A very PERSONAL Close Call incident

[ScubaTexan]

Dxtreme once bubbled...
First off, i blamed myself for not abandoning the dive when everybody shoes up with hoods, glove and 6 mm long johns. I you looked at my original post, i stressed * FOOLISHLY *

Second, i think my buddy should not have abandoned me in the first place.

Especially when my buddy knew that i am only on dive no 6, just got certified last oct-nov and this is my first dive after the long winter break.

However, my buddy did asked me if i was cold in that 2/3 mm suit but did not advised me against it. In fact we are all on the 2nd dive after the incident. However, i decided myself to call it quits for the day after hitting the first thermocline and the feeling of deja vu.

Having your "buddy" question you about your comfort in a 2/3mm is about the most your can ask from him. If you seem them suiting up with 6mm long johns, hoods and gloves, that should have been your first indication that you were underdressed. That will come with more experience, granted, and I sincerely hope you will continue safely in the sport and give yourself a chance at more experience.

As for having your buddies swim off from you, I have had this happen too many times, mostly with dive buddies that didn't know me from Adam prior to our dive. This is why I do NOT like showing up at a dive site alone and looking for someone to dive with. Even if you go over each others experience ahead of time, that's still no guarantee that you won't get left behind. I am a huge proponent of diving side-by-side and not in tandem, as well. Single-file is how divers get left behind more often than not.

OK, I'm stepping off the soap-box now...

:box:

 

[Dryglove]

Dxtreme once bubbled...
First off, i blamed myself for not abandoning the dive when everybody shoes up with hoods, glove and 6 mm long johns.

Someone should have told you that you are crazy to dive what you did in that cold of water.

Personally i would refuse to buddy up with you wearing what you did and tell you not to dive. With you being a new diver the more experienced divers should have pulled you aside and schooled you. You in return need to use common sense and good judgement. It doesnt help matters any when your buddy failed you miserably.

 

[double125's]

Take total responsibility for this
CF dive.

It's not your buddy or the dive shop that's responsible for YOU going diving with a totally inappropriate suit and enough lead for 3 people...

Focusing your efforts on blame assessment isn't going to teach you anything.

Make a written list of everything you did wrong. Mentally review the dive and see where each mistake was made and the logic errors that allowed you to continue to proceed with making the dive. Ignorance, pride, peer pressure...these factors can get you hurt.


All I can say is amen to that.

 

[ScubaTexan]

Enough is enough...I think he gets the point now.

I apologize. I didn't mean to sound critical of you -- we just want you to be at maximum safety when you dive. We shouldn't be overly critical of you...we just have you and your safety at heart. We don't like to see anyone give up on scuba diving, if they don't have to.

Dive safe, dive often

 

[Doof]

Hmmm... my first thought when reading this whole thing was "overweighted".

My girlfriend and I were on a night dive one time, down to about 60 feet, when she signaled to me that she couldn't get off the bottom. Even with her BC fully inflated, she was stuck on the bottom and couldn't move.

Your story sounded identical to me. Especially taking into consideration the suit you were wearing and the weight you're using.

Just for comparison... I weigh 240 lbs right now (I'm working on it!) and I use 26 lbs with an aluminum 80 in my dry suit, with the same undergarments I wear under the ice. That's a lot of insulation to sink, plus a lot of extra fat, and only a 4 lb weight belt difference. I seriously doubt you need all that weight to sink.


And like I think has been mentioned in here... lack of air wasn't your problem. A pony bottle would have served only one purpose, and that was to prolong how long it would take before you ran out of air. It wouldn't have done anything to help you get to the surface.

Also, just one question... what did all of your buddies say when you told them what happened?

 

[The Chairman]

22 lbs for someone in shape enough to train for a triathlon is LOONEY! You might not need any!

