almost died

[Tollie]

Hey a near miss. Scary and an opportunity to sit back as you are doing and assess. Others have touched on solo diving. With 50 dives you should have had some good experience under your belt and I’m concerned that you couldn’t go to your octo or had trouble doing a good CESA up to the surface. I think you might want to do some drilling of basic skills.

Also, a ten-minute swim out is actually a ways from the shore. It’s not a close in shore dive. That far out you could get into a world of hurt if the seas kicked up or the currents changed. I hope you also have the necessary equipment to call for help if you need to.

The bottom line for me is that stuff happens and its really only training and IMO a good team that keeps you from playing dice with your life. I’d say you have been given a good warning by the sea gods…

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Hi Punisher. I'm glad to see that you made it back to shore and have lived to dive another day.

Solo diving requires much more attention to detail than buddy diving. I tend to agree with the others that you need to get some more experience and possibly more training before attempting it again. (That is, if you solo dive at all, which is another issue that has been beaten to death in other threads.)

The important thing to carry away from this incident is the lessons learned:

The importance of always being ready to use your secondary regulator. That goes double for regulator recovery. I'd suggest practicing those skills over and over until they are second nature. That goes for all of the skills learned in your OW class. There's a reason that we've chosen to emphasize that set of skills.

The dangers of underwater entanglement. What if, instead of a float line, it had been monofilament? Or a gill net with hooks? The incident could have had a drastically different outcome. Always have your cutting tools within easy reach by either hand.

Funny, isn't it, how the bad dives are the ones that teach you the most. It's always been that way with me, too. Sounds like you're deep into learning mode now, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing.

Safe ascents,
Grier

 

[ScubaSixString]

ok. Solo diving when properly equipped is not a bad thing. Sounds to me like you might have bolted even in the presence of a buddy. Why were you soloing without a redundant air source?

Why did you not deploy your OCTO????

And as for DCS, I'd be more worried about damaging your lungs holding your breath.

Think back to BOW. What did they tell you about that?

Lets analyze a potential outcome (THank God it didn't happen this way)

Diver A goes solo. at about 40 ft, he has is reg ripped out of his mouth by his flag line. He does the old lean and recover attempt but can't get to his reg. He becomes paniced, forgets his octo and bolts, holding his breath all the way. His lungs rupture. He reaches the surface and is unable to get to shore or help.

You need to practice, IMHO, you had the solution to your problem clipped to the front of your BC.

But its good to hear you made it back.

Flags suck. I got tangled up in my line not to long ago......

 

[lamont]

therefore am now buying a pony with reg setup. ps2 is now considered 3rd reg.

At this point, you are trying to solve more or less a skills problem with additional equipment.

That pony bottle will probably wind up trying to kill you, not save you, and it is not a license that you will now be a safe solo diver.

You obviously can't accurately think through an analysis of why this accident occured and the chain of events that caused it. You are reaching for the percieved safety of a pony bottle without considering how a pony bottle used incorrectly could produce no added safety benefit and does not address several of the fundamental causes in your incident.

You could not recover your regulator and did not think to go for your octo. Adding a pony bottle doesn't solve this. If you want an equipment fix, you should be looking at a necklace backup reg.

 

[ScubaSixString]

At this point, you are trying to solve more or less a skills problem with additional equipment.

That pony bottle will probably wind up trying to kill you, not save you, and it is not a license that you will now be a safe solo diver.

You obviously can't accurately think through an analysis of why this accident occured and the chain of events that caused it. You are reaching for the percieved safety of a pony bottle without considering how a pony bottle used incorrectly could produce no added safety benefit and does not address several of the fundamental causes in your incident.

You could not recover your regulator and did not think to go for your octo. Adding a pony bottle doesn't solve this. If you want an equipment fix, you should be looking at a necklace backup reg.

Good point. A pony, depending on how its carried, is potentially something else to get a line tangled on. I would say you should get one and practice with it in situations where you're not likely to get killed, but it likely would't have helped this time around. Not sure a necklace would have either. Sounds to me like panic had set in.

 

[punisher]

first, thanks for your comments
now I'll give more details

WileEDiver, if I had the pony there with the reg on my chest, I would've grabbed it first. But I have the AIR2 which I forgot was my secondary. try rembering where the fireestinguisher is in your hose whan the wall is on fire.

DEREK, totally agree now...because sh_t happens

RANDY, where's the link for the necklace procedure?

FISH, when I lost the reg, I chose to sweep for it a couple times vs ascending. I remain calm under situations that most people would panic under. I've been trapped before while fighting a fire and never lost my cool. But for some reason, got stupid when going for my reg and not realizing I DID get it when I did my sweep.

CATHERINE, I consider scuba diving more dangerous than firefighting. I don't know if I'll never solo again, but I know that I'll be working on my safety and redundancy of air.
I'll be practicing some reg drills at the beach but it won't mean that I'll be ready for any air emergency that comes my way. You can plan for a bear attack in the woods but till it happens, you really don't know what you'll end up doing as you see him come at you.

TOLLIE, doing the reg recovery wasn't second nature. I was calm, stayed at my depth, did three attempts not realizing that i already had the hose between my bicep and chest.(tought I kept missing it) when I couldn't hold my breath any longer, I then panicked and swam up quickly while exhaling.I don't have an octo, I have an air2.
Ft Wetheril is a rocky peninsula where divers usually enter on the beach to the left, swim around the peninsula, and exit at the beach on the right side of the peninsula.
I have sausage and horn.

