"Check bubbles"

[Koalaroo]

I've read the phrase pertaining to controlled ascends where you "pause, check bubbles"

What does that mean? Does that just mean colloquially to check your barometer? To see how much gas is in your tank? Or does it literally mean "look up and watch your bubbles float through the water" ?

And if latter, why, and what do the bubbles tell you, apart from where is up, where is down?

Just curious

Thanks
Roo

 

[Zef]

Pause and check bubbles can refer to a few things:

When things get out of sorts underwater the sage advice is stop, breath, think, breath, act, breath...

Other general advice is if you have no other means to gauge your ascent rate is to ascend no faster than your smallest bubbles.

If disoriented and suffering from vertigo due to really poor visibility conditions, pausing and checking your bubbles can help stop the spinning and will re-orient you to which way is up.

-Zef

 

[RyanT]

For ascents, the phrase may be referencing looking at the smallest bubbles around you and making sure that you are not ascending faster than those. If you are disoriented/unsure of your ascent rate, this is an old "rule of thumb" that you don't ascend faster than the smallest bubbles you see in the water column. More often though, when I hear the term "bubble check" it usually refers to what you do at the start of the dive. Check your buddy's first stage(s) and inflator hose/wing connections at the start of the dive to ensure that each of you doesn't have a leak somewhere prior to descending to deeper depths.

 

[Koalaroo]

That makes a lot of sense, Zef! Thanks I didn't know that but will keep it in mind. I'll have to practice looking at my bubbles without losing my buouyancy

And thanks Ryan! I'll add that to my buddy check lust, too!

 

[diversteve]

On the off-chance that your buddy is diving Sherwood - a slow leak of tiny bubbles coming from the regulator is normal.
They use a dry-bleed system.

 

[Nwcid]

The term "bubble check" is used at the start of the dive to look for leaks at all of your connections. Once you are in the water all geared up lean back in the water and have your buddy check.

 

[Storker]

On the off-chance that your buddy is diving Sherwood - a slow leak of tiny bubbles coming from the regulator is normal.
They use a dry-bleed system.

After on more than one occasion having my buddy pointing out that little stream of bubbles from my 1st stage, I started to include that little tidbit of information in the pre-dive chat

 

[The Laconic]

I've read the phrase pertaining to controlled ascends where you "pause, check bubbles"

Where? Context would help a lot.

 

[Akimbo]

It was super easy to just follow the ascent rate of the smallest bubbles when the rate was 60'/minute (1 second/foot). I stopped even looking at my watch and depth gauge after a few dozen dives and always was within a few seconds after reaching the surface or decompression stop, no calculations necessary. I have not been able to find small enough bubbles for the current 30'/minute rate. The "smallest" or 60'/minute bubbles are a little smaller than a pencil eraser. I suspect the phrase is a remnant from the faster ascent rate. I image that the surface tension of air and water prevents 30'/minute bubbles from forming.

 

[Hawkwood]

After on more than one occasion having my buddy pointing out that little stream of bubbles from my 1st stage, I started to include that little tidbit of information in the pre-dive chat

Most of the first stages on our pool regs seem to be the Sherwoods. We have no end of students getting antsy about it even though they are told.