The article I posted about the man who recovers bodies from lakes reminded me of this one. It's a long read, but I HIGHLY recommend.

I don't usually have the attention span to read something of this length, but I didn't skip a word.

It caused me to think of reading attempted recovery stories on Everest - and this quote has stuck with me; I think it works for both the sea and great heights....

"Equipment can go to those depths, but your body might not be able to."

Raising the Dead

Ten minutes into his dive, Dave Shaw started to look for the bottom. Utter blackness pressed in on him from all sides, and he directed his high-intensity light downward, hoping for a flash of rock or mud. Shaw, a 50-year-old Aussie, was in an alien world, more than 800 feet below the surface pool that marks the entrance to Bushman's Hole, a remote sinkhole in the Northern Cape province of South Africa and the third-deepest freshwater cave known to man

Very good read.

Razor thin margins in extreme environments.

Good read.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Razor thin margins in extreme environments.

Good read.

Those depths are insane. Quite the article. Nothing I could or would ever do.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGGUY (THE 1ST):

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Razor thin margins in extreme environments.

Good read.

Those depths are insane. Quite the article. Nothing I could or would ever do.

Add to the fact that you are pretty much alone or with one other person, with no communication to those on the surface and only rudimentary contact with a buddy.

I have read that before, and many years ago saw parts of the video (maybe on Faces of Death?).

It's really surprising a guy with his experience would change his equipment before a dive such as this.

Video from the helmet cam is on youtube- "Last dive of David Shaw"- with narration.

quote:

Originally posted by medic451:
Video from the helmet cam is on youtube- "Last dive of David Shaw"- with narration.

Yeah, he seemed to turn around in time (although late), but was entangled with the body / gear. Shitty way to go, but a risk one would expect with that kind of activity.

800+ feet is insane.

Lose line floating around as you try and complete a task can be a huge problem. Add in trying not to silt up the area when you have to remove something from the bottom is a mess waiting to happen. It's all a snowball effect that gets you. Limited vis, slit-up, line gets stuck, try to untangle/cut, more silt it's a scary place to be.

I can't even imagine the amount of gas you would have to stage for that kind of a dive. Very few people even today that can even attempt that kind of a dive.

Thanks for posting this!! I had never heard about it, so I read it and ventured onto the videos. Extremely exciting but oh so sad.

When I finally quit diving, we were trained for mixed gas diving, but that is as far as we went.

My deepest dive was 200' in Cozumel, and I thought the decompression payment for that dive was bad. I can't imagine what they went through to accomplish such deep dives!

Thanks, great story. Sad but very interesting.

A heck of a story. Thanks for posting.