Procedure when left by boat/lost at sea?

[Nutterbutter]

Not sure if this post should be in this forum, or perhaps the advanced diving forum?

Is there a recommended procedure on what to do with your equipment and tank if you are left by a boat/lost at sea?

For instance: a standard vacation diver with 3mm wetsuit, standard jacket bcd and reg configuration, aluminum tank and safety sausage, surfacing with 500 psi of air. No powered air horn.

When you realize there is no boat to be seen, dumped your weights, deployed and secured your safety sausage, and you realize you are in a search and rescue situation, what should you do with your tank and regulator setup?

Catalina lists a 500 PSI tank as 2.8 pounds positive bouyancy. 4.1 pounds empty. Regulator setups are usually 1-3 pounds negative.

Should you empty the tank for maximum bouyancy and dump the regulator to deal with swell? Is the 500 PSI that useful? I imagine having a working regulator could be nice if a storm blew in, but you'd go through that gas very quick.

Dump the tank because even though it is positive, the weight makes dealing with waves harder? At home I have a bright yellow tank. Maybe dumping it makes me easier to find by putting another dot in the water.

 

[guruboy]

If you dropped weights already, you should be light enough that you don't need to dump air too.

I would keep the air.

 

[Bubblesong]

First, I really like the name Nutterbutter, it is what I call myself when I am doing something not exactly illegal, but frowned upon by polite society.
Second, I have been beaned on the head by random stuff in the water, so my fear is those solid tanks would be a danger if the waves just catch them wrong, and their mass could injure me. Even if they were empty tanks, I would keep them strapped on.
I have not read too many fans of the siren, since they say it is hard to tell direction. But there are some threads about personal locator devices, if there are no boats in sight to spot your safety sausage.

 

[Trailboss123]

500 psi goes a long way at the surface.

 

[Mouth Breather]

I carry a Nautilus radio sometimes if on an unfamiliar charter boat. I wouldn't dump any gear that added buoyancy.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have spent several long drifts on the surface. I have had a huge ship pass very close to me, between me and shore and I am able to see people in the windows of the bridge, but they do not see me or respond to waving or see my smb.

So.. if there is the potential to be run over by a ship, the ability to swim down 40 or 50 feet on scuba could be very important. Ditching lead prematurely might also be unwise due to this potential. The important thing is to have a snorkel, inflate the BC and try to relax.

In most situations, if the weather is good, and they do a good search, your dive light should be a good signal at night. So i would be very careful to retain any dive lights.

It is really tough to hold up an smb for any length of time. I would ditch the tank if it was empty or I was trying to swim to a shore location.

 

[KeithG]

After you activate your PLB I would simply keep my tank and regs. I can not think of any advantage of ditching them. If you are weighted properly your bcd / wing should keep you afloat comfortablely.