Famous bit of dive kit

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
wl


Not sure if this has been put out on other diving media.  Anyone guess whose it is, what it is and where it was first used?
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Looks like an early generation emergency search reel, of the kind which started to appear in the wake of the tragic loss of Ian Plant four decades ago. We were all encouraged to add a search reel to our gear by Geoff Yeadon, who produced a CDG publication on line laying and following shortly afterwards.

Where was it found? (This might narrow things down, by checking dates of dive logs in the CDG Newsletter.)
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
It was found on a table in a pub in Kirkby Lonsdale.  It's a bit of a quizz Pitlamp - I, fortunately, know the answer.  :sneaky: ;) ;)
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Ah - sorry; I'll not spoil your quiz then.  ;)

At least I'm confident as to the "what" part of your question. (I've still got one like that somewhere, although the design has now been superseded.)
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Nearly forgot about this one.  This is Geoff Yeadon's search reel.  Made by himself out of plumbing bits.  It was the first he ever made and probably the first in the country and maybe beyond.  It was first deployed in the discovery of King Pot Inlet.  Anyway he brought it down the pub the other week and I thought 'what an interesting thing', I'll share.

;)
 

Blueberry

Member
s_allshorn said:
Is he going to start auctioning locks of hair and toe clipping so we can have our very own bit of cave diver?

Is that so he can live forever? are you thinking of cloning him?
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
They're used in line loss situation, for searching systematically for the line, rather than just swimming around randomly.
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
As Pitlamp says above, it is an emergency search reel for cave diving.  Geoff made it following the death of Ian Plant in a sump.  If you lose the main line you can use it to relocate or use it to check out leads such as the King Pot inlet.

Geoff doesn't need cloning as having reached seventy he has now started to get younger due to the amount of caving/digging he is doing.  Takes three trips a week in his stride.  I suspect that when he gets back into his forties he'll take up cave diving again.
:eek:
 

sinker

New member
Badlad said:
As Pitlamp says above, it is an emergency search reel for cave diving.  Geoff made it following the death of Ian Plant in a sump.  If you lose the main line you can use it to relocate or use it to check out leads such as the King Pot inlet.

I'm not a cave diver so forgive my ignorance; I'm just interested! How does the "lose/relocate" system work? Is the rescue line attached to the dive line and then you "reel yourself back in" if you get lost?

 

SamT

Moderator
I'm not a diver, but I think it goes along the lines of ..

you've lost the main line and zero viz so thus are a bit screwed.  so you belay your emergency line to a suitable belay, and quest off in the direction you think the main line will be in.  If you find it great, you can attached your emergency line to it, return to the temp belay to un attach it, and follow it back to the main line.  If you don't find it, you can return to the temporary belay, and quest off in a different direction, presumably using some sort of system to work round the compass.  All the while remaining cool as a cucumber despite your diminishing air supply.  :yucky: :cry:
 

Benfool

Member
Yep, pretty much what Sam said.

You've lost the line in zero visibility. You attach the line reel to a handy rock (some emergency line reels have a lead weight on it so you dont need to do this) and use this to find the line. This can be done using several methods - one of which is to head out in spokes like Sam mentioned. Another is to feed out a length of line and go around in a circle looking for the line until you think you've gone all the way around. Then feed out another length and go around again. Repeat until you've either found the line or run out of gas.

Its really hard and is a last resort. Most import thing is to not loose the line in the first place.
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Benfool said:
You should definitely not be using your search real for looking at leads - its for emergency use only!

B

I'll let you give Geoff a telling off then  ;)
 

Benfool

Member
I wasn't trying to be difficult, honest!

Lots of aspiring cave divers read this forum, I just wanted to make sure that these inexperienced divers didn't get the wrong impression and thought that using their search reel for exploration was good practice.

The Grand Master can definitely assess his own level of risk!
 

sinker

New member
Benfool said:
Yep, pretty much what Sam said.

You've lost the line in zero visibility. You attach the line reel to a handy rock (some emergency line reels have a lead weight on it so you dont need to do this) and use this to find the line. This can be done using several methods - one of which is to head out in spokes like Sam mentioned. Another is to feed out a length of line and go around in a circle looking for the line until you think you've gone all the way around. Then feed out another length and go around again. Repeat until you've either found the line or run out of gas.

Its really hard and is a last resort. Most import thing is to not loose the line in the first place.

Would dive lines usually be to the side of passages or chambers? (I'm thinking mines here rather than narrow cave systems)? Or could they run though large flooded chambers?
If the line runs through the middle of a chamber, when you re-find the line, how do you know in which direction to follow it? I've seen tags/arrows tied on the line....?



 
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