Ice diving

[JointVentureDive]

Hi All.
First I would like to say that I AM NOT ICE CERTIFIED.  But I have plenty of dive experience and lots of reading on the subject.

I just thought I would make a comment or two about some things that I have read on this  thread. 


1.  I Absolutely disagree with any dives greater then 100 -125 feet of line out.    When I read that some had 600 300 275 and 200 feet of line out, I cannot imagine that it is very safe.  You are compounding a problem should you have one while under water. 

How can you possibly manage that much line.   When I go on wreck dives, with lines, its difficult at times.  Murphys old law,   ETC> 

2.  Color codes.   Need to be consistent, NOT THE ELECTRO SPECTRUM.

3.  When I watched this video.     It seems to me that several things were done that could and should not be done. 

I am not being critical here but this is in the book.   

1.  don't breath on your regulators while above the water.  When I watched the divers sitting on the ice ready to go in, it appeared to me that they were there for a while, and most likely were breathing through the regulators.  Its my understanding that you should not do this, as it increases the likelyhood of a freeflow, as the cold rushing air through the 1st stage is more likely to freeze due to the cold air temp. whereas, the water temp would most likely be warmer and safer for your first breaths. 
2.  when one of the divers went in, no helper tended to her tank,which was lifted up behind her, could have caused additional problems.
3.  NO OK SIGNAL ONCE IN THE WATER.. no BUDDY  OK... checks..  I didn't see any, 
4.  I think they had to many divers down in one whole. It looked like at least 4 divers were there.  How do you manage that many lines, and tenders and ready divers to help in case of an emergency?

Tell me if I'm wrong on any of this.  I wasn't there, but just some things I observed. 

Nicki