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Old 08-23-2006, 08:36 AM   #1
DonJeffVivo
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How do you spot someone in dirty water?

How do you spot someone in dirty water. It seems dumb, to stare down into nothingness, and somewhat defeats the purpose of spotting. Can someone please tell me what would be the safest method to spot in conditions like this.
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Old 08-23-2006, 08:39 AM   #2
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

Short of tying a float line to them what else could you do?
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Old 08-23-2006, 08:54 AM   #3
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

Stay above them and after 40-50 seconds pass go down until the vis clears enough to see the diver. If everything looks OK go back up top and wait some more. After the first bounce make you subsequent checks at more frequent intervals. If you know the guy is lets say a minute and a half diver then be extra cautious once they reach their normal mark. A float line like Roland says is also a great tool for locating the general vicinity of the diver but nothing compares with establishing and maintaining a visual on your buddy.
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Old 08-23-2006, 12:32 PM   #4
NOTANX
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

Use Float Lines
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Old 08-23-2006, 01:29 PM   #5
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

Quote:
Originally Posted by NOTANX
Use Float Lines
Floatline works good when the person is still at the end - if they have had a problem and blacked out they most probably have let go of the gun! Not much help then, especially in a strong wind/current situation - I agree with Apexpredator - keeping in vis is better, even if it requires more work (especially if going deep and big fish are expected)
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Old 08-23-2006, 04:27 PM   #6
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

All the more reason to attach the float line to the person. If a large prey is shot then it will take mere seconds to switch it to the gun.
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Old 08-24-2006, 09:15 AM   #7
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

John how the hell are you supposed to unattach the floatline from your body and re-attach it to your gun while still maintaining a grip on a gun that is attached to a large fish that is towing your ass around. Not practical and sounds almost impossible. Attaching a float line to your body is a serious entanglement risk and also negates one of the best things about using floatlines. If your float line is attached to your gun and a float then you can shoot a fish and come directly up to the surface keeping either light contact or no contact at all with the entire set up. Letting everything go works great for soft skinned/fleshed fish like mackarel or any other fish that tear out easily. If you shoot grouper or other fish that tend to hole up after shot then having the line attached leads you right to the fish and your gun or break away set up if you run out of air while attempting to extract your catch. The only way I could see your suggestion working is to attach the float line to yourself and use a gun with a reel. A little redundant and risky IMO but for keeping a visual on the general vicinity of your diver and also having the option of later attaching the float to your gun and shaft the I guess it would be OK. For me I will stick to attaching my floatline directly to the gun. All in all this has little to do with the original question because no matter what is attached if you get into serious trouble and your buddy is not there to bail you out the only thing the float will do is help folks recover your corpse. Be careful out there and Happy Hunting!!
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Old 08-24-2006, 10:34 AM   #8
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

what he said. Attaching lines to scuba divers in open water is dumb, attaching a line to a freediver is dumber.

a more practical solution is to use hi-visibility yellow paint or tape on the snorkel and also the back of the fins.
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Old 08-24-2006, 03:01 PM   #9
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

I think John is right. Obviously, if you are blue water hunting and shooting large pelagics, you wouldn't want the line attached to you. I won't debate whether attaching directly to your gun or using a breakaway rig is best, but that is not what John is referring to. Attaching a float line to your person is a very common practice and doesn't present a problem for 99% of the fish that you shoot freediving. Most bottom fish are going to hole up, or are not the size that would prevent you from clipping off on your gun if you desired. In fact, Daryl Wong dives with a float line attached to him and showcases this extensively in his first Video. Deep freediving with a line attached to a D-ring on his belt, while pulling a buoy used to support a stringer of fish. The line is easily disengaged if a problem occurs. Also, if something does happen to the diver, he is easily retrieved. Suggesting that the best way to spot your buddy in dark water is to dive down to him 2 or 3 times every dive is absurd. If I'm on the bottom, I would prefer my partner to be breathing up on the surface and relaxing so he could make a strong deep dive to get me if something did happen. I don't want him exhausted on the surface, then realize in a panic that he has to relax and prepare for a difficult dive. On the other hand, if I have a line attached to me in that dark water and I don't come up, he can pull me up...Most of the time I dive with a reel, but when I do use a float line, I much prefer it attached to my person than to the gun, particularly in heavy seas. I like the rope tugging on me and not on my gun. My point is that attaching a floatline to a diver is not "dumb" as was suggested by one of the posts.
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Old 08-24-2006, 03:51 PM   #10
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

One of the better divers I know attaches a floatline to himself via his weightbelt and hunts w/ a reel gun.

