One more valve drill question

[elan]

In a real life situation, you'd be unlikely to reopen a valve -- your buddy would do that for you, if he was able to solve the leak.

I would kindly disagree with you. At least in 3 real situations I have been in over the last year I saw no reason to use the buddy to open my valves. One case was a stuck inflator another one was leaking inflation hose and a backup free-flow. What would be a reason of getting the buddy involved if it can be resolved by myself? In all the cases the buddy was just watching and ready to donate in case of any problems.

 

[rjack321]

I would kindly disagree with you. At least in 3 real situations I have been in over the last year I saw no reason to use the buddy to open my valves. One case was a stuck inflator another one was leaking inflation hose and a backup free-flow. What would be a reason of getting the buddy involved if it can be resolved by myself? In all the cases the buddy was just watching and ready to donate in case of any problems.

Agree, I can see my own stage regs. I can see my inflator too. Depending on what I think the problem is I may very well repressurize or feather the reg while working on the problem.

GUE expects you to signal during the shutdown even if you buddies are looking at you. UTD expects you to signal and once they are looking stop. Different attitude towards the drill.

 

[MonkSeal]

Agree, I can see my own stage regs.

It's little bit OT: Do you flash when you make switch from the bottom stage (when closing stage valve) if it's done earlier in the dive then expected? Or you just notice team after switch?

 

[laurin]

It's little bit OT: Do you flash when you make switch from the bottom stage (when closing stage valve) if it's done earlier in the dive then expected? Or you just notice team after switch?

I'd just notify the team that I'm at drop pressure when convenient, either before or after the switch. I think it's a better idea to notify them before the switch, because they won't then be distracted by the light movements you might make when switching, and #1 can start looking for good drop spots right away. And the others need to switch before parking the bottles anyway, so early notice is good.

There's also another case, when you switch from an empty stage to back gas; it might happen if you run out of the stage during exit (shouldn't happen, but does sometimes, or might even be planned...) or are using a bottom stage for logistical reasons (we do this pretty much, for easier blending or for doing two dives with the same back gas). Because it doesn't involve a stage drop you could just make the switch on the fly; for me, it's a judgment call whether to notify the team or not if I need to go to BG. I can usually switch to backgas and stuff the hose without stopping or making a too big hassle of light signals... On the other hand, the whole team should also be on nearly empty stages at that point, so it might make sense for the team to stop and switch to BG together. Depends on how similar your consumptions are.

//LN

 

[MonkSeal]

I can usually switch to backgas and stuff the hose without stopping or making a too big hassle of light signals...

I didn't have cave scenario in my mind (I'm baby Cave 1 ) but that's we usually do in Tech-2 dives: switch to BG on the fly with no big hassle, if somebody does it before others (because of any reason) he/she notifies the rest after switch.

 

[Blackwood]

I'd signal my team not because I'm turning off the valve but rather so they're aware which gas source I'm breathing from.

 

[rjack321]

I didn't have cave scenario in my mind (I'm baby Cave 1 ) but that's we usually do in Tech-2 dives: switch to BG on the fly with no big hassle, if somebody does it before others (because of any reason) he/she notifies the rest after switch.

If there was a failure of the stage reg I'd signal before starting work on it.

Otherwise it would depend on the dive/circumstances. If its a T2 level dive I signal and we can all switch simultaneously and "get it over" with. If its a shallower dive where we are just using stages for convenience then I'll probably just do it and never signal. We have an agreed turn or rockbottom on backgas anyway, that's what counts. If its a C2 dive I signal so we can all look for/find a good drop spot.

 

[TSandM]

Interesting . . . David Rhea told us not to bother to signal when switching on or off a stage, since there is no reason for anyone to watch you do it for safety. But notifying the team so they can look for a drop spot seems reasonable; the few stage dives I've done, we had an agreed drop point before the dive began, regardless of whether everybody had reached drop pressure or not.

 

[LiteHedded]

Interesting . . . David Rhea told us not to bother to signal when switching on or off a stage, since there is no reason for anyone to watch you do it for safety. But notifying the team so they can look for a drop spot seems reasonable; the few stage dives I've done, we had an agreed drop point before the dive began, regardless of whether everybody had reached drop pressure or not.

we typically signal once to stop the team, explain we're dropping and then we go about doing that on our own. we don't watch each other switch as if it were a switch to a deco gas.

 

[rjack321]

we typically signal once to stop the team, explain we're dropping and then we go about doing that on our own. we don't watch each other switch as if it were a switch to a deco gas.

Exactly, its not the switch its the drop.
Its light signal
Drop hand signal
Look for drop spot probably still on stage
Switch off if once you hit drop pressure or find "the spot" - whichever comes first, although you may go over on stage gas use and just take it out of available BG too.

Does not apply for ocean dives where we just switch off when its convenient, which might not always be 400-500psi, depends on what else is going on (line, scooter, depth, etc)