(Another) Dive goes bad fast.

[sunnyboy]

I recommend that every diver take the "rescue" or "stress & rescue" course. You not only learn how to be a better buddy (i.e. what to do when "stuff" happens), but you also learn some valuable self-rescue techniques.

This is, IMO, the best single course any diver can take - no matter where you dive or what type of diving you aspire to do.

Cheers,

-S

 

[Piccola]

I agree with your comment. I just finished my stress & rescue class and it is great information for buddies as well as self help.

BTW: When the freeflow happened to me I remembered a valuable lesson about my own abilities. During my OW class, our instructor told us about freeflows..ya..ya.! During our checkout skills, to my surprise he insisted we remove the regs slightly from our mouths and breath off of the flowing gas. Much to my reluctance (and fear) I tried it. I would not have believed it possible. So there in my cloud of bubbles I remembered the skill I learned and was able to stay calm and make my way to the surface and with my buddies firm grip of me I knew if my gas got spent he was prepared to share his air. Staying as calm as you can and trying to deal the hand that is dealt is the best way to survive 'OMG's' both above and below the water.

 

[piikki]

I was going to respond but Sunnyboy pretty much summed up what I was going to say too. Like give these guys (both) a break!

I agree that you faired better than your buddy for beginner divers but then again a lot of guys react with anger when they get scared. I think I would have done the same thing as you if I was blasting my breathing gas out, and someone was just “whadupping???” me. At that point I would lose a lot of faith under water, and make sure the next step isn’t going to be met with just as wide eyes. I’d make your buddy aware of this thread though. Embarrassing or not, he needs to own up to his own confusion if he is going to learn too. Just to make sure, when you say you gave UP signal, do you mean thumbs? Some people have all kinds of confusing half-aborting signals that just create more noise.

When things go south, they usually go south fast. Experienced divers coming down on newbies about making perfect ascents when task loaded on their first dives should take a serious look at realities. I remember from my couple of little mishaps in the beginning that I was not so much scared but astonished. The bubbles, trying to remember how to do things right and in right order, buddy’s wide eyes (yes, that can be scarier than the event itself)... Freeflow in cold water is not so much about if one knows how to do it right but do you really WANT to do it when your teeth are hammered off!!! Like bugger off you people who have a perfect formula. It can also be astonishing the first time to just glance at that SPG. From 2500 to 500 in one zing. It does not even make any sense to fight over shutting the valve or not. There won’t be any gas to inflate the BC in few moments.

I was curious about the necklace too. Is it an octo or necklace on short hose? I understood you wanted it off your face/turn it down? You certainly do not want it off the necklace to breathe from it. Anyhow, if reg is freeflowing you probably do not want to discard it flopping around freely because then it is likely to end up being the most nuisance (a’la Murphy).

And never ever trust regulators fresh out of service… That’s when I’ve always had my little spits and spats.

 

[jefffalcone]

The one thing that I'm not seeing in any responses that I find VERY disturbing is that the OP thumbed the dive and the buddy gave the arms out "why" signal????

Thumbs up is a command and can not be questioned. If you can't figure out why, the time for questions is one the surface. IMO the buddy seriously dropped the ball on this. When you see the thumb you answer with the thumb and immediately begin a controlled ascent together. Also the buddy should have been close enough to see the bubbles from the freeflowing reg. If he was leading the dive it is his responsibility to stay close enough to his team to help. This sounds a lot like a same ocean buddy situation to me.

IMO the OP did the best he could in a stressful situation for a brand new diver. He needs to have a serious talk with this buddy before they dive again.

 

[Reno1979]

I really appreciate all the responses... I read them all thoroughly and take them to heart.

I spent some time on the phone with my dive buddy from that day, and have come to realize he was absolutely in a frozen panic when he looked up and saw me in a cloud of bubbles and signaling to go UP. He is a good guy, but we are both really new to the sport, and it showed. If you had quizzed us the day before, we would have had the right answers, in the moment, it was just a lot going on for a newbie.

