Switching gasses at depth?

[Reg Braithwaite]

If you're relying a 3rd party to get you out of trouble that is blind reliance - you either need them or you dont. I fail to see why ANYONE would want to delegate their own safety of life to somebody else and then take the decision not to carry the required equipment to get themselves out of trouble in the blind hope that the tactic pays off.

I think the word "blind" must mean one thing in South Wales and another in Canada. Help me out. I have a concern about free flows at depth, so I am equipping my new tanks with Y Valves. While this doesn't give me an isolator like a manifolded twinset, it does provide each of my regs with its own independent first stage and--if I'm remarkably quick--with the ability to shut down a free flowing regulator.

I am relying on my backup reg having its own independent first stage and shutdown knob. I either need it or I don't. Is this also "blind reliance?" I guess I'm trying to understand whether when you say "reliance" you always mean "blind reliance," or whether sometimes you rely on things blindly, but other times you rely on things but not blindly.

 

[Blackwood]

I am relying on my backup reg having its own independent first stage and shutdown knob. I either need it or I don't. Is this also "blind reliance?" I guess I'm trying to understand whether when you say "reliance" you always mean "blind reliance," or whether sometimes you rely on things blindly, but other times you rely on things but not blindly.

If I understand the gist of his last post, reliance means on yourself specifically or on predictable equipment, whereas "blind reliance" specifically means on any person other than yourself.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

If I understand the gist of his last post, reliance means on yourself specifically or on predictable equipment, whereas "blind reliance" specifically means on any person other than yourself.

Well, I am reluctant to put words into anybody's mouth, especially those words. I was brought up to believe that "blind reliance" speaks to trusting things without any particular effort to select them on the basis of fitness for purpose or to inspect them for same before using them. There was a tumultuous thread a while back where a certain poster said he would not dive with anybody except his spouse. I really can't think of that couple as having "blind" reliance on each other.

That certainly can apply to persons other than yourself and by extension to equipment. For example, I rely on my LDS to service my regs, but even though I don't service them myself or watch them do the service, I have solicited local endorsements before trusting them with equipment I would then non-blindly rely on at depth. On the other hand, renting regs while on vacation from a dive shop chosen on the basis of price or convenience rather than word of mouth... Blind reliance for sure, even though thousands of people seem to do this without mishap.

 

[Blackwood]

I don't like putting words in peoples' mouths either, but the nature of communication (particularly over the internet) is that you sometimes have to interpret meaning.

 

[Dtaine]

Still ridiculous relying blindly on someone else for your own safety. No matter who they are humans arent robots and arent 100% guaranteed to react in a known way 100% of the time.

Do you ever get in a car with someone else driving?

 

[Rainer]

Do you ever get in a car with someone else driving?

And I'm sure if he got in a car accident, he'd take care of his own injuries as opposed to going to a hospital and putting his life in the doctors' hands.

This "I alone can save myself" attitude is too funny.

 

[Blackwood]

Like diving, in the 'car' scenario he's also (likely) relying upon equipment (airbags and a seat belt, for example). Perhaps a more apt hypothetical would be: if you develop appendicitis, are you going to perform the surgery yourself?


edit: dammit Rainer, you beat me to it.

 

[Dtaine]

edit: dammit Rainer, you beat me to it.

For some reason I got a good laugh out of that.

 

[rstofer]

Do you ever get in a car with someone else driving?

Very seldom. I would estimate I drive 99 out of 100 times and I do ALL of the highway driving.

Richard

 

[AzAtty]

+5 to the OP for asking the question.
-1 to the OP for buying a Spare Air.

I applaud the OP for actually THINKING about something and REALIZING that switching a breathing mix underwater may have some effect on his diving, even though in the hypothetical given no real issue exists. He's on his way to being a THINKING DIVER (assuming he ditches the Spare Air ) instead of a mindless lemming.