Primary and secondary malfunction on same dive. Should LDS be held responsible?

[scubasean]

Northeastwrecks once bubbled...


Thanks for the offer. Sadly, my cats would probably lose it.

...I probably would have gathered the group and headed back to the line, particularly since it sounds as if you didn't have a bag and a jump spool.

What would you have done with the bag and spool? (Do you use them as a marker? Or what?)

As I show my lack of knowledge...

 

[Raven C]

The lift bag can be a inflated and attached to the anchor line for a couple reasons: One to help mark the area, and two to help in lifting the anchor to the surface when the dive is over. There were divers that attached a spool line to the anchor line in order to find their way back. They told me the reason they do this is because they are not very good with navigation and they get lost, but I could see how that could be a good general practice.

I did not have these items. My "regular" buddy had these and always said there is no need for you to have to keep up with them if I have them. Since I always dive with him, with this exception, I didn't need one. I have always intended to buy my own, but sharing worked while I was purchasing the big ticket items. It's kinda like we use my dive flag and marker he doesn't need one if he uses mine. Right? Well, if you depend on someone elses, you will find yourself in need of it. So, I will have my own. R

 

[Northeastwrecks]

RavenC once bubbled...
The lift bag can be a inflated and attached to the anchor line for a couple reasons: One to help mark the area, and two to help in lifting the anchor to the surface when the dive is over. There were divers that attached a spool line to the anchor line in order to find their way back. They told me the reason they do this is because they are not very good with navigation and they get lost, but I could see how that could be a good general practice.

I did not have these items. My "regular" buddy had these and always said there is no need for you to have to keep up with them if I have them. Since I always dive with him, with this exception, I didn't need one. I have always intended to buy my own, but sharing worked while I was purchasing the big ticket items. It's kinda like we use my dive flag and marker he doesn't need one if he uses mine. Right? Well, if you depend on someone elses, you will find yourself in need of it. So, I will have my own. R

I will use a reel when visibility is low or whenever I plan a penetration dive. I've got a 400 foot reel expressly designed for this.

However, in this case the bag and spool have a different purpose than lifting the anchor.

Once you were blown off the line, you could have attached the spool (approx. 100 - 150 ft. of cave line) to the bag and shot the bag to the surface. This would have given you and your buddy a visual reference as you drifted. More importantly, however, it would have let the boat know where you are so that they could (1) deploy a chase boat (best case scenario); or (2) assign someone to watch your bag and pick you up once everyone is onboard.

Using a safety sausage once you were on the surface was fine, but would not have worked if you had drifted out of sight.

One reel per team would work. However, IMHO, every diver should have their own lift bag and at least one spool. Consider what would happen if only one of you were blown off the wreck or some other event separated you. In that case you would both need to shoot a bag.