Sump breath holding

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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby NSS8921 » Feb 2, 2012 3:47 pm

So how do folks do Lamons Cave (AL)? No through trips, or have the beavers been run off and the spring entrance unsumped?

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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby jeffkruse » Feb 7, 2012 12:29 pm

My wife wrote a trip report here http://thekrusechronicles.blogspot.com/

The sump was clear with a smooth roof and there was a spare air available but I stayed with two others who did not want to do it. We explored further downstream.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby CaveMD » Feb 11, 2012 2:55 pm

I would never...an al9/13 with a reg on a 3-6" hose takes up very little room.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby harrym » Mar 3, 2012 9:07 am

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'?


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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby jeffkruse » Mar 5, 2012 12:10 pm

harrym wrote:
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'?


YGBSM.

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People say that about caving in general.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby Chads93GT » Mar 5, 2012 12:48 pm

no, id say that people say that about crossing a no vis sump on a breath hold 5 to 15 feet. But you already said you arent doing it, so you arent the darwin candidate.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby GroundquestMSA » Mar 5, 2012 5:24 pm

No, I'd agree with Jeff. I've often been scolded by people for risking my life in caves.
I agree that diving a sump with a breath hold is an iffy idea, but I'm not real comfortable in the water anyway, so I may be a bit of a sissy.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby Chads93GT » Mar 5, 2012 7:12 pm

No harm in being afraid of water filled passages.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby harrym » Mar 7, 2012 5:00 pm

Chads93GT wrote:No harm in being afraid of water filled passages.


I'm a cave diver (full cave certification) and even I think that free-diving a sump is madness.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby JR-Orion » Mar 8, 2012 2:26 pm

baa43003 wrote:Looking back through old caving accident reports I see 6 attempts to do the same thing since 2001. All ended in fatalities.


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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby Squirrel Girl » Mar 8, 2012 6:51 pm

baa43003 wrote:Looking back through old caving accident reports I see 6 attempts to do the same thing since 2001. All ended in fatalities.

Yes, but how many cave diving accidents haven't ended in fatalities? I can think of 3. Ever.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby JR-Orion » Mar 9, 2012 10:59 am

Looking back on it, I wonder if those six attempts were dry cavers or cave divers?

Fully trained and equiped, would I dive through a sump? Sure.

But me, sitting there in just coveralls and kneepads, trying to hold my breath through a sump? I'll pass on that.
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby paul » Mar 10, 2012 12:58 pm

It may be interesting to look at the "Description" section on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swildon's_Hole. The "free divable" sumps are usually equipped with lines strong enough to pull on and Sump One played an important part in the History of UK Cave Diving.

Sump One proved to be very short: about 3 feet long, and is regularly free-dived most weekends.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby Stridergdm » Mar 12, 2012 6:44 pm

Squirrel Girl wrote:
baa43003 wrote:Looking back through old caving accident reports I see 6 attempts to do the same thing since 2001. All ended in fatalities.

Yes, but how many cave diving accidents haven't ended in fatalities? I can think of 3. Ever.


I would also point out that the ACA is a bit bias in terms of its numbers, you don't read about all the successful sump dives.

That said, I rarely read this forum but the title caught my eye.

Unfortunately the only body recovery I've been involved in involved a free diver with a small pony bottle who got stuck in a hole after poking his head into check how much progress they had made moving some rocks from the entrance. He died within sight of his friends and his his waist and legs free.

So, I'm always a bit touchy when I read about people taking risks above and beyond the necessary or normal for the activity.
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Re: Sump breath holding

Postby Squirrel Girl » Mar 12, 2012 8:42 pm

Stridergdm wrote:
Squirrel Girl wrote:
baa43003 wrote:Looking back through old caving accident reports I see 6 attempts to do the same thing since 2001. All ended in fatalities.

Yes, but how many cave diving accidents haven't ended in fatalities? I can think of 3. Ever.


I would also point out that the ACA is a bit bias in terms of its numbers, you don't read about all the successful sump dives.

That said, I rarely read this forum but the title caught my eye.

Unfortunately the only body recovery I've been involved in involved a free diver with a small pony bottle who got stuck in a hole after poking his head into check how much progress they had made moving some rocks from the entrance. He died within sight of his friends and his his waist and legs free.

So, I'm always a bit touchy when I read about people taking risks above and beyond the necessary or normal for the activity.


Yick. That's a bummer of a story. My condolences.
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