Ditch and don scuba continued.
By Rusty Miller
Well, Christmas is but a memory by the time you read this article, we will be rolling towards the new year 2024. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas, I know we did in the Miller family.
Now as promised I will continue with the ditch and don scuba skill. When I left off last week I had described how to remove the gear at the bottom of the pool and safely ascend to the surface then go back to the bottom and put the gear back on. Remember the key component of the gear was the weight belt and how important it was to be removed last and then put on first. You can see how that skill can no longer be taught the same with the integrated weight system in the BCD.
But wait,there’s more: Just for fun I used to have my students giant stride in the pool at the deep end then descend to the bottom and remove all their gear including the mask and fins, then swim to the surface and get out of the pool. Once they where out I would have them dive to the bottom and they would have to put their gear back on and swim to the shallow end of the pool.
Several of you older divers (55 and older) remember that type of skill when you first got your certification. That really was a fun part of the class. Now the question might be asked is why would you need to learn that type of skill. The answer is pretty simple. If you have ever been diving off Panama City Beach at several of the bridge spans that haven’t deteriorated to collapse you will know that people still fish those and they break off their lines when they get them snagged on the cross members of the span. Sometimes when you swim through the spans you might get caught on the lines to the point you can’t move forward or backward. What do you do if you can’t cut the lines that are stuck on your first stage without cutting a vital hose?
If you were taught the ditch and don then you would simply remove your BCD with the regulator in your mouth and carefully cut away the fishing line so you can put your gear back on and keep diving rather than panicking about the situation.
You could still do that with the integrated weight system but it can be a little more dangerous because you might be to buoyant and have to hold on to the span to cut out of it. Hopefully your dive buddy is very close by and can cut the lines that have you hung up so you don’t have to take off your equipment.
Now instead of removing the gear at the bottom we teach to inflate your BCD at the surface and remove it there and put it back on. There are pros and cons to having integrated versus non integrated BCDs. I will tell you that when time in the pool permits I have the students play a little game in the shallow end that encompasses all the skills they have learned in the pool class. I match them up by size of their gear, then I have each buddy team with one fully geared up the other one with no gear. No BCD, tank, regulator, fins, and mask. The one with all their gear shares the octopus with their buddy and they swim under water to the other side of the pool and while under water they switch out the gear then swim back to the other side. They really enjoy that one.
Well, until next year – keep making bubbles and have a safe and happy new year
-Russell Miller #59999
