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If you are just down there trying to enjoy a dive and conditions are not going to improve rapidly the time to ascend is now.noob2:i am sorry i was not to discriptive. When i ment zero visibility i mean when you put a gauge to your face you still can see any thing then how do you know when it is time to go up to the surface.
And thats where I draw the line......no way. FT, you are more man than I am.FredT:A true Braille dive is one where there is "black water", defined as water that has no light penetration. If you submerge the top of your mask it's DARK. The small layer of water between the faceplate and instrument lens formed by the instrument bump guard with the instrument pressed against the faceplate will absorb all light. Even a large light is useless.This is the world many commercial divers live in. When doing recoveries in some really nasty water back in the dark ages I had a mask with a plywood faceplate. If it gets dark before you get into the water the games your mind plays on you go down, and the last thing I wanted was to have that water touch my eyes from a broken faceplate due to bumping into something (before the days of tempered glass faceplates).
Almost all Braille dives are done to complete a specific task. Gary's will normally involve finding a car wreck or body, in the oil patch it's pipeline installation or repair, rig inspection, or any other construction or repair job. You eventually get to where you can "see" what's around you by feeling the little currents on your skin hair if diving wet and warm. My last black water dive was to recover some seismic source "guns" that had slipped their tether and buried themselves about 10' deep into the firm mud in the bottom of a fresh water test pond. The guns and controllers were worth close to 100K. The dive was cold and wet, but since nobody had EVER been in this pond I chose to do it in t-shirt and shorts so I could "see" a bit of what was around me. Gear was a J-valved single tank, single hose reg with no pressure gauge or octo to minimise possible entanglements. The recovery took about an hour once the gear and tenders and hoisting equipment were set up.
They were refilling that pond from a deep artesian well putting out water at about 40°F. Surface water wasn't bad, but the termocline, and black water started about 2' down. I thought I'd have to sit down to pee for a week!
FT
Lobbster:i have been in zero vis, i was bring up the rear of a OW course to make sure no one got lost. i dont know if anyone has every swam behind 4 people doing there first real dive. i could see the start of there fins but not the straps or legs. it was messed up