to those that are trained here.

Were you using trimix on that 120' penetration/deco dive?

Tommy

While we're thinking about this dive as a whole, and not just the weight dropping event, I'm sure the little excursion to 165' (50m) at the end of the dive did wonders for *that* diver's deco schedule... What mix were y'all using?
As for what to do had the weight not been recovered, why that's easy... just comply with the deco schedule hanging onto the anchor/down line or your Jersey line.
Rick

 

[TexasMike]

To ask a question of the more knowledgeable....

What about finning like mad downward in hopes of possibly making it to something you can hold onto? Or even better, working your way over to the anchor/mooring line?

 

[scubabunny]

How much weight did you have in the pocket? Integrated weight systems do have a weight limit for each pocket, and if you excede that it can fall out.

 

[cybordolphin]

Would like to hear more particulars.....

What BC/weight system was being used?

What/how was your weight distributed, etc.?

 

[neil]

At 41m, what were you wearing that was so bouyant?
A wetsuit would have lost most of its "bubble" buoyancy at that depth, and if you were in a drysuit why didn't you dump air from it? It seems that a re-assessment of your weighting is in order, IMHO. It doesn't seem right that you were so floaty losing just half your weight.

Neil