jeffkruse wrote:How many feet is it normally thought of as ok for crossing a no vis sump on a breath hold? 5', 10', 15'?
I am a diver and free diver. In nice warm clear water I’ve held my breath for 2 minutes at 30' before, but breath hold sump diving is totally different. Even traversing 5 feet with all your gear on seems to take forever. Am I just psyching myself out? There is a trip with a 15' sump coming up. I am trying to decide if I want to do it.
I wouldn't do it without an established line to follow and you knew for a fact it was a short swim under 10'.
In college back in the late 80's I did a short sump. It was short enough that one of the guys with me would keep hold of my ankle on the entrance side to the sump, I would go under water, stretch out as far as I could and feel one of my hands come up out of the water into air. The passage was maybe 3' floor to ceiling. So once we figured out there was an air pocket I pushed my way through, not knowing what was on the other side as far as quality of air or how much room was available for my head to come above the water. It was actually a large room and all was well. But, I could have come out into bad air, or there not be enough room for my head to rise high enough to breath in a small passage not wide enough for me to turn around and go back. So, it could have turned out bad and I would not be here writing this post, I would be another forgotten statistic from the 80's.
That was then, this is today and now I have a wife, kids and others that depend on me. No way I would do that as I now have appreciation for life and responsibility.