Old timer in Houston told me to trim my umbilical tie-downs shorter

I used to leave a bunch of extra length on my umbilical tie-downs until a guy I was working with on a pipeline job near Galveston pointed out how much drag it was creating in current. He showed me his setup with everything trimmed to about 6 inches past the connection point. After I shortened mine I noticed way less resistance on the bottom and less snagging on debris. Anyone else had a mentor change their rigging approach like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lee14d agoMost Upvoted

Short lines also mean less chance of snagging on a bolt or valve under pressure.

ericj4514d ago

Man that old diver was so right. I had the same exact thing happen to me when I started diving wrecks. My first setups had like a foot or more of extra line past the clip and I was constantly picking up old fishing line and trash. Switched to about 3-4 inches of tail and it changed everything. No more crap tangled up by the time I hit 80 feet. Plus you don't have that stupid line flopping around in front of your mask when you're trying to look at something. Short and tight is just better all around once you try it.

the_kim15d agoMost Upvoted

I used to think the same as you, thinking longer tie-downs gave you more room to work. But an old diver in the Gulf showed me a rig where everything was trimmed back to about 4 inches past the connection point. He said long lines turn into a web for crap on the bottom, and after I shortened mine I stopped pulling up pieces of rope and plastic bags on every dive. Once you see how much cleaner a short setup feels, it’s hard to go back to leaving all that extra length dangling.