CT-Rich
Contributor
I thought this was a pretty dumb mistake that maybe newbies could learn from. I was solo shore diving last week and I did something kind of dumb but easy to do and I thought it might make a good topic of discussion to share. (as has been pointed out and I forgot to include in the original post, I had the option of using the oral inflator. I decided that I would do this instead, because it is a good skill to practice).
Let me start out before I say anything (and the YOU'RE GONNA DIE!!! crowd gets started), stuff happens, but I was never in any danger, it was not life or death, mostly life or inconvenience.
On my second dive I put together my rig, did my gear check, made sure I had air to breath, but for some reason did not check the BCD inflator. I snorkeled out to the rocky Island I was going to explore (I was interested in video taping schooling fish and searching for tropicals. When I reach my decent area, I dumped my air from my BCD and started a slow decent to about 20fsw. I started to pass through a school of about 20 scup and started to fiddle with my camera. I didn't want to hit bottom so I tapped a bit of air into my BCD. Nothing happened, I tapped it again, still nothing.
Looking down at the LP hose I realized that it was no longer attached and had floated off behind me. I reached over my shoulder and couldn't quite get to it with my 5mm wetsuit on. I tried reaching around to see if I could get it from the side. Alas, no luck. Now if you are with a good buddy he will hand it to you so you can attach it. If you are with a crappy insta-bud or solo (often the same thing) it is up to you to fix it.
Now on my rig I have weights in three places, a few pounds in back that are not dumpable, two pouches on the the BCD (6lbs each pouches cost around $25 to replace) and a weight belt that has 12lbs on it (please don't tell me I am over weighted, I am 6'7" and take a lot of lead).
To get things sorted out I took off my tank and brought it around front and put it between my knees to hold it still. Having the weight somewhere other than the BCD is an enormous help in a situation like this because although not negative, I wasn't hanging off my tank like a party balloon. I also switched my regulator upside down to make it easier to keep in my mouth while fixed the hose. Afterwards, I put the rig back on and did a gear check and finished the dive. The total time for the incident was probably about 3-5 minutes. I thought about video taping it, but was worried I might lose track of my camera.
The take home from an incident like this is check that the LP works and is not just attached and that I don't just stick all my weights in one spot. There were a dozen other possible solutions and this type of thing should be a non event.
Anyone else have a story along this vein they want to share? TSandM would have loved this thread....
Let me start out before I say anything (and the YOU'RE GONNA DIE!!! crowd gets started), stuff happens, but I was never in any danger, it was not life or death, mostly life or inconvenience.
On my second dive I put together my rig, did my gear check, made sure I had air to breath, but for some reason did not check the BCD inflator. I snorkeled out to the rocky Island I was going to explore (I was interested in video taping schooling fish and searching for tropicals. When I reach my decent area, I dumped my air from my BCD and started a slow decent to about 20fsw. I started to pass through a school of about 20 scup and started to fiddle with my camera. I didn't want to hit bottom so I tapped a bit of air into my BCD. Nothing happened, I tapped it again, still nothing.
Looking down at the LP hose I realized that it was no longer attached and had floated off behind me. I reached over my shoulder and couldn't quite get to it with my 5mm wetsuit on. I tried reaching around to see if I could get it from the side. Alas, no luck. Now if you are with a good buddy he will hand it to you so you can attach it. If you are with a crappy insta-bud or solo (often the same thing) it is up to you to fix it.
Now on my rig I have weights in three places, a few pounds in back that are not dumpable, two pouches on the the BCD (6lbs each pouches cost around $25 to replace) and a weight belt that has 12lbs on it (please don't tell me I am over weighted, I am 6'7" and take a lot of lead).
To get things sorted out I took off my tank and brought it around front and put it between my knees to hold it still. Having the weight somewhere other than the BCD is an enormous help in a situation like this because although not negative, I wasn't hanging off my tank like a party balloon. I also switched my regulator upside down to make it easier to keep in my mouth while fixed the hose. Afterwards, I put the rig back on and did a gear check and finished the dive. The total time for the incident was probably about 3-5 minutes. I thought about video taping it, but was worried I might lose track of my camera.
The take home from an incident like this is check that the LP works and is not just attached and that I don't just stick all my weights in one spot. There were a dozen other possible solutions and this type of thing should be a non event.
Anyone else have a story along this vein they want to share? TSandM would have loved this thread....
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