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Deep Wreck Diving Made Safer with Lazy Shot System
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Apr 22, 2025
Learn how the Lazy Shot System is making deep wreck diving safer for technical divers in strong currents. Stay safe underwater with this innovative safety system! This video shows what a Lazy Shot is, how it is used and discusses some of the issues that can be encountered. It also features a real situation where a technical diver has left their tag and the team makes the decision to use the emergency release procedure. *Highlights* 00:00 Introduction to a safer system for decompression diving 03:02 Diagram of a lazy shot setup 04:12 Diver doesn't return to the lazy shot? 07:58 DSMB on a lazy shot 09:26 How does the trapeze connect to the lazy shot? 12:20 What happens if someone gets left behind? 14:01 What are the lazy shot laws? 17:16 Pet hates on the boat! 20:09 How do you use a pill/pellet *Kit I Use* Note, some of these are affiliate links so help support making my videos: - Gloves are Ansell Alphatec 87-063 - https://amzn.to/4jDHhX4 - Main torch is an Orcatorch D630 - https://amzn.to/4jlT4tA - Backup torch is an Orcatorch D710 - https://amzn.to/4jhddRk
View Video Transcript
0:00
hi this is Don Robinson and welcome to
0:02
my deep wreck diver Channel today's
0:05
video is all about the challenges posed
0:08
by long periods of decompression in
0:10
tidal waters you'll have heard me in my
0:12
other videos talk about the lazy shot
0:14
system well I hope that this will
0:17
explain exactly what it is for those of
0:19
you who've asked me questions on my uh
0:21
YouTube post I think I've covered a lot
0:24
of it during the uh during the contents
0:26
of the video but what I've done is added
0:28
a special section at the end which has
0:30
got um specific answers to your
0:33
questions so if you hang on in there
0:34
you'll find them anyway on with the
0:37
video around the United Kingdom and the
0:40
British Isles there are normally two
0:42
windows of slack one sometime after high
0:46
water and one sometime after low water
0:49
and typically those are when you'll dive
0:52
so you'll do the Dive In the period of
0:54
slack when there's no tidal movements
0:57
but then what happens is once you've
0:59
been on under water for a period of time
1:01
the tide will pick up again and the
1:03
current will get strong so when you do
1:06
your decompression well let's say you've
1:08
got two or maybe three hours you're in
1:11
water that is moving basically you have
1:14
two options one option is to hang on to
1:16
some sort of fixed line inside the
1:19
current so you you remain there for the
1:21
period of your decompression holding on
1:23
to the line while the current comes past
1:26
you now clearly that's going to be hard
1:28
work but there are systems for dealing
1:31
with that such as things like John lines
1:33
are very popular on certain dive sites
1:36
but that's not what we do not least
1:38
because it's uncomfortable and if you
1:40
have large numbers of people on the same
1:42
line then clearly they can start to get
1:44
in each other's way the other option is
1:47
to move with the current and there's
1:49
different ways of doing that typically
1:52
uh for sh periods where you don't have
1:54
much decompression people will put up a
1:57
delayed SMB and then people will drift
2:00
under their delayed SB and when they um
2:03
when the decompression is done they can
2:05
come up to the surface now that works
2:07
fine for relatively short periods of
2:10
decompression but once you get into
2:11
multiple hours then the risk is that the
2:15
uh divers become separated from the boat
2:18
if you've got eight or 10 divers all
2:20
under delayed smbs they can become
2:22
scattered by you know potentially even
2:26
miles and therefore a boat cannot track
2:28
them cannot follow them
2:30
so basically what we need is a system
2:33
that keeps all the divers together for
2:36
several hours while they float in the
2:38
current and that's exactly what a lazy
2:41
shot provides so what does a lazy shot
2:44
system look like well to start with
2:46
you're going to have a shotline as you
2:47
would on any other dive then at about
2:50
half the maximum depth of the dive
2:53
you're going to have the lazy shot set
2:55
up this will be attached to the main
2:57
shotline via a quick release you'll see
3:00
in lots of my videos that we use a
3:02
little PRC knot to do this that just
3:04
make sure the lazy shot stays at the
3:06
depth at which you want it then as
3:09
divers go past they each attach a tag
3:12
onto the lazy shot quick release once
3:15
they've completed their dive they return
3:17
to the shot and Ascend up and remove
3:20
their tag one at a time until the last
3:24
diver once they've removed their tag
3:26
they know that all the other divers are
3:28
above them on the easy shot and they can
3:31
release the quick release which will
3:33
then float with the current with all the
3:35
divers above them the boat follows the
3:39
lazy shot once it's been released and
3:41
then picks up the divers as they
3:43
complete their decompression so that's
3:45
explained what a lazy shot system is and
3:47
how it's supposed to work obviously
3:50
there's always a few occasions when
3:51
things don't go quite as planned and
3:53
probably the most common one or or the
3:56
one that is you know most commonly
3:57
talked about is where a diver doesn't
4:00
get back to the uh the lazy shot and
4:02
doesn't remove their tag so that's
4:05
exactly what's happening in this piece
4:06
of video we're looking at now I happened
4:08
to know that myself and my buddy there
4:11
are the last two divers on the wreck
4:12
because there was no more strobes but
4:14
we've got up to the uh the quick release
4:17
and there are three tags when there
4:19
should be only two so we followed the
4:21
protocol we've left the tag and we've
4:24
carried on up the ascending up the
4:26
shotline so the next bit of the protocol
4:28
is what you have to do is wait for a
4:30
certain amount of time and count the
4:32
other divers so you can see here I've
4:34
come up quite a way got to about 12 or
4:36
13 MERS most of the other divers are
4:39
there I'm communicating with one of the
4:41
other divers and we're basically having
4:43
a discussion about what's going on
4:45
unfortunately I can't actually see what
4:47
the other divers you know saying with
4:50
their hands they're a bit above me they
4:52
got dark gloves on so I can't see um
4:56
what then happens is a few minutes later
4:59
on I've come up a bit further and we're
5:01
going to resume the conversation and the
5:02
reason we're resuming the conversation
5:05
is this is the depth at which the break
5:07
in the lazy shot is so um the actual
5:10
quick release is is clearly a long way
5:12
below us now but in the in the line is a
5:16
is is a break where we can if we need
5:19
sever the lazy shot so what we're going
5:21
to do now is this diver is telling me
5:25
that uh one of the divers is back on the
5:28
boat and in fact
5:30
went up without you know he's figured
5:32
out that they went up without removing
5:34
their lazy without removing their tag so
5:36
we know that uh everybody is in the
5:39
right place and what I'm going to do now
5:41
is uh is move in and cut the uh the weak
5:45
Link in the lazy shot you know act
5:47
effectively activate the the break so
5:50
that we can uh we can start drifting
5:52
because the current has started to pick
5:54
up here now there's different ways of
5:56
having breaks in a lazy shot some people
5:58
have a another quick release clip that's
6:00
shallow other people uh do what we're
6:03
going to do here which is uh there's a a
6:05
thin bit of string and you can see there
6:07
that I've just told that diver that I'm
6:09
going to cut it and if they want to hold
6:10
on they need to be above it so uh as you
6:13
can see now I'm about to get out my uh
6:15
my knife and I'm going to cut the um I'm
6:18
going to cut the weak link that means
6:20
that the lazy shot uh is going to now go
6:23
into the current you know the bit that's
6:26
above this brake the bit that's below
6:27
the brake is going to remain attached to
6:30
uh to the the main shotline which is
6:33
normally recovered by the boat but we're
6:35
okay all the divers are together we're
6:37
all drifting on the uh with the lazy
6:39
shot and we can carry on and do our
6:41
decompression now so this um procedure
6:45
if not all divers get back to the lazy
6:47
shot is really important normally it is
6:50
done on time I.E if everybody is not
6:53
back on the lazy shot within 30 minutes
6:55
or 45 minutes or whatever then the lazy
6:58
shot um gets released at the shallow
7:00
break so that is that's the protocol and
7:05
um you know pretty much everybody using
7:07
a lazy shot system will do that it's
7:09
also important obviously that everybody
7:11
understands the importance of getting
7:13
back to the shot and the lazy shot and
7:15
also the fact that there is a protocol
7:18
and if they're not back after X amount
7:19
of time the lazy shot will be released
7:22
and therefore they will have to put up a
7:24
delayed SMB and drift with the current
7:26
and effectively uh take their chances so
7:29
it's it's a really important part of
7:32
this kind of diving to get back to the
7:34
lazy shot the other thing you can do
7:36
with a lazy shot is combine it with
7:38
decompression systems such as a trapeze
7:41
and that's exactly what you can see
7:43
going on here the uh the Rope going down
7:46
uh at the bottom of the trapeze is
7:47
actually the The Lazy shot and the quick
7:50
release is at the bottom of it the other
7:52
thing that sometimes happens is people
7:55
will uh will get on the lazy shot the
7:56
lazy shot will be released and then
7:59
people will put up delayed smbs and that
8:02
works really well because all the
8:03
delayed SBS are together they're all
8:05
next to the boy at the top of the lazy
8:07
shot and therefore it's really easy for
8:09
the boat to follow obviously the people
8:11
on the delayed s smbs have to pay
8:14
attention to where the main lazy
8:16
shotline is and just kind of keep it in
8:18
in view if if they don't do that then
8:20
obviously there is a risk of Separation
8:22
but it is a a technique that works
8:23
really well particularly if you don't
8:25
have a trapeze or if the trapeze isn't
8:27
big enough to get everyone on it so at
8:30
the beginning of the video I said that
8:31
I'd be answering some of the questions
8:33
that you uh you sent in or you put on my
8:36
uh on the comments on on the post about
8:37
this and this is the the first one I got
8:39
from Samantha cool beans and she wants
8:42
to know what happens is if you've
8:44
disconnected and the lazy shot is
8:46
drifting and then somehow you um you
8:49
sense that you're losing it or you've
8:51
lost it what do you do well as she
8:53
suggests I mean the first thing you
8:55
should do is try and if you can see
8:57
where it is you want to try and Chase it
8:58
because you want to stay with the lazy
8:59
shot on the other divers but if you're
9:01
not able to do it and you do lose the
9:03
lazy shot then the only thing really you
9:05
can put do is put up your delayed SMB
9:07
and hope that you're close enough to the
9:09
lazy shot that the boat can keep an eye
9:11
on both of you so the next question is
9:13
from raving monster who's asking how the
9:16
trapeze is connected to the lazy shot
9:18
well I think I've just shown you that in
9:20
uh earlier on so basically the The Lazy
9:23
shot has a line that goes up to the
9:26
trapeze and normally the line has a clip
9:28
at both ends so the quick release at the
9:31
bottom of the lazy shot that goes onto
9:32
the PRC and a clip at the top that goes
9:35
to the trapeze effectively the trapeze
9:37
forms part of the lazy shots so that's
9:40
fairly straightforward second question
9:42
there is about how you um you know
9:45
whether there's much drag when you take
9:46
the trape in and the short answer to
9:48
this question is no and there's two
9:50
reasons for that the first is that
9:52
there's almost certainly no current when
9:54
you go in because the Skipper's putting
9:56
you in on slack and the second thing is
9:59
whatever current there is the skipper is
10:01
going to drop you Upstream of it so the
10:04
current will take you onto the uh the
10:06
main shotline once you're on the main
10:08
Shot line you then clip on the lazy shot
10:11
and as you can see there's a weight and
10:13
the weight will drop the lazy shot down
10:16
the main Shot line when you get down to
10:19
the B when you get down to where it is
10:20
where the weight is as you can see here
10:22
what you do is you take off the PRC as
10:25
you can see uh put the PRC around the
10:27
main shotline and what it's sometimes
10:29
useful to do is to have another diver
10:31
with you and the other diver can pull
10:33
down the lazy shot a bit and and that
10:36
will just help it get down a bit further
10:37
and you can see um that's kind of what's
10:40
going on here we're working together
10:41
just to get the uh to get it down as far
10:44
as possible get it all installed and all
10:46
set up so I hope that answers your
10:48
question and explains why there isn't
10:50
that much drag and why it's a fairly
10:53
easy and straightforward thing to do so
10:55
the next question is uh from Papa Bear
10:57
in the woods who asks if I've ever been
10:59
scared or spooked for whatever reason
11:01
and also uh you know asks about sharks
11:05
and stuff well I guess easy one there I
11:08
love Wildlife whatever it is sharks Etc
11:11
I've seen them in Tropics as other
11:13
people have not so much uh in in this
11:16
country uh in terms of being spooked
11:18
then yeah for certain absolutely I mean
11:20
you just need to have a look at those
11:22
Dives where I've I've struggled to get
11:24
back to the shotline so I think my one
11:27
about diving the velia you'll see you'll
11:29
see me getting a bit concerned on that
11:31
one and also in my uh my video about uh
11:34
the uh the lazy shot sorry the strobes
11:36
rather you'll see on there as well you
11:38
know there's a dive I did uh on on a big
11:41
old wreck off off the lizard where I was
11:44
really really concerned I wasn't going
11:45
to it back to the shotline so I guess
11:47
those are the things uh those are the
11:49
situations where I've been most
11:51
concerned another question here from
11:53
Samantha cool beans awesome awesome
11:56
username by the way Samantha um this is
11:58
asking if any anyone has ever been left
12:00
behind on the main shot by mistake due
12:02
to a missing tag or or um if they forgot
12:06
to clip it on well I'm sure that
12:08
probably has happened but I'm not aware
12:10
of it happening um not least because I
12:13
think with us the the strobes at the
12:15
bottom of the shot tend to end tend to
12:17
provide a second means of of figuring
12:19
out who's on the uh you know who's who's
12:21
where and and the dive so I've not
12:24
really seen that happen but yeah I mean
12:26
I guess it it conceivably could
12:29
next question here is from uh neay
12:32
mother uh asking about how we get the
12:35
the shot onto the wreck well I mean
12:37
there's a couple of different options um
12:39
depends on the boat and the skipper
12:41
really also how they judge the
12:42
conditions uh grapple a really common uh
12:46
the other thing that uh gets used a lot
12:48
is a spud weight uh Spud weight is just
12:50
basically a large heavy lump of
12:53
something um yeah they they tend to be
12:56
used if the skipper doesn't think
12:57
they're going to be able to hook into
12:58
the r
12:59
the other thing to mention is you may
13:01
have seen on some of my Dives that we
13:02
use something called a waser which is a
13:04
bit of uh you know rubbish string or
13:07
whatever that we often use to tie the
13:08
shot into the wreck so uh it's thin
13:11
enough to break when the skipper decides
13:13
that they need to recover their shot but
13:14
it does just hold the uh the shot into
13:16
the wreck against any current or
13:19
anything like that so I've got a whole
13:21
load of questions here from Eric uh
13:24
hopefully some of them I've picked up
13:25
already in the video um what's the
13:27
purpose of a lazy shot I think should
13:29
have got that already what situations
13:31
does it make deep divers easier well
13:33
this is all about decompressing in Tidal
13:36
flows so rather than trying to hang on
13:38
to a shotline use a lazy shots to
13:41
provide a marker for all the divers to
13:44
drift within the uh within the current
13:46
so therefore it makes it easier for them
13:49
is it only for deep Dives well not
13:51
necessarily you could use it on any dive
13:53
I guess where you need to do
13:55
decompression uh in in current is it
13:58
only for UK Dives well that's the same
14:00
thing isn't it I guess any any dive
14:03
where there's where there's current
14:04
running and you you need to decompress
14:06
in it and next one why the term lazy
14:09
shot um I have no idea where the term
14:11
comes from it's probably just one of
14:13
those things that some guys came up with
14:15
on a boat at some point there other
14:17
types of shot no I'm not familiar with
14:19
an industrious shot or an active shot or
14:23
a um you know not much going on shot or
14:27
a really quite busy at the moment shot
14:29
uh none of those I'm familiar with so uh
14:32
how is it deployed who deploys it well I
14:34
think I've kind of I've covered that
14:37
earlier on um showing the fact that it's
14:39
normally taken in by some divers um
14:42
although sometimes some Skippers do like
14:44
to put them on themselves when when the
14:46
shotline goes in uh how is it retrieved
14:49
after the dive is over well it's just
14:51
hanging in the water so once all the
14:52
divers are up then the skipper and the
14:55
boat just comes alongside it with a boat
14:57
hook and it just gets pulled back board
14:59
the
14:59
boat uh are there roles for divers at
15:02
the beginning of the dive and during
15:03
Deco stops um beginning of the dive if
15:07
the divers are putting in the lazy shot
15:08
then normally there'll be somebody
15:10
nominated to do that potentially um some
15:14
divers will also attach the waer so the
15:16
first people down will will tie in the
15:19
shot into the wreck are there any rols
15:21
during Deco stops not really not that I
15:25
not the way we do it um Chris is a
15:27
strict no Kindles policy what are the
15:30
rules regarding the lazy shot well the I
15:33
guess the only real rules are ones I
15:35
kind of covered so everyone's got to get
15:37
back to the lazy shot last diver up
15:40
pulls the uh pulls the the quick release
15:44
um and then the other rule is that
15:46
you've got to stay within visual sight
15:48
of the lazy shot so if you're on a
15:50
delayed s SMB you you've got to retain
15:52
sight of it um that's pretty much it if
15:55
you don't follow the rules um what's
15:57
going to happen well no scuba police but
16:00
you probably need to get prepared for uh
16:02
for a bit of teasing or a bit of banter
16:04
at the end of it next question here's
16:07
another one from Samantha Who very
16:10
kindly says that I'm an experienced
16:11
diver what what attributes do you look
16:14
for another divers that makes you want
16:15
to welcome on on your dive team well
16:18
that that's a really interesting
16:19
question I guess the obvious answer is
16:21
that you want people who are really
16:23
really rich and happy to pay for
16:25
everybody else's uh uh Dives
16:29
I don't think that's what you meant it's
16:30
also not actually true because what you
16:32
want people to be fundamentally is not a
16:36
liability to start with uh what you
16:39
really want them to be though is is
16:42
absolutely competent in the water all
16:44
the potential situations that that
16:46
you're going to face so that's kind of
16:48
your Baseline level I guess on top of
16:50
that it's a bonus if they're the sort of
16:52
person that you want to spend a lot of
16:53
time with on a boat it's also a bonus
16:55
that they bring other skills and talents
16:58
such as photography or videography or
17:02
the ability to research or the ability
17:04
to to spot things when you're underwater
17:07
and kind of highlight them to others so
17:10
um yeah I guess I guess those are the
17:12
kind of things that we look for to for
17:14
people who when they're joining the team
17:17
here's another question from Samantha um
17:19
she's asking um about stuff that happens
17:22
on the boat so what what's important
17:25
with the crew well I mean I'm really
17:27
lucky most of the crew I dive with are
17:30
really topnotch um and I think that's
17:32
probably part of the game is that is
17:34
that you're doing this the crew are part
17:36
of the team the skipper and the uh
17:40
normally there's a person on the boat
17:41
who will help you get stuff off on and
17:43
off help you get in and out of the water
17:45
all those kind of things they are
17:47
fundamentally part of the team and that
17:49
they should be treated as such and they
17:50
should be selected to be part of the
17:52
team so um I guess all these things
17:55
always about communication so it's
17:58
important when you're working with
17:59
somebody if you've not worked with them
18:00
before just to explain what you do and
18:03
don't like so some people like it to
18:05
have uh a hand getting their stages on
18:07
other people don't other people help
18:10
like being helped to get onto their feet
18:12
other people don't um and I think it's
18:15
you as a diver it's incumbent upon you
18:17
to communicate to the crew what it is
18:19
that you want um so I guess I would I
18:23
put it almost back it's it's on you to
18:25
to kind of decide what it is that you
18:26
want the crew to do second part that
18:29
question was about other divers what do
18:30
they do that that that makes pisses me
18:33
off or doesn't uh when uh when they're
18:35
on the boat I guess for me the thing
18:37
that irritates me more than anything
18:39
else is uh is bad kit admin so there's
18:42
there are people who get aboard a boat
18:45
and they will just explode and there'll
18:47
be bits of rebreather and bits of Kit
18:50
all over the boat most boats are pretty
18:52
tight for space and they uh if somebody
18:54
just takes up the whole lot that that
18:56
really irritates me particularly in the
18:58
cabin
18:59
where where space is normally even more
19:01
even more limited you get people who
19:03
just bring on tons of spares and tool
19:05
boxes and you know all sorts of stuff
19:09
and um yeah that that's something that
19:11
really annoys me but hey you know I'm
19:13
sure there's loads of things I do that
19:14
annoy other people as well next question
19:18
is about what to do during long periods
19:20
of Deco well I mean if you haven't
19:22
already done you should have a look at
19:24
my uh my video about reading a Kindle
19:26
underwater um that's that's kind of
19:28
mainly what I do the other thing I
19:30
sometimes do is as you can see here I'm
19:32
busy taking photographs of people on
19:34
Deco stops uh that'll make a bit of time
19:37
go past but uh not a huge amount also if
19:40
you have a look at there on some of my
19:41
videos You'll see we get visited by
19:43
Dolphins every now and again on Deco
19:44
stops which is also quite nice although
19:47
um doesn't necessarily uh keep you
19:50
occupied for the entire time next
19:53
question is about the pill um also
19:55
sometimes called the pellet and this is
19:57
uh something that we use when we get to
19:59
the bottom of the dive and it's
20:01
basically a solid um positively buoyant
20:05
object that we release and uh send up to
20:09
the surface and once it's gone up to
20:11
surface the boat uh crew can see it uh
20:14
they realize that the divers are on the
20:15
wreck and they can then put the the next
20:17
set of divers in doesn't always get used
20:20
um some Skippers like it some people
20:22
don't but I guess the key thing about it
20:25
is it's it's got to be uh solid so it
20:27
doesn't get crushed at depth and it's
20:29
got to be positively buoyant and it's
20:31
got to be easy for the for the boat crew
20:33
to see so normally it's an old sort of
20:36
it's a piece of fishing equipment the
20:38
sort of thing they use to keep Nets
20:39
floating above the sea uh that kind of
20:42
thing uh next question is about uh Deco
20:45
stops and uh request to see all all My
20:48
Deco steps um what I'm going to do on
20:51
this one is I'm going to put together a
20:53
a whole video about um planning and and
20:57
that will cover what deco stops uh we we
21:00
get out of the planning tools and those
21:01
kind of things so um sorry I'm not going
21:03
to answer this question in this video
21:04
but I will do another one at some point
21:06
that does cover this hope that's okay
21:09
final question is from a fisherman and I
21:12
seem to get quite a few fisherman on my
21:13
channel which is something I I didn't
21:15
expect so first of all welcome Jonathan
21:18
uh I'm glad you enjoy my videos um in
21:21
terms of um son our images um I I don't
21:25
know why but I I don't take lots of
21:26
photos of of the the sonar but what I'm
21:29
going to do for this year is I'm going
21:31
to spend much more time doing this kind
21:33
of thing and hopefully I'm going to put
21:34
one on every every video that I do for
21:37
the 2025 season um what I would say
21:40
though is if you haven't already done so
21:43
have a look at my uh my video about
21:45
diving uh the Medina which is the the
21:48
large raw yacht the the liner not least
21:51
because on there is a really good
21:53
multi-beam image of the wreck and it
21:55
will give you a feel for what that's
21:56
like so um
21:59
I really surprised how many questions
22:00
that I've I've actually had on all sorts
22:02
of different topics as well so um thank
22:04
you very much to everybody uh who sent
22:07
in a question I hope if you did put in a
22:09
question you feel that I've answered it
22:11
uh if if you don't then obviously please
22:13
stick something in the comments I I'll
22:15
try and pick up in another video or
22:16
answer it in the comments um meanwhile I
22:20
guess um this has been a really
22:21
interesting video for me to produce it's
22:23
it's actually um been far more effort
22:26
than I thought it was going to be but I
22:28
hope um I hope it's been interesting as
22:30
with all my videos I hope you've enjoyed
22:32
it I hope you've learned a bit from it
22:34
um as always look I'd really appreciate
22:36
if you gave me a like uh it is useful uh
22:39
ditto if you want to leave a comment you
22:41
know good bad whatever it is that's also
22:43
uh really good if you haven't subscribed
22:45
then clearly uh that that would be
22:47
fantastic for those of you who have
22:49
subscribed then then it would be awesome
22:51
if you could turn on uh the notification
22:54
thing so that um you know you get
22:55
alerted whenever I release another video
22:58
any anyway uh that's all for this video
23:02
and uh I will look forward to seeing you
23:04
all next time thank you
#Diving & Underwater Activities