I weigh 260# and use only 6# with an AL80 and a one piece in salt. That was probably the trigger for your panic too! You are properly weighted IF with your arms and legs crossed at the beginning of the dive, the top of your head barely breaks the surface. This will give you proper weighting without all that air (end of dive) at 15 fsw. If you nail this in a pool, you will have figured out the weight needed for that combo in all fresh water.

That is one thing that I make doubly certain with my students; that they have NO extra weight.

 

[The Iceni]

Dxtreme once bubbled...
At this point, i SIMPLY UNABLE TO SWIM AT ALL !!! Nothing that i do will propel me forward. At first i thought i was tangled by all the plants at the bottom of the quarry.

Panic starting to hit me as i watch my group leaving the scene (I am the last diver, as i am slow in the kick. Not helping the situation is the visibility. With all the struggling, the bottom is all stirred up and visibility is now less than 2 feet. . . .

1) A buddy system only works with an attentive buddy

Hi Dxtreme,

Amen to that last comment! To my mind a proper buddy is an essential item of diving equipment. Most would consider it foolhardy to dive solo and if you do not dive in a genuine buddy pair (in an anonymous group for instance) you ARE diving solo, as you discovered to your cost.

I give my tuppence worth here because you do not describe the features of hypothermia, as your immobility was so rapid and transient, but I think you must describe entanglement.

Thinking that entanglement is the issue, I started to feel my fins ready to release the buckle. However, thanks to god (I dont have a knive) I was not tangled in any manner whatsoever.

I think you may have been "resting" in the mud on the bottom due to the weighting problems alluded to above. Mud and silt will prevent forward movement - entanglement - and never intentionally jetison your fins since without them you cannot control anything. As for a knife. . . ?

Remember, ideally, you need to be neutral when your tanks are empty so must start your dive with an equivalent amount of weight to compensate for the increase in buoyancy due to the gas used, probably about 3 Kg. The BC is there to allow you to compensate for this variable buoyancy during the dive. It is not an emergency ascent device! I feel bit more practice in buoyancy control may be in order as I think you now know.

SCUBA IS DANGEROUS !!

Don't i know it! Glad you made it!

 

[landlocked]

Listen to the Pugster!

He nailed it as usual. I wear 22 lbs of weight with a full 7 mil, hood and gloves. If you can't get down with 6 lbs try 10 but 22 is way too much. Combined with the compression in the suit, your BC is now having to correct for almost 20 lbs of weight. I would think that would make it very hard to swim.

Good luck.

 

[gkwaldee]

I read the first post of this thread and went "holy molly"...

Then, as I read more posts, I stumbled across "this was only my 6th dive" and I thought, hmmmmmm......60 ft, temp <55F, 22 lbs of weight, wants to dump the motors (fins), havent dove since OW cert 6 months ago.

I think you bit off more than you could chew, luckily it didnt cost you much more than a few jabs on this forum.

Remember your training, 60ft isnt 60ft when the temp is hovering around 45ish.

Id be looking into more training, hell I am anyway......

Anyway, glad it was cheap...........life is an expensive thing to lose

tiny bubbles

 

[Soonerdiver]

You are right in many respects... but DO NOT blame your buddy for your inability to handle the emergencies as they arose.

As suggested, try swimming side by side... as the phone company says, "Reach out and touch someone!" If your buddy is behind or infront of you he/she can't see nor help.

To say that your buddy shouldn't have let youdive in a 2/3mm suit with the current water conditions. This is something you should have learned on your basic course. You have to be responsible for yourself; you should have known that you were improperly prepared for "cold/cool water" diving.

Explaining your current status; rookie diver, only six dives, air hog or whatever is a good thing for your dive buddy to know, but they DO NOT have to make you sit on the beach because you showed up ill-prepared.

As for weighting... as soon as you relax and start breathing normally you will find that you will start dropping some lead off your hips. The most common problem with new divers is they do not exhale completely and thereby retain air (air bags) and need additional weight to get down

Enough said... I hope you have learned from this and don't make the same mistakes again.