Real-life Equipment Failures

[Shcubasteve]

Had a diver come in with a good story... While lobstering in a rather deep hole/shallow cave, he was able to shear off his primary regulator hose! Check it out.

The guy was really cool about the whole thing because, as an avid solo diver, he uses an AL19 mounted up with a pony tamer- he calmly switched to his backup and headed up...

 

[Shcubasteve]

Guy says- I was out diving today and I had a hard time keeping air in my bc. Could you check it out.

YouTube - bc leak


I think South Florida is in a unique position to encounter more equipment failures and problems then most areas. SOO many times I see folks either using or attempting to service their parent's relic dive gear in an attempt to save a few dollars. A little education goes along way.

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

Had a diver come in with a good story... While lobstering in a rather deep hole/shallow cave, he was able to shear off his primary regulator hose! Check it out.

The guy was really cool about the whole thing because, as an avid solo diver, he uses an AL19 mounted up with a pony tamer- he calmly switched to his backup and headed up...

hmmm??? I wonder if this guy is trying to safe face, I can't fathom someone being able to shear a hose off by hitting something lobstering unless they were on a scooter. Now I could see someone shearing it off by dropping a tank on a dive boat or something.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

hmmm??? I wonder if this guy is trying to safe face, I can't fathom someone being able to shear a hose off by hitting something lobstering unless they were on a scooter. Now I could see someone shearing it off by dropping a tank on a dive boat or something.

That is one of the EXACT scenarios that scares me into wearing a pony bottle. Lobster diving... you see the bugs under the ledge...You are getting toward the end of your dive and you are down to 1000 psi.

First thing you do is dump air from the BC so you can settle quitely on the sand without moving or kicking up sediment and work the bugs as gently as possible, with half your body under the narrowing ledge. Then you begin to try to tickle the lobster out... You screw up and at the last minute the bug bails to the back of the hole. Using your cat-like (nitrox enhanced) reflexes, you make a might lunge for the bug as it shoots back. You accidentally smash the first stage into the roof of the cave shearing a LP hose off at the base.

You catch the bug and wiggle your way out in zero visibility and try to determine why you can’t breath from your reg. You hear a roaring sound, switch to the octopus and get one breath before your tank is totally empty (remember you only started with 1000 (or less psi) and you are laying on the bottom 80 or 100 feet down with a bag of lobsters clipped to the BC, an empty BC and 12 lbs negative and nothing to breath and no way to inflate the BC..

If you are solo, like many lobster divers, the situation is probably only survivable if you immediately dump the bag of bugs, dump your lead and shoot for the surface. Unless, you have a pony bottle.

With the pony bottle, you turn the main tank off, orally inflate the BC and say a prayer as you gently float toward the surface.

 

[fjpatrum]

That is one of the EXACT scenarios that scares me into wearing a pony bottle. Lobster diving... you see the bugs under the ledge...You are getting toward the end of your dive and you are down to 1000 psi.

First thing you do is dump air from the BC so you can settle quitely on the sand without moving or kicking up sediment and work the bugs as gently as possible, with half your body under the narrowing ledge. Then you begin to try to tickle the lobster out... You screw up and at the last minute the bug bails to the back of the hole. Using your cat-like (nitrox enhanced) reflexes, you make a might lunge for the bug as it shoots back. You accidentally smash the first stage into the roof of the cave shearing a LP hose off at the base.

You catch the bug and wiggle your way out in zero visibility and try to determine why you can’t breath from your reg. You hear a roaring sound, switch to the octopus and get one breath before your tank is totally empty (remember you only started with 1000 (or less psi) and you are laying on the bottom 80 or 100 feet down with a bag of lobsters clipped to the BC, an empty BC and 12 lbs negative and nothing to breath and no way to inflate the BC..

If you are solo, like many lobster divers, the situation is probably only survivable if you immediately dump the bag of bugs, dump your lead and shoot for the surface. Unless, you have a pony bottle.

With the pony bottle, you turn the main tank off, orally inflate the BC and say a prayer as you gently float toward the surface.

Just out of curiosity here, do you gain something by turning the main tank off at this point? If it's empty is there any purpose or are you assuming "empty" is relative to depth and you'll have to deal with freeflow again as you ascend? Serious question.

 

[LiteHedded]

That is one of the EXACT scenarios that scares me into wearing a pony bottle. Lobster diving... you see the bugs under the ledge...You are getting toward the end of your dive and you are down to 1000 psi.

First thing you do is dump air from the BC so you can settle quitely on the sand without moving or kicking up sediment and work the bugs as gently as possible, with half your body under the narrowing ledge. Then you begin to try to tickle the lobster out... You screw up and at the last minute the bug bails to the back of the hole. Using your cat-like (nitrox enhanced) reflexes, you make a might lunge for the bug as it shoots back. You accidentally smash the first stage into the roof of the cave shearing a LP hose off at the base.

You catch the bug and wiggle your way out in zero visibility and try to determine why you can’t breath from your reg. You hear a roaring sound, switch to the octopus and get one breath before your tank is totally empty (remember you only started with 1000 (or less psi) and you are laying on the bottom 80 or 100 feet down with a bag of lobsters clipped to the BC, an empty BC and 12 lbs negative and nothing to breath and no way to inflate the BC..

If you are solo, like many lobster divers, the situation is probably only survivable if you immediately dump the bag of bugs, dump your lead and shoot for the surface. Unless, you have a pony bottle.

With the pony bottle, you turn the main tank off, orally inflate the BC and say a prayer as you gently float toward the surface.

or you can NOT shear your hose off

 

[Shcubasteve]

Just out of curiosity here, do you gain something by turning the main tank off at this point? If it's empty is there any purpose or are you assuming "empty" is relative to depth and you'll have to deal with freeflow again as you ascend? Serious question.

Ill guess that he does not want water running through the broken hose down into the cylinder..... especially if its a steel

 

[fjpatrum]

Ill guess that he does not want water running through the broken hose down into the cylinder..... especially if its a steel

Didn't even think about water entry... good point!

 

[Shcubasteve]

Gauge malfunction

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Did that occur from shock? I have mounted some pvc pipe around the perimeter of the guage to help protect it. Even a piece of garden hose might provide some benefit.