Close call in rescue class

[Narced Out]

So i had my rescue diver class this weekend, all went great until we started practicing with an unresponsive diver. Since we were in 10ft of water dropping our weights wasn't really needed..

Vis was good but current was pretty strong. As my buddy was removing his gear and the "unresponsive" divers gear he handed me his old fashioned weight belt. What he didn't tell me was it was 30 pounds.

He handed it to me and i sank to the bottom like a rock. No mask on and no reg in the mouth and didn't have a good breath. Trying to sweep my arm looking for my reg i couldn't find it, so by instinct i grabbed my 2nd stage and shoved it in my mouth. Opened my eyes without a mask to find that belt over my stomach. Very close call as i almost sucked in water. I didn't expect to sink that fast. Dropping the weight belt for some reason didn't come into my mind..I didn't want to loose his stuff.

Thankfully to my good training from my instructor i didn't panic and grabbed that 2nd stage fast. I came up instructor made sure i was ok. He said my eyes were as big as dinner plates. I had a little trouble getting to sleep that night knowing how bad this incident could have turned out.

 

[teasels10]

Good training = good responses ... Well done for not panicking.

That could scare the cr*p out of any experienced divers ...

Glad you got back to the surface safe and sound.

 

[Bob DBF]

Great recovery and a very usefull bit of information to put in your bag of tricks.

With all the integrated weights now, few divers handle all their weight at once. In my Rescue class I repeatedly warned about my 28# belt and they still had problems with it although nothing close to your learning experience.


Bob

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Dropping the weight belt for some reason didn't come into my mind..I didn't want to loose his stuff.

There's your lesson to take away from the experience.

Never hesitate to drop lead ... yours or somebody else's.

- it's cheaply replaced
- it's usually recoverable

Can't say the same if hesitating to drop it causes you or the other diver to lose your life ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)