Shoutout to the old timer in Morgan City who made me redo my bailout drill twice
Had a chat with a diver named Ray at a dock in Morgan City after a shallow job, and he asked how long my last bailout run took. I said about 45 seconds and he just nodded and said his rule is 30 or you practice it again in the parking lot, which sounded like hazing until he explained he lost a buddy in 2009 who was 12 seconds too slow. I ran it three more times on land that afternoon and shaved it down to 28. Curious what number everyone else trains to, does your shop have a hard cutoff or is it more of a feel thing?
I ran a job out of Fourchon for six years and our cutoff was 30 seconds, no slack. We had a guy named Pete who pushed it to 34 on a dock test and the supervisor made him do it five more times till he hit under 30 every single run. That sounds harsh but the math backs it up. If your buddy is 100 feet down and you're breathing hard, 45 seconds can turn into a minute real fast. Water adds panic that land practice doesn't. Do your runs with your eyes closed sometimes and in full gear, because that is what it will feel like when it counts.