Ice Diving

[ttph]

Something to think about, I guess. My weight is pretty close (ending a dive, I exhaust all air or I can't stay down for a safety stop). I tend to drop slower on deep dives, as I've found quick descents tend to roll on narcosis a little harder (for me, I feel anxious and "impending doom").

During dive #1, I found I had to push myself down off the ice about 5 ft before I would start sinking (I made sure all air was out, and still had floating tendencies). I added 1 lb in each pocket, which seemed to help on dive #2. I noticed that the freeflow always occured between 0-6 ft, which leads me to believe that the pressure increase was just enough to press on the purge valve and open the second stage. At 0-6 ft, I didn't even touch the inflators on the suit or wing (actually, my arm was still up making sure I was getting the last little bit out of the cuff dump).

I appreciate all of your comments thus far, and I think a portion of it will have to be chalked up to "first ice dive" inexperience.

I was only probing to see if there were any quick answers or obvious faults in my procedures.

Thanks,
Matt