Recreational Pony Bottles, completely unnecessary? Why or why not?

[CT-Rich]

Comfort in the water is always important. When I learned to dive a half billion years ago, we learned a bunch of skills to make use more comfortable in the water, including how to snorkel (free dive), ditch and don, buddy breath, etc.

Free diving to 15 meters seems a lot like the swim tests that we did. I was expected to swim the length of an Olympic pool underwater on one breath without pushing off the side of the pool. I was also expected to be able to tread water for 5 minutes holding both index fingers out of the water. While being able to do all those thing wasn’t bad, none of them really contributed to my COMPETENCY as a diver. I was just a diver that could tread water for 5 minutes holding my index fingers up. In the last 40 years, I shave never found a need for it in the wild.

 

[BoltSnap]

I was just a diver that could tread water for 5 minutes holding my index fingers up. In the last 40 years, I shave never found a need for it in the wild.

In my 50 years of diving there are MANY emergency skills that I learned and/or taught but never needed any of them in real situation. I still practice them and teach them. What may not happen to you, it may happen to many others. Also, some of the skills taught in a course are confidence builders.

 

[VikingDives]

The idea of a shallow water blackout scares the crap out of me. With scuba, very few thing can hit you with no warning. A dive computer can let you know where you stand in regards to your NDL/deco obligation & Oxy-toxicity. A shallow water blackout will hit suddenly, without warning and you NEED someone to rescue you or you die.

I agree. If you look at freediving accidents, it seems a hazardous activity. Much more so than scuba.

 

[Celt]

It happened in a local quarry last year. I know the buddy of the person who was in this incident and they both claimed the air supply failed shut.

There was an investigation but I didn’t hear any more information about the reason for the failure.

Incident in St Andrews Lake - Regulator failed shut

Kent Online article: Second diver airlifted to hospital in month (The article seems to imply that the diver was severely hurt, that was not the case, he was brought to the hospital just to be checked and everything was fine) An acquaintance told me yesterday that his buddy had to do a CESA...

scubaboard.com

Must say I take these incidents with a pinch of salt. He didn’t try his octo. He didn’t go to his buddy and his gear was working on the surface. Who knows what happened.

 

[BlueTrin]

Must say I take these incidents with a pinch of salt. He didn’t try his octo. He didn’t go to his buddy and his gear was working on the surface. Who knows what happened.

I will ask again but I think he tried his octo, he went to my friend and kicked some silt, panicked and cesa-ed to the surface.


EDIT: the person in the incident didn’t say if he tried his octo (it is possible he didn’t) he went for his buddy, kicked silt, panicked when the silt blocked all light then he did a cesa.

 

[Wibble]

Must say I take these incidents with a pinch of salt. He didn’t try his octo. He didn’t go to his buddy and his gear was working on the surface. Who knows what happened.

That location's quite, errm, quite difficult for novices. Very cold all year round, almost a wall straight down to 30m/100' with no shallows, poor visibility chalky water, dark, and a very soft bottom that silts up incredibly easily -- resulting in a full silt-out zero-vis. There's ropes between the "attractions" as navigation's nigh-on impossible.

There was another incident later that month where a diver popped up to the surface unconscious, was dragged out and had to be given mouth-to-mouth -- thankfully woke up within a minute and was flown to hospital. Was like classic Rescue Diver scenario training, but real.

Not a place to dive if your skills and equipment aren't up to it. A great place to put novices off of diving.

 

[BlueTrin]

There were three incidents in a very short period of time that year.

One was not easily avoidable, I think one was a heart attack.

But yea, often people think that because it is a quarry it’s gonna be really easy, so it had a constant flow of newer divers who wanted to go to the bottom at 35m where the water is about 8C all year and where there is almost no light from the surface after 22m.

 

[Wibble]

One of the few inland sites where an SMB is a good thing for ascents just to give you a reference. The sediment in the water's very fine so you can't see it -- what one normally does to determine if you're ascending/descending.

Ironically it's good for more advanced practice for poor conditions. Has the feel of caving about it with the line following, poor vis and darkness, along with having to be self-sufficient as loosing your buddy is pretty standard.

Pity about loosing Buckland.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That location's quite, errm, quite difficult for novices.

I'm waiting for the holier than thou responses.

 

[Celt]

There were three incidents in a very short period of time that year.

One was not easily avoidable, I think one was a heart attack.

But yea, often people think that because it is a quarry it’s gonna be really easy, so it had a constant flow of newer divers who wanted to go to the bottom at 35m where the water is about 8C all year and where there is almost no light from the surface after 22m.

Sometimes people bite off more than they can chew and make a run for the surface. But when they get there it’s embarrassing and “my reg stopped working or I had trouble with gear” saves face. Not saying that’s what happened but who knows without a gear check.