what would you do in this situation?

[Thrillhouse]

Alright, this happened to a friend of mine, but she was thankfully only in 15 feet of water and safely floated to the surface.

Here's the question: you're down deep (for the sake of argument, 60 ft) in a drysuit. Suddenly, one of your integrated weights slides out, as it wasn't properly fastened/was a crappy strap. You begin to float up uncontrollably, as you've just lost 12lbs.

What do you do?

 

[El Orans]

Grab your buddy who can dump air to become more negative.

 

[aboalreem]

If you had to assent uncontrollably, even if you dump all the air out....You can either kick down,, so you still ascending but in a normal rate, or if there is a wall next to you, try to hold on it and do a safe assent (I have seen this done in a dive in canada), where the diver lost his weight belt, and, luckily, he was next to a rock wall, so he garbed it and did assent on it, with a safety stop....But again, kicking down to slow your uncontrolled assent rate should work..

 

[mislav]

It's a potentially very dangerous situation. Begin kicking down while dumping air from your BC and try to hold on to something. Your buddy or DM might have extra weight...

 

[evil_xander]

Here's the question: you're down deep (for the sake of argument, 60 ft) in a drysuit. Suddenly, one of your integrated weights slides out, as it wasn't properly fastened/was a crappy strap. You begin to float up uncontrollably, as you've just lost 12lbs.

What do you do?

Wouldn't use 12lbs weights in the first place (but smaller ones), or a weight integrated BC...

 

[Thrillhouse]

It was from a weight-integrated BCD, actually. Her weight slid right out and popped off the clip.

 

[Colliam7]

you're down deep (for the sake of argument, 60 ft) in a drysuit. Suddenly, one of your integrated weights slides out, as it wasn't properly fastened/was a crappy strap. You begin to float up uncontrollably, as you've just lost 12lbs.What do you do?

Possibly go for a chamber ride that night. At least that is what happened with a colleague of mine a couple of years ago, in about 60ft of water, just a few miles south of you, in fact. If there is nothing to hold on to (and frequently there is not) and your buddy is not RIGHT next to you (which can easily be the case), chances of arresting the ascent are very small if you are wearing 24lbs and lose 12. The bigger question is, after you surface, whether you try to get another 12 lbs, redescend, and do a proper ascent. As attractive as that sounds, even if additional weight is immediately available, it is probably better to stay on the surface, get out of the water, contact DAN, etc. Is the chamber necessary? Many DMs on charter boats regularly do bounce dives to 60ft and deeper to release anchors and hooks and come right back up without a safety stop, albeit at a normal ascent rate. But, is it better to be safe, even if somewhat inconvenienced, than sorry?

 

[Marek K]

Once it happens, I think what the others have said would apply. I'd just maybe add "flaring" (going horizontal if you're not, presenting the largest possible cross-section to slow your ascent). May be hard to do while finning downwards, though.

How to prevent this? This is one reason why a lot of folks would recommend not using a weight-integrated BC (evil_xander was actually saying he wouldn't use one.) If you do use a weight-integrated BC (like I do), distribute your weight so that it's not so much in one place; 12 lb/5.5 kg is an awful lot to have in one pocket. I've got separate BC trim pockets where I keep most of my weight. And make sure the closure mechanisms on the dumpable pockets (velcro, buckles) are in good shape.

I'm not sure what you mean by "popped off the clip." Was it a clipped pocket, where the clip failed; and she lost the whole pocket?

--Marek

 

[sberanek]

12lbs seems like a lot of weight for one pocket. I can only cram 7lbs in a front pocket, and 3 in a back pocket. Like a previous poster said, I distribute my weights evenly between all my pockets. In my case, that's 2lbs/pocket if I'm wearing my 3mil.

I've never lost weights, and all I know is that "the book says" flare out to try and slow your ascent.

Would losing weight at 60ft throw you up that fast, though? I can see if you were at 30' you might start shooting up uncontrollably. Also, are you near the bottom where your buddy might be able to drag you down and grab your weights for you?

--Shannon

 

[Thalassamania]

A flare will slow you down to an acceptable (e.g., < 60 fpm) ascent rate. Dumping air during the ascent (wrist valve high or shoulder valve with your head) will slow.

Prevention is a separate discussion, in a nutshell: it is my opinion that all diving (especially drysuit diving) should be done with a weightbelt or harness that has a positive closure (not a "standard" thread-through weightbelt buckle).