Advantages:
-How many people have died over a $35 weight belt....there is no hesitation to dump your weight belt if you feel on the edge. Dump it, surface, and pull it up.

-If the worst happens, you do not endanger yourself rescuing your buddy.

-if something begins spooling his reelgun, he has time to clip the line to the gun and lock off the reel.

Before you call one of the more experienced divers on this board an idiot, you might want to ponder his views a bit. There is way too much "Spearboard Experience" flying around this board and far too little "In-Water Experience". It seems to get worse every day. This is not aimed at JF or Apex, I don't know you guys or your experience levels...This is a general observation of a number of self proclaimed experts with little-no real experience who think a JBL, a pair of Cressi's, 1500 posts, and the 4000 more they've read makes them an authority.
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Old 08-24-2006, 04:01 PM   #11
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

Diving down on a quick bounce will not exhaust most folks. You seldom have to get to the bottom to see your buddy and all it takes is a quick glance to figure out if there is need to proceed. If not go back to the top and breathe normally. We had a team member at this years Nationals add a simple and seemingly innocent peice of gear to his weight belt...a stringer. While he was about to shoot a lowly margate he had proceeded to put about half of his torso under a ledge to get a shot. After hitting his mark he began his retreat for a much needed fresh breath of air. As he started to back up to his alarm he noticed he was precariously wedged under the ledge because the stringer must have found a tiny little peice of rock to hang up on. He struggled and began to try to drop his belt but he was so struck he though he had just bought the farm. His fairy god mother or angel must have been watching him that day because somehow he was free after a few more very anxious convulsions. His team mates were near but none were so close or alert enough to notice his perilous predicament. We almost had a trajedy unfold and all because of a tiny, innocent looking length of 450lb mono and the sharpened peice of stainless at the end which makes it a useful tool to us. What did I get out fo the experience of having the story told to me? I guess it reinforced my personal opinion that the less things you have attached to your body or gear that attaches to your body the less likely you are to find yourself hopelessly entangled because of it. I am not knocking it if it works for anyone else out there. Maybe the rigging or procedures and precautions they take make the difference but you will probably never see me sticking a float line to my person and I wouldn't advise anyone to do it if I didn't feel the practice was safe. Good Luck and Dive Safe
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Old 08-24-2006, 05:33 PM   #12
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

way i spot my buddy in murky water is, about 30 secs after he went down, i go down deep enough to be able to see him, then wait till he starts to head for the surface and head up before he gets there, his usual dives are between 40 secs and a minute.. but we dont spot too often, usually the dives are shallow, 50 feet and under, and not longer than a minute and a half.
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Old 08-25-2006, 03:35 PM   #13
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

There is not one answer for everything. I have shot a fish and been able to change the tuna clip from my belt to the gun, Emil. He ask for the safest method I can think of no other method safer then having a floatline attached to a weight belt.
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Old 08-25-2006, 05:58 PM   #14
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

David and I dive Lake Travis in Austin once a week in the summer. Viz. is about 6-8. What we do is: #1 we don't push it, i.e. not dive more than 50' or more than 90 seconds. #2 sometimes we both make a dive at the same time and stick w/each other. It seems to me odds are pretty remote we will both get SWB at same time while making a 90 second dive not more than 50 feet.
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Old 08-25-2006, 07:58 PM   #15
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Re: How do you spot someone in dirty water?

I am not a free diver, non the less no-one has seemed to touch on the obvious.

Dirty water, thermos, particulate all reduce light, they don't really black it out. I would increase light by simplly rubber banding a light stick to your mask strap in back, or weight belt, snorkel, fin anywhere out of the way. They burn for 12 hours or more, cost less than a buck, and will increase your ability to see a diver tremendously, even during the day.

Used to use them on my son all the time when he was cutting his diving teeth at 12. First couple years we dove together he never left the boat day or night without one banded to his tank valve. I could see the stick shining through at a distance before I could see him. We also use them in caves, night diving, and poor vis.
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