Attacked for your air supply?

[DennisW]

From a post in 2006. I've described this incident several times.

Several years ago, while on a float dive off West Palm, I was very rudely liberated from my primary reg. The guy that took it was OOA and wasn't even from our boat, much less from our group. I use an Air 2 set up, so I grabbed my Air 2, then grabbed the other diver's BC to control the situation. This guy's eyes were the size of the lenses in his mask. It took a little while before I could get him calmed down and able to recognize that I was a human asking for an OK sign. When he finally gave me an OK, we made a controlled ascent and surfaced next to the flag. I put him on our boat and told them to go find his boat. Then I finished my dive.

If someone is OOA, they will take your primary before you know they are even there. Test your secondary on every dive to make sure it works and you can easily reach it when you have to.

 

[Meng_Tze]

I had a situation like that yes. Diving off of Jupiter, cattle boat. Just finning around looking at pretty fishies. We come across a dive pair and all of the sudden, one of the divers starts wildly gesturing and obviously panicking. I get closer to see what's up since his buddy is to far away and also seemed stunned. Diver starts grabbing my reg. I donate 'long shlong' and grab a hold of him and deflate/exhale (at this point he is going up). I look at him in his mask and see water, wild eyes and maybe a hint of fear. He calms down some what and after he half clears his mask, we start going up with me basically weighing him down..... at about 20ft or so he 'sees the light' and is unstoppable in getting to the surface... what the heck I follow, we blow safety stop and I inflate his BC at the surface take my 'long shlong' back and that was it.

 

[deepblueme]

Yes Yes and yes

Twice I have had P-word experienced divers pull my reg and then try to bolt.
Both times I got my Air2 and rode them to the surface.

Multi P-word surface assists and they will try to climb on top of you.

On one dive (like a fool) I didn't check the psi in a tank I got from the "Full" rack jumped in and about 5 min into a 40ft dive that no more air feeling from the reg hit.
I gave my buddy (one of my DM's) the OOA sign (he was about 10ft away) and started toward the surface (I figured why bother with airshare as I was out freediving the site earlier).

Well hit he me like a truck ripped my reg from my mouth and shoved his in place and split both my lips in the process. (I guess I trained him alittle to well).

 

[DavidPT40]

I've been meaning to extend the hose on my primary regulator for out of air emergencies, but I've never gotten around to it. The stock hoses are pitifully short, and I could see out someones mask could get ripped off by a panicked diver.

 

[DennisW]

I'm not sure I want the guy or gal too far away from me. I want to grab them and control their ascent, up close and personal. If I lose my mask, so what? I can't see well, but I can see. You should be able to make a controlled ascent and safety stop without your mask.

 

[Humble older aquaman]

They were out of air, not out of control, and took my primary. The out of control types usually bolt to surface. I think the urgancy to get air makes most go for primary even though they probably know there's an octo some where. Would agree and endorse that knowing at all times where your alternate is is crucial. More so for you than the buddy.

Hoa!

 

[DarthWader]

"Attacked for my Air Supply"? no, but I've been beat-up for my Boston. . .
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Seriously though, I was trained to expect a hostile buddy during an OOA; and that a pony aleviates this worry.

 

[bubba105]

All good stuff. One other thing came to mind. If you see someone coming to you for air, hit the purge as they get the reg to their mouth. If they've exhaled all, or most of their air, they may not have enough air to blow out and clear their mouth of water.

 

[Teamcasa]

OOA - Its a drill that needs to practiced constantly. Not just how to get air when you find yourself out but how to hand off your OCTO and/or use it yourself should you suddenly find yourself missing yours. I like to practice dumping air in my BC when I give the OCTO up. This helps prevents becoming a Poseidon missile.

Practice does not make perfect – it makes permanent.

Dave

 

[ibaun]

This is covered in a rescue class. You would basically try to get the panicked diver to calm down, keeping yourself out of their reach.

'Try' is the key word here, it's very optimistic thinking that you can calm them down in a real world situation. It's a pure instinct to rush to the surface and grab every bit of air you find underway, stopping at nothing. As a buddy you can only hope that you weigh enough to keep him down when you are holding on to his legs.

Same goes for people who hyperventilate underwater. If you've ever seen that happen, you know it's an absolute horror. Calming them down is not an option, they have to do it themselves and the buddy has to minimize the damage done.