Hooked my umbilical cord on a lobster trap line last week

Was working a salvage job 60 feet down off the coast of Maine, and my umbilical got snagged on a bunch of old trap lines that were tangled together. Took me 15 minutes of sawing at them with my dive knife to get free, and my air was getting low by the end. Has anyone else dealt with getting tangled in fishing gear on the bottom and got a good method to avoid it?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_lewis1mo ago

Maybe it's just me but have you considered that the actual problem isn't getting tangled but the way you're carrying your dive knife? I used to keep mine strapped to my calf and it was a pain to reach when I was all twisted up. Switched to mounting it on the front of my harness with a quick release sheath and now I can grab it in like two seconds without having to bend or twist. Might not help with the avoidance part but it sure cuts down on the panic time when you do get snagged.

ryanh561mo ago

Ha, I feel personally attacked by this because I'm a dummy who still straps it to my calf.

kelly_nelson951mo ago

My buddy tried that harness mount once but forgot to secure the quick release and lost his knife on the first dive. Spent 20 minutes searching the kelp while his wife filmed him for Instagram.