Free Immersion And Lanyards

[samdive]

Where do you guys where your lanyard for free immersion dives?

Wrist? ankle? or weightbelt?

I've been wearing mine on my wrist but it gets in the way!

S

 

[smellsfishy]

Sam,

If you watch Martin Stepanek's FI world record dive you'll notice he wears it on his ankle. It seems to stay out of his way once he's moving.

smellsfishy

 

[Alun]

ankle is definitely the way to go - with a short length - no more than 50cm - and a quick release too of course. you have to be very careful near the bottom plate though. having one on the wrist would get in the way.

wearing a lanyard on your belt makes it virtually useless when using a counterweight (or variant system). it only keeps you from losing the rope, which is pretty unlikely in most circumstances. if you have the lanyard attached to your belt then any retrieval system would probably pull you up by the waist! this would make the counterweight much slower and more unstable, and it could potentially injure you badly (eg. back). the lanyard could also simply tear off your belt (usually rubber) leaving you to sink into the abyss...

if you have it on your ankle, then it has a very solid attachment (assuming you have a good strap) and you would be pulled up upside down in a reasonably streamlined position.

 

[samdive]

OK next question.... where (if anywhere) do you wear a lanyard for CW no fins???

 

[land shark]

i believe Martin wears an ankle lanyard

least wise thats what is pictured on his bag

jim

 

[Alun]

i would probably put it on my ankle. i've not actually tried this though. i would make it a reasonable length - maybe 1m. you would probably have to practice to keep close to the rope and be careful near the bottom. when swimming it should be fine. wearing it on your belt is not a good idea in my view (see above).

 

[Longfins]

I believe AIDA rule on lanyard states that the lanyard belt has to be a different belt from the weight belt, so even when you drop the weight you're still attached to the line.

You can try a chest harness, ex.

http://www.petzl.com/petzl/Produit?Produit=427&Conseil=&Activite=&Famille=&SousFamille=&News=

and see if it works.

Peter S.

 

[Alun]

with the AIDA rule you're still left with the problem of increased risk of injury during recovery, and a reduced ascent speed. a chest harness could be ok if it was connected from the upper chest by a short length (50cm). it wouldnt get in the way of your legs and may not interfere with the arms too much either, with some practice.

 

[pim]

Sam,

The rules tell that only a wrist or waist lanyard is allowed (point 2.2.2C); so in competition no ankle lanyard. :hmm Pity, I like the ankle version above all others in free immersion.....

Greetz Pim

 

[samdive]

tried it on Saturday (no fins constant) with the lanyard on the waist and didn't notice it at all. Since we use a separate wrist strap for recovery and not the lanyard, it doesn't matter if we wear it on the waist from that point of view.

I used to always wear it on my waist for CW but that involved wearing two belts in competitions (one with weights, one with lanyard) which got annoying...

thanks for the advice