GRIER, my next drills will be getting used to switching regs under water hoping that it becomes second nature when sh_t happens. I heard some people panic right away and shoot for the surface. I stayed and swept for the reg. only after 3 attempts did I panic and then shoot up while exhaling. I bet If I ever need to switch regs under pressure again, I'll panic less

now I'm being told 15ft doesn't give me DCS?the reason I worried about DCS is because so many times on this board I read that no matter what depth you dive, always do a safety stop before finishing the dive so as to avoid DCS...guess they were wrong then?
I learned from this and posted it so that maybe others will learn too

thanks for your replies. and to you solo divers, sorry I gave others ammo against you

 

[Randy43068]

http://www.scubaboard.com/t79052-bungy-cord-to-hold-second-stage-around-neck.html

Check out hogarthian rigs..

For your own sake, please get some training or dive several times with an experienced competant diver for a mentor.

 

[punisher]

SCUBASIX, no redundant air source cause I was being careless. not octo, AIR2. Read again, only held my breath while reaching for reg...after failing, started ascending while exhaling. that's why I DIDN'T hurt anything. you're right, the AIR2 is part of my inflator. I'm still wondering why I didn't go for it.

LAMONT, not planning on solving the problem with equipment. was stating that aside from practice, more equipment is needed. ask any solo divier and he/she will tell you that anither source of air is needed.

How do you practice for that emergency when it happens to you? you can only practice it under controlled environments. But you will always hope that under real emergencies you succeed. because believe me, sh_t happens. we all know that practice improves our chances of living, when something happens, we hope the answer is second nature. You'll only know that when and emergency comes out that will test you on it. The things that were second nature to me was reaching for the reg, not shooting straight up. but 3 times I failed in getting the reg.
What else did I do right? i breathed out while ascending because I remembered what they said in class and on the board. So I need to take a refresher because?

 

[ScubaSixString]

first, thanks for your comments
now I'll give more details

WileEDiver, if I had the pony there with the reg on my chest, I would've grabbed it first. But I have the AIR2 which I forgot was my secondary. try rembering where the fireestinguisher is in your hose whan the wall is on fire.

You would think. How long have you been diving with this AIR2 setup? You forgot about it. and it was probably in your hand. You might well have forgotten about the Pony reg too.

RANDY, where's the link for the necklace procedure?

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=107491&highlight=octo+necklace
but you'll have to get an octo

FISH, when I lost the reg, I chose to sweep for it a couple times vs ascending. I remain calm under situations that most people would panic under. I've been trapped before while fighting a fire and never lost my cool. But for some reason, got stupid when going for my reg and not realizing I DID get it when I did my sweep.

More evidence that panic can strike ANYONE. Diving does not equal firefighting. Nothing to be ashamed of, just something to be aware of.

CATHERINE, I consider scuba diving more dangerous than firefighting. I don't know if I'll never solo again, but I know that I'll be working on my safety and redundancy of air.
I'll be practicing some reg drills at the beach but it won't mean that I'll be ready for any air emergency that comes my way. You can plan for a bear attack in the woods but till it happens, you really don't know what you'll end up doing as you see him come at you.

Thats true. But if you practice bear attack survial procedures (whatever they might be) over and over, you're more likely to use them than if you practice it once 10 years ago and then forget it.

[/QUOTE=punisher]

GRIER, my next drills will be getting used to switching regs under water hoping that it becomes second nature when sh_t happens. I heard some people panic right away and shoot for the surface. I stayed and swept for the reg. only after 3 attempts did I panic and then shoot up while exhaling. I bet If I ever need to switch regs under pressure again, I'll panic less

I wouldn't count on it. You MIGHT panic less. You might not. Panic does strange things

now I'm being told 15ft doesn't give me DCS?the reason I worried about DCS is because so many times on this board I read that no matter what depth you dive, always do a safety stop before finishing the dive so as to avoid DCS...guess they were wrong then?
I learned from this and posted it so that maybe others will learn too

thanks for your replies. and to you solo divers, sorry I gave others ammo against you

If someone has told you you should do a safety stop after every dive you do, you need to find out what they meant by dive. Would you do one after a dive to 25 ft for 30 mins? Where is a safety stop typically done? At 15 ft. We're all under the assumption you were on the way down. If you were coming up, there might be MORE risk (depending on your dive profile.)

As for ammo against solo diving, don't worry about it. It wont make much difference. Solo divers will still solo and solo detractors will still rant against it

 

[ScubaSixString]

SCUBASIX, no redundant air source cause I was being careless. not octo, AIR2. Read again, only held my breath while reaching for reg...after failing, started ascending while exhaling. that's why I DIDN'T hurt anything. you're right, the AIR2 is part of my inflator. I'm still wondering why I didn't go for it.

LAMONT, not planning on solving the problem with equipment. was stating that aside from practice, more equipment is needed. ask any solo divier and he/she will tell you that anither source of air is needed.

How do you practice for that emergency when it happens to you? you can only practice it under controlled environments. But you will always hope that under real emergencies you succeed. because believe me, sh_t happens. we all know that practice improves our chances of living, when something happens, we hope the answer is second nature. You'll only know that when and emergency comes out that will test you on it. The things that were second nature to me was reaching for the reg, not shooting straight up. but 3 times I failed in getting the reg.
What else did I do right? i breathed out while ascending because I remembered what they said in class and on the board. So I need to take a refresher because?

Sorry bout that. I read it wrong. Thought you meant exhaling as little air as possible. My eyes must be going