Immediate deflation of BCD at water entry

[Freewillow]

I thought I shared with you the following story that I witnessed.

It happened to a lady friend that, despite a fear of water, managed to go through the equivalent of AOW in the CMAS system. She already had 50+ dives under her belt and we were diving from my own sailboat in order to dive on a wreck that was roughly at 75 feet. Calm sea, high visibility in the carribeans.

She was diving with her husband and jumped first from the boat. This is when her the inflator house ( or top dump valve ) of her BCD exploded at the surface, leaving her with no floatation device. She immediately fought for the surface, screaming for help. Her husband jumped and tried to help her. She yelled at him that he was putting her under water but in less that one minute brought her back safely to the boat.

My lesson learned:

- A few days before I had to insist and litterally obliged her NOT to wear any weight, since we were diving with iron tanks and with 3mm wetsuit. She was used to wear a weight belt during her previous dives, but our 12L short Iron tanks are very heavy underwater. If she would have been carying more weight, like a lot of diver do, she would not have been able to surface that easily.

- She used to be afraid to put her face in the water of her own sink before she went for diving. It order to be able to dive with her husband, it took her a lot of courage in order to qualify as she did. But even if the fear of water can be more or less controlled, it will always be present. Panick is always at the door.

- Despite myself repeating her several times to put her regulator in her month, she never did. She was too panicked to do so. To yell for help and to yell at her husband was a better choice for her.

- Since then, I always make sure that when I have guests onboard, I am the first one in the water and the last one to exit the water, even with experienced divers.


Just as a remark, they continued their diving trip with us and enjoyed it a lot. It was just a "free of charge " small incident. But this shows that small things can have bad outcome.

Comments are welcome but do not shoot the messenger. :kiss2:

 

[crosshairs]

Glad she is OK but why did she splash without a reg in her mouth? Thats Scuba 101...

 

[Freewillow]

She had the reg in her month but somehow decided that, to yell for help, was easier without a reg in her mouth

 

[herman]

This also shows why you should not be overweighted and just as importantly you should NEVER jump in with a fully inflated BC. The high impulse pressure spike of doing that is enough to rupture or blow the hose off a BC. The overpressure valves are not capable of such fast spikes. Some air is fine and since you should be only slightly over weighted to compensate for used air, there is no need for more than a little air, more than that and you are overweighted.

 

[Bob DBF]

What was the problem with the BC, maintenance or defect?

To a certain extent, I would have done the same thing. Without raising the alarm, anyone would have thought she slipped under the surface on a normal dive. You can read in A&I where divers slipped under the surface to no good end. I agree the panic was premature, at least it would be in my case, however personal thresholds may differ.

The one thing you did not learn is that this diver is not over her fear of water and can go into full panic easily. This panic can happen again at any time, not just on the surface with people available to help, and not necessarily with such a good outcome.



Bob
-----------------------------------

That's my point, people, by and large, are not taught that diving can be deadly, they are taught how safe it is, and they are not equipped with the skills, taught and trained to the level required to be useful in an emergency.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I had a buddy who used to take his wife's and his own gear apart after each day of diving. This included removing the corrugated hose from their BCs. I guess he thought he could clean all the salt out that way. On two occasions his wife jumped in the water, only to have her hose come off. I had to find her washer and screw the hose back on underwater for her.

 

[Freewillow]

To answer the question on the failing BCD, I must admit that It was some 10 years ago. I do not know all the tech details but the BCD was not older than one year. The failure, if i am not mistaken was at the level of the inflator house. Where exactly and what, I do not know. The after sale people said they had never seen that type of failure bofore, but we all know what this means . The inflator house was replaced under warranty.

I think that one very good point was raised: never inflate your BCD too much when you are making a giant stride.

 

[billt4sf]

This also shows why you should not be overweighted and just as importantly you should NEVER jump in with a fully inflated BC. The high impulse pressure spike of doing that is enough to rupture or blow the hose off a BC. The overpressure valves are not capable of such fast spikes. Some air is fine and since you should be only slightly over weighted to compensate for used air, there is no need for more than a little air, more than that and you are overweighted.

I never knew that. Thanks.

- Bill

 

[crosshairs]

She had the reg in her month but somehow decided that, to yell for help, was easier without a reg in her mouth

your post confused me..

- Despite myself repeating her several times to put her regulator in her month, she never did. She was too panicked to do so. To yell for help and to yell at her husband was a better choice for her.

but that makes perfect sense..cant stay on the surface so remove the reg and panic ...she sounds like a great diver....

 

[Bob DBF]

I had a buddy who used to take his wife's and his own gear apart after each day of diving. This included removing the corrugated hose from their BCs. I guess he thought he could clean all the salt out that way. On two occasions his wife jumped in the water, only to have her hose come off. I had to find her washer and screw the hose back on underwater for her.

Hmmmmm, sounds like the start of a bad Lifetime channel movie.



Bob
----------------------------
I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night.