Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] How much drop weight?

[DJACKSON99@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/15/2003 7:57:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, buchner@wcta.net writes:

> DJACKSON99@aol.com wrote:
> > I suppose if you were near the bottom, you could use your drop weight 
> > as an anchor , and control or even stop your accent.
> 
> This seems like such a good idea, that everybody ought to have one. I 
> don't know why it hasn't occurred to me before -- all the times I've 
> tried to imagine just what a chaotic mess it would be, pulling the pins 
> on that big weight and hoping the whole thing doesn't rocket to the 
> surface, leap out of the water, and get stuck in a tree.

LOL -- I love that imagery!  

It actually is an idea borrowed from  Simon Lake's Argonaut.  Here is the design on a book cover. The items labeled "B" are the ballast. http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/1999/bigpoluw.htm

Not sure there is much benefit for 1 ATM's, unless your afraid of sinking a small Japanese fishing boat. In a 1 ATM I think you'd would want to be able to cut free of the line. The line could add to fowling problems, and it adds to the complexity.  For a dry ambient working in cold waters I can see lots of benefits.  You can possibly break free, reach the surface safely, and you still have some protection from the environment. 


> Even if you weren't near the bottom. If the drop weight were attached 
> by a winch cable, you could pull the safety pins and just start reeling 
> it out. When it hit bottom, you'd start going up, nice and 
> slow. You 
> could stop as often as  you wanted.

Didn't think of that.  Would be nice to drop it on a sandy bottom and hover 20 feet up beside a reef, sit back and have lunch.

--Doug Jackson
http://jackson.parcabul.com/sub/index.html