GreggS
Contributor
I read that, but took it to mean he intentionally added some air, but accidentally added to much. But I can see what you are saying, also.
BCD wouldn't let air out
- Thread starter Dennisrl84
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CaveSloth
Contributor
Regarding DCI, I have read a few articles saying that minor cases are more common than we like to admit. People being really tired or getting headaches or strange body sensations after diving, etc... Of course, it could also be anxiety and overthinking that causes strange sensations. A major issue to look out for is if you seem to get weird symptoms even when within or close to the NDLs on your properly configured dive computer, is you may have a specific medical condition called PFO which is a hole in between the ventricles of your heart which causes bubbles to form or migrate to dangerous parts of the body more so than in a normal heart. It is repairable with surgery.
I do know that when I was working in the Sacramento area and went diving at Lake Tahoe. If I didn't wait 6 hours, I sure felt pretty bad going over those passes.
CaveSloth
Contributor
One recommendation I have for the OP is get your Nitrox cert ASAP and start diving the appropriate gas mix. Staying more shallow and decreasing the nitrogen content of your breathing gas will help prevent DCI.
Bert van den Berg
Contributor
Similar thing happened to my wife. She was about ten feet deep and wanted to get deeper. She pressed the wrong button and went up instead. There is the possibility that the BCD was actually ok but that operator error could have been involved.
Oops, just read that the BCD wouldn't deflate on the boat later as well so definitely faulty.
Oops, just read that the BCD wouldn't deflate on the boat later as well so definitely faulty.
This illustrates a problem with vertical ascents. If something goes wrong and you start to ascend too fast, you're not in any position to kick down while dumping gas as you work out how to fix things.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
BCs won't deflate much on a boat unless they have bungees assisting them. Why? There's no water pressure on the bladder to squeeze the air out. If it's tight, it will lose its tightness, but that's about it. If you want to check it on the surface, suck on the deflator while pressing the deflator button, or have someone squeeze the bladder. If you can over-inflate it and hear the farting, then that release is definitely working. BCs only deflate when the release being used is higher than most of the air. The back dump won't work if your head is up. No, I'm not saying this is what happened, but it's something to consider.
After reading the OP, he probably had mild DCS. I am not a doctor, but it's my opinion that sleepiness after a dive is almost always non-clinical DCS. While there might be some psychosomatic symptoms after he started worrying, he should have gone on oxygen as a prophylactic. It's cheap and the dive boat should have offered it right away, especially if he sat out the second dive. Class act, sitting out. I like it! You can always call a dive at any time, for any reason, with no questions and no repercussions. Yeah, like even before you splash! "When in doubt, bail on out!"
It's also my opinion that a three minute safety stop is not long enough. Go for five. If you've missed your safety stop and are still in the water, GO BACK DOWN and stay as long as your gas allows. Be the last one on the boat if you can. I would even try to get ten minutes in, unless there is a compelling reason to get out.
BTW, there's an excellent thread on buoyancy and trim here: Buoyancy
One of those things with rental gear that you learn with time - do a check when you pick up the gear (check regs are working/bcd inflate & deflate including oral/condition of straps/hoses etc). Personally I would never try pull on an inflater hose to deflate a BCD - I trained on one without it, I currently don't have it and it seems like a problem waiting to happen (as appears to be the case here).
If I am wanting to ascend I start to swim up with my hand either on the butt dump (my preference until close to the surface as I will be in trim) or the inflater hose button ready to feather the valves and bleed air out before it becomes an issue. The whole idea is to be VERY slightly positively buoyant by continually bleeding gas out.
Diagnosing DCS is difficult especially as a number of symptoms will be similar to doing any strenuous exercise (tiredness, muscle aches, cramp) however with an out of control ascent I might be tempted to go on oxygen for a while as a precaution.
If I am wanting to ascend I start to swim up with my hand either on the butt dump (my preference until close to the surface as I will be in trim) or the inflater hose button ready to feather the valves and bleed air out before it becomes an issue. The whole idea is to be VERY slightly positively buoyant by continually bleeding gas out.
Diagnosing DCS is difficult especially as a number of symptoms will be similar to doing any strenuous exercise (tiredness, muscle aches, cramp) however with an out of control ascent I might be tempted to go on oxygen for a while as a precaution.
I for one would NOT want to suck on an inflator hose from ANY rental place!
I would not suck on the deflator for my own outfit. Stuff lives in there.
Usually dive my own stuff. Had a rental once where the buttons were in a different place. So pushing what worked on my BCD did not on this one.
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