I agree about the octo, it should not have been taken off the necklace, but like I said before, in my OW classes and checkout dives, all of our groups octos were brand new and all would free flow if we left them in the octo holders on our BC's. That is bad equipment management on the part of the shop, yes. In the moment, since that is what I had already experience, when I saw bubbles, my very first mental thought was: "Damn, even my octo is spurting bubbles, let me get it off my neck and facing down", which is how I had stopped the flowing during training. As soon as I did, and the bubbles were still in my face, I knew it was my main 2nd stage. I had already had the thought when we first got in the water, that I couldn't feel anything very well with the marshmallow man gloves I was wearing.

In the moments at depth with the free flow about 300 things raced through my mind... Get the oct, don't get the octo you can breath on the free flowing reg just fine, breath deep, wow he is far away, i should swim up, get the octo, no your gloves are too thick to quickly feel for the hose, check your air, wow that is going fast, go up, go slow, dump air, wait you are having to kick really hard to get up, get up, check air..etc... I understand this is mostly a case of inexperience. Being at 60 feet was also weighing on my mind already, since that wasn't where I expected I would be.

My buddy agreed we did not stick to the plan, and he admitted he gets tunnel vision, and actually made the comment, that he is even worse when he has his camera. Thrilling. Before the trip he made a big deal about wanting to buy some sort of underwater noise makers, or tank bangers, so we could get each others attention... I had down played that idea, as I had zero intention of being far enough away that I couldn't just tap him.... so much for that... now I know why he wanted the noise makers.

Thanks to the people that are kinda sticking up for us.... I appreciate it... but I am pretty thick skinned and understand that 99% of the people on these boards are just trying to help, and it must be frustrating watching people inexperienced make mistakes that are just ingrained in themselves not to do... as this is our lives we are dealing with.



I will dive with him again, but we will be having quite the sit down meeting first. I honestly never planned on being at 60 feet that day. I really do want to find a group of more experienced divers to dive with...

 

[Teamcasa]

Reno – Plans can sometimes change, all unpracticed plans will change with the onset of anxiety or panic.

Your situation is a message that you and your buddy need to rehearse this and other situations until they become second nature. Forget the hand wringing and mashing of teeth and get back out and practice different emergency situations. Soon, both you and your buddy will begin to realize you two can handle any gear emergency with little thought. Your tendency to panic will diminish as your skills improve.

Dive safe and have fun!

 

[Piccola]

Reno1979
If there is anything you have learned from this is that things can and will go wrong and how you deal with it and what you learn from it is what is important. Unfortunately this is a valuable lesson learned and something you will remember if there is ever a next time. I truly believe what doesn't kill us makes us better in some capacity. It is important to have a good dive buddy and while many others may not agree, I think it is critical to have self-help skills because at the end of the day the person I can count on most is me. Just a little advice without mulling over the technical details which I think you understand.

 

[NEWIN50]

Beester made some great points.

Also I would recomend breathing out more slowly, to allow time for the 1st stage to warm up, and as he pointed out don't inflate BC/ drysuit while inhaling.

 

[lowviz]

We made the trip up to Bainbridge, really to test out all this new equipment I am taking to Aruba later this week


We could see about 25 feet now, and he headed straight towards a little bulldozer or tractor that was about 20 feet out in front of us. I stayed close behind him.

Two dive plans emerge from one.

Several points you may wish to consider: Bainbridge isn't Aruba, a pool would have served you better and eliminated other distractions. Sixty feet is deep for your present level of experience. That is why nobody in their right mind does CESA's on BOW students from this depth. Sixty feet is deep for someone with 12 dives, especially so when it is in cold water, lowered visibility, and without an instructor present. I think that it is a bit early to dump your buddy given his experience level. What if the tables were turned, how would you have handled it? (Probably better, but you can't be sure) Given that you are both starting out, he may develop into your preferred dive buddy. I admire your post-dive self analysis. Good job.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

So what is the protocol that is being taught to open water divers when a freeflow occurs? Are they to shut down the valve underwater or not? Just curious if things have changed much since I have not been involved in formal dive training for a long time.