Pimbura
Registered
I've done stupid things. I have watched other people do stupid things. I have been in life threatening situations that I caused and that others caused.
There is no substitute for a calm head, training, and experience.
That being said, the most common error I have seen in 30+ years of diving is poor gas management. E.g. People run out of air. Actually, I have seen this so often, that I now dive with a HP 120 and a 20 cubic foot pony. When I head down with someone on an aluminum 80, I have 140+ cubic feet of air on my back. I often surface with nearly 2000 psi in my primary and my pony untouched.
Two out of the last four dives I have been on, I brought my dive buddy up on my octopus.
The first of those two dives:
Old dive buddy shows up with short fills on both his main tank and his pony. Elects to make the dive anyway (over 100 feet deep at night). His light is weak as well. He didn't check it before leaving home and his son has been playing with the light. The batteries aren't in good shape. This is utterly out of character for this guy. I still don't know what was going on with him that night.
Dive buddy shows me his computer at 110 fsw and the tank pressure is flashing ZERO.
We are in a slight deco situation.
I bring him up, through deco on my octopus and I switch to my pony near the end of the deco stop. I have 700 psi in my primary and 2,200 in my pony when we exit the water. Both of his tanks are empty.
The second dive:
Different dive buddy, different night. Shows up with full tank for deep dive at night. During the dive, I ask repeatedly to see my buddy's pressure gauge. He looks at his gauge and signals "OK". He does not show me his gauge.
9 minutes on the bottom at 135 fsw and I grab buddy's pressure gauge to look at it. He has less than 250 PSI. I bring him up on my octopus / main tank. He loses control of his drysuit at the deco stop and corks to the surface. I remain on deco for 10 minutes and surface to find him shedding his gear in the parking lot.
I advise the guy to hang around for a half hour to 45 minutes before leaving so I can keep an eye on him. The drive from the water is up a steep, long hill and he missed the deco stop. We discuss this, he agrees and I start pulling off the rest of my gear. Just as I put my tank in the car, I see his truck drive off, you guessed it, up the hill.
In my opinion:
Neither diver had or used gas management skills. Diver number one blamed his problem on too small a tank and within a week, had purchased a HP120. He is also the guy that bought an air-integrated computer to do the gas management for him. Computers are worthless if you ignore what they are telling you.
Big air is no substitute for a lack of gas management skills. It just means that the next time he runs out of air, he will be in a lot more trouble because of the increased bottom time.
Buddy number two is a nice guy. I hope he finds a dive buddy that he respects enough to listen to. I hope he finds this person before he gets bent or killed.
I do not dive with big air for me. I dive with big air for the margin of safety it provides my dive buddy. I can manage my gas.
There is no substitute for a calm head, training, and experience.
That being said, the most common error I have seen in 30+ years of diving is poor gas management. E.g. People run out of air. Actually, I have seen this so often, that I now dive with a HP 120 and a 20 cubic foot pony. When I head down with someone on an aluminum 80, I have 140+ cubic feet of air on my back. I often surface with nearly 2000 psi in my primary and my pony untouched.
Two out of the last four dives I have been on, I brought my dive buddy up on my octopus.
The first of those two dives:
Old dive buddy shows up with short fills on both his main tank and his pony. Elects to make the dive anyway (over 100 feet deep at night). His light is weak as well. He didn't check it before leaving home and his son has been playing with the light. The batteries aren't in good shape. This is utterly out of character for this guy. I still don't know what was going on with him that night.
Dive buddy shows me his computer at 110 fsw and the tank pressure is flashing ZERO.
We are in a slight deco situation.
I bring him up, through deco on my octopus and I switch to my pony near the end of the deco stop. I have 700 psi in my primary and 2,200 in my pony when we exit the water. Both of his tanks are empty.
The second dive:
Different dive buddy, different night. Shows up with full tank for deep dive at night. During the dive, I ask repeatedly to see my buddy's pressure gauge. He looks at his gauge and signals "OK". He does not show me his gauge.
9 minutes on the bottom at 135 fsw and I grab buddy's pressure gauge to look at it. He has less than 250 PSI. I bring him up on my octopus / main tank. He loses control of his drysuit at the deco stop and corks to the surface. I remain on deco for 10 minutes and surface to find him shedding his gear in the parking lot.
I advise the guy to hang around for a half hour to 45 minutes before leaving so I can keep an eye on him. The drive from the water is up a steep, long hill and he missed the deco stop. We discuss this, he agrees and I start pulling off the rest of my gear. Just as I put my tank in the car, I see his truck drive off, you guessed it, up the hill.
In my opinion:
Neither diver had or used gas management skills. Diver number one blamed his problem on too small a tank and within a week, had purchased a HP120. He is also the guy that bought an air-integrated computer to do the gas management for him. Computers are worthless if you ignore what they are telling you.
Big air is no substitute for a lack of gas management skills. It just means that the next time he runs out of air, he will be in a lot more trouble because of the increased bottom time.
Buddy number two is a nice guy. I hope he finds a dive buddy that he respects enough to listen to. I hope he finds this person before he gets bent or killed.
I do not dive with big air for me. I dive with big air for the margin of safety it provides my dive buddy. I can manage my gas.
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