Kenmore Air down Sucia Island 7/23

[///AMG]

Water there is likely in the 50's, which isn't horrible IF you're trained but can easily be a factor.
I've been in dunk training, am a strong swimmer, and even I have had trouble (seat belt not releasing)
One moment of panic, one lung full of water and you're done.
Better trained people than me have met their doom in a relatively benign water landing.

Add concussion, deep fear about flying, water, death, add herd mentality, and cold shock and things go bad REAL fast.

Yeah, you can't panic at all. Not even a little bit. Tall order for a bunch of folks with no training, out for a fun ride, and somewhat intoxicated as well. The Navy pools are a fair bit warmer than it is out there in the sound, probably by at least 15-20 deg. It's warm enough that when we're doing the swim stuff geared up before you move over to the dunker, I normally feel hot. That would be some real cold shock out here in the water. I know my plan flying out in our local W area out here has always been to get as close as possible to the beach if I ever had a controlled ejection scenario. Summertime is a bit better, but not really by that much.

 

[Roger Roger]

Yeah, you can't panic at all. Not even a little bit. Tall order for a bunch of folks with no training, out for a fun ride, and somewhat intoxicated as well. The Navy pools are a fair bit warmer than it is out there in the sound, probably by at least 15-20 deg. It's warm enough that when we're doing the swim stuff geared up before you move over to the dunker, I normally feel hot. That would be some real cold shock out here in the water. I know my plan flying out in our local W area out here has always been to get as close as possible to the beach if I ever had a controlled ejection scenario. Summertime is a bit better, but not really by that much.

I had the opportunity to do a real basic dunker (frame made from PVC pipe) in the city swimming pool, it was definitely a good thing to experience

 

[///AMG]

I had the opportunity to do a real basic dunker (frame made from PVC pipe) in the city swimming pool, it was definitely a good thing to experience

Yeah, it is valuable training. I hope to never need to use it, but it would definitely give someone a fighting chance. Just the basic principles of 1) let the movement/thrashing/rolling stop before doing anything, and 2) anchor a hand to somewhere known and don't let yourself get into a scenario where you are using both hands to release yourself and lose that anchor point. You can actually hold your breath for quite a lot longer than people think, provided you aren't panicking. Have been kicked in the face multiple times by folks in front of me losing their cool, and have had to just patiently wait for them to get out the door for longer than I would have liked. But still haven't drowned.

 

[DropTank]

Yeah, it is valuable training. I hope to never need to use it, but it would definitely give someone a fighting chance. Just the basic principles of 1) let the movement/thrashing/rolling stop before doing anything, and 2) anchor a hand to somewhere known and don't let yourself get into a scenario where you are using both hands to release yourself and lose that anchor point. You can actually hold your breath for quite a lot longer than people think, provided you aren't panicking. Have been kicked in the face multiple times by folks in front of me losing their cool, and have had to just patiently wait for them to get out the door for longer than I would have liked. But still haven't drowned.

I got the dunk, and pop a raft then climb in.
You'd be surprised how much trouble some of the meat heads have climbing into the raft.

I enjoy water to 50f, way too cold for most.

Been in MUCH colder. The 5 minute rule is no joke.

 

[///AMG]

I got the dunk, and pop a raft then climb in.
You'd be surprised how much trouble some of the meat heads have climbing into the raft.

I enjoy water to 50f, way too cold for most.

Been in MUCH colder. The 5 minute rule is no joke.

For the ejection seat version of said training, you leave the dunker, and immediately proceed (after your last dunker ride) to manual inflation of the collar LPU. So the whole prone floating thing, catch your breath, unzip the thing and find the stupid breather hoses which are way farther up than they seem. Then dunk under, blow, repeat a bunch of times. We do practice getting into the personal raft that comes from the seat pan at some point towards the end, which is as you describe, a little awkward. Mainly because you're in all your gear and boots, and your hands aren't very dexterous in gloves, plus the helmet and all the crap situated at the top of your torso makes it awkward.

I wouldn't say that 50f water is my comfort zone, but having grown up here, I'm used to swimming in it in the ocean and in the mountain lakes enough that it isn't a huge shock. At least not as much of a shock as it would be for someone used to say the gulf coast, or the Atlantic in the summer.