For those that do open water assents on SCUBA, how do you do it?

I am defining open water assent as not returning to the jug, anchor, etc., just coming up in open water with no visual clues to gauge how fast you’re coming up. Of particular interest to me is people that are accustomed to low visibility conditions where you cannot see the bottom nor the surface during assent.

The way I do it is holding onto the inflate/deflate button in one hand, and while monitoring the assent indicator on the computer, I stay slightly negative and swim my way up bleeding off buoyancy as required. I only carry 2 lbs of ditchable weight, so unless I slide out of the BC, if something happens to me mid-column, I’ll fall to the bottom.

Can I add to this,
I shoot a lift bag from a finger spool.
This gives me a up/down reference plus a really good ascent rate monitor as you can only real the spools up at about 3 feet per minute.!

If this is not what you were looking for I will delete the post I dont want to get off topic.

Great post.


Dago.

I dump my air and begin kicking for the surface while keeping an eye on the computer and depth gauge. I like to return to the surface under my own power and not the BC. It only takes a couple of feet and too much air before one could be on a ride to the surface. Once at 15 or other obligated stops I'll add a little air to become neutral, then dump and make my way up.

Thanks Dago, not off topic at all.

If somebody can tell me how, I'll add a lift bag option to the poll ...

I try to kick as little as possible, I try to relax and concentrate on breathing. The less you have to work, the better your deco.

I try to kick as little as possible, I try to relax and concentrate on breathing. The less you have to work, the better your deco.

Why do you think that? From what I've read, a little circulation improves deco, and makes it less likely for bubbles to gather. The whole point of deco is to let your lungs filter out the microbubbles. You don't want to strain yourself (strained joints cause pockets where bubbles can gather), but a little arm and leg waving is not bad.

Why do you think that? From what I've read, a little circulation improves deco, and makes it less likely for bubbles to gather. The whole point of deco is to let your lungs filter out the microbubbles. You don't want to strain yourself (strained joints cause pockets where bubbles can gather), but a little arm and leg waving is not bad.

Fred,
I generally try to stay neutral and just kick two or three times to move upwards then relax. I breath deep and slow breaths. On deeper stuff on helium mix, I stop at half of my deepest depth for 2 mins then slowly up to my 20' safety stop.

Even without a bouy on a string, you can stay at 20 ft and drift. A lot of times when I am hanging on a bouy or the anchor line at the desired depths, I am kind of just zoning out, and relaxing, and I think about-"shouldnt I breathe more to cleanse out the nitrogen?" Maybe it would make the deco go faster, but I dont think the computer can know that-Duh! So I breathe slowly but fully, I dont know if its better. Never had a problem so maybe it is good. And coming up without a reference, I look at the real small 1/16th inch bubbles. At least from halfway up to the first stop, I try to not go faster than those real tiny bubbles-let them beat you up. Go as slow as possible to the first stop and it will help the deco times. If you have an anchor line, it really is easy to go up very slow.

I hit the water with no air in the BC and go straight down, when on the bottom I add a bit to become nuetral, then when it is time to go up I will dump air as I go up, swimming my way up. I add a bit of air to get neutral for the safety stop, But I try to stay on the negative side of neutral so that I have to kick slightly to maintain 15'. Then again Iwill dump air as I swim to the surface.

No faster (slower) than your bubbles. Constantly adjusting your buoyancy and watching your depth gauge.

As I am coming up I stay a little negative, enough that I am kicking softly, watching my computer, letting air out of my bc, and watching my computer the entire way up, until I hit a deco stop. Then I get neutral, comfortable, and breath deep and slow.

What works best for one person doesn't always work for others. I don't think this is a one size fits all technique. You should try different techniques while you are coming up an anchor line or bouy line until you find one that works for you, and get comfortable doing it.

I do exactly like goggators27/Grant, reading his response is EXACTLY what I would write

I let the air out of my bigest grouper at about half way to the top. Then let the air out of the next one about half way again. Once at my safty stop i will adjust again starting with bigest fish first.:)

What is scuba diving :D

I like the direction this thread has gone. I don't have a lift bag nor a reel, but I think I will in the near future.

I've just started hanging out with some more experienced divers and got a new computer, so I've changed my ascent considerably in the last year. I used come up fairly quickly on the jug line.

Now, I keep my computer and inflator hose in my left hand, looking at the depth and ascent rate indicator. I sling my gun over my shoulder and keep my BC dump valve in my right hand.

I try to be about nuetral when I leave the bottom. As I ascend, I know I will have to dump some air. On a perfect ascent, I never add air to the BC, just dump little amounts as I rise.

I try not to kick anymore than needed and just breathe slow and deep. When in doubt, I slow down. I've cut my ascent rate by at least half this year and think it's a good thing.

I generally start out ever so slightly negative so I just barely have to power myself upwards. This way if I stop kicking I will stay neutral or maybe fall a few feet. The only time this becomes a factor is when I have to put my computer and low pressure inflator down to pull out my safety sausage and thumb spool. I usually get that ready to inflate around 30ft and make sure its on the surface by the time I hit my safety stop. Then I just ascend with the thumb spool. This makes it easy to gauge ascent rate and also provides a marker for my location so the boat knows where I will be coming up and can fend off the cones.

Welcome to SFP Hawk....you guys do have a set of different procedures over there with the currents and cones.

When I make my ascent. I let my wing carry me up and stay in a horizontal position and never have to kick my way up.
Every 10' or so I can just reach back and dump a little air out the bottom of my wing.
Works perfect for me.
I know a lot of better divers than me who do it diferent, And have good luck with it.

I let the air out of my bigest grouper at about half way to the top. Then let the air out of the next one about half way again. Once at my safty stop i will adjust again starting with bigest fish first.:)

:smnotworthy: