Originally Posted by
chopjock
So unclipping your own harness from behind yourself is difficult? Why not brief pax to unclip each other's harness instead? Then no need to look for a knife...
At the moment you realise you need to get loose you may already have a couple of people on top of you with the fastening line under tension. Getting it released in an environment where you can't communicate and people are panicking sounds improbable.
People drown regularly in a normal sea swell trying to save a panicking swimmer in distress.
In freezing water, upside down in a helicopter it's far more challenging.