What's in Your Pockets

[LiteHedded]

I've seen them unspool plenty. had it happen to myself.

maybe there's a right and wrong way to do this bolt snap maneuver but...you could just put them in a pocket?

 

[victorzamora]

Spools aren't so bad in your pocket, but they're still a pain in sidemount. Reels aren't an option in my pockets, they're a huge, miserable, insufferable pain in sidemount.

---------- Post added August 13th, 2014 at 03:32 PM ----------

What's a tell?

It's how you know someone is bluffing in poker.

Jokes aside, my smartphone corrected my spelling, because it knew better than me that "reel" didn't go in that sentence.

 

[scubastingray]

This will be embarrassing...

When I was still at the apprentice level, I got a brand new length of surgical tubing for my cookies and arrows and tied one end to a clip and put a knot in the other end. I then did a dive in which I had no need to use any of them. I was the last one in and the first one out. On the way out, I picked up all the cookies and arrows that had dropped off one by one while I was on the way in. It had not occurred to me what water pressure would do to the thickness of the hollow surgical tubing.

I use bungee now.

Was your tubing tied at both ends? If you keep one end open the pressure equalizes as the tubing floods with water at the same pressure as the surrounding water, balancing the force.

 

[boulderjohn]

...Also, I think Edd was the ACTUAL cause for that.

Be careful about publicly blaming Edd for a reel problem. I was with him when he had a (ahem) problem with a reel.

 

[PfcAJ]

To be clear, I don't put reels in my pocket. Spools only. For a safety, I want it to be simple as possible, and a spool fits the bill. I've seen too many jammed reels to want to try and play that game in the dark when the clock is ticking.

Reels get clipped off to the butt or hip dring. For anything other than a relatively short travel to where its getting deployed (a primary, for instance, or maybe an exploration lead close to the entrance), they get a wrap of duct tape around them to help prevent the line from coming off.

 

[victorzamora]

Be careful about publicly blaming Edd for a reel problem. I was with him when he had a (ahem) problem with a reel.

First of all, you are NEVER to speak of that again (that was a threat). Secondly, I have no idea what you're talking about. Thirdly, I have a video to prove that it needed to be done, and a good reason there was a problem. Fourthly, it was in training and all of a sudden there was cave line everywhere, and Edd was grinning a bit. AND it happened not long after all of our drills were over. So, I won't publicly blame him (for fear of you publicizing things).....but I'll say I believe one of my instructors had a hand in that error occurring.

AJ, that makes perfect sense to me. I was taught safety reel, and that's what I dive. I like it due to it having a handle, making it less likely that I drop it. However, I do like to (tend to) keep a safety spool on me as well.....even if it's only my baby one.

When you say they get a wrap of duct tape around them, do you mean on the line portion of the reel? That seems like a good solution, honestly. Does it not make it hard to use?

 

[LiteHedded]

First of all, you are NEVER to speak of that again (that was a threat). Secondly, I have no idea what you're talking about. Thirdly, I have a video to prove that it needed to be done, and a good reason there was a problem. Fourthly, it was in training and all of a sudden there was cave line everywhere, and Edd was grinning a bit. AND it happened not long after all of our drills were over. So, I won't publicly blame him (for fear of you publicizing things).....but I'll say I believe one of my instructors had a hand in that error occurring.

AJ, that makes perfect sense to me. I was taught safety reel, and that's what I dive. I like it due to it having a handle, making it less likely that I drop it. However, I do like to (tend to) keep a safety spool on me as well.....even if it's only my baby one.

When you say they get a wrap of duct tape around them, do you mean on the line portion of the reel? That seems like a good solution, honestly. Does it not make it hard to use?

you pull the duct tape off when you need to lay the line.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Me either...

 

[boulderjohn]

Me either...

Oh, he knows what I'm talking about. He's just joking, and it's all in fun.

Let's just say that if he was going to call Edd out on a reel incident, it would be possible for Edd to call him out, too. No big deal, though.

 

[markmantei]

This will be embarrassing...

When I was still at the apprentice level, I got a brand new length of surgical tubing for my cookies and arrows and tied one end to a clip and put a knot in the other end. I then did a dive in which I had no need to use any of them. I was the last one in and the first one out. On the way out, I picked up all the cookies and arrows that had dropped off one by one while I was on the way in. It had not occurred to me what water pressure would do to the thickness of the hollow surgical tubing.

I use bungee now.

Not embarrassing at all, it was recommended to me, and it seemed to work well, it also seemed to be very common to use surgical tubing on the light head. Not saying either method will kill you, either way it doesn't hurt to keep some spares in your pocket, wet notes, etc. as they could get knocked off the lighthead with either way of rigging. I tried both methods and the surgical tubing seemed more secure to me. I did have knots at both ends of the lighthead, don't know if that helped or not. I would add that you shouldn't stretch the tubing very much when installing it, as that will decrease the cross section holding the cookies in place.