BC HOSE RIPS OFF---No Positive Buoyancy

[Vayu]

Maybe the FSU program used to produce good divers and I say this only because I have heard of its previous director. In the current version, as with other Florida college scuba machines, it is hardly producing the 'best' divers. What they do produce is over-confident divers who are in sore need of a reality check.

The lobster law is in place for a reason, man.

Also, since you should have been neutrally buoyant, inhaling should have solved the problem.

-V

 

[FSU John]

Also, since you should have been neutrally buoyant, inhaling should have solved the problem.

-V

I in fact, never said we were the best divers, nor have I said I am the best diver in the world. I said we were the best trained divers, and neutral bouancy is a hard skill to master as a newer diver. I joined this board to learn from other people. It is easy to learn in a pool with an instructor, while the school supplies the gear and weight. It is another story to have hand me down gear, and be a perfect diver in unfamiliar situations.

I am comfortable in the water, and 25feet of water is not life and death...unless I would have followed your suggestion and held my breath from 25feet and ascended, which would have placed me(and my lungs) in much more danger than not having any positive bouyancy at all.

 

[xfive4x]

I in fact, never said we were the best divers, nor have I said I am the best diver in the world. I said we were the best trained divers, and neutral bouancy is a hard skill to master as a newer diver. I joined this board to learn from other people. It is easy to learn in a pool with an instructor, while the school supplies the gear and weight. It is another story to have hand me down gear, and be a perfect diver in unfamiliar situations.

I am comfortable in the water, and 25feet of water is not life and death...unless I would have followed your suggestion and held my breath from 25feet and ascended, which would have placed me(and my lungs) in much more danger than not having any positive bouyancy at all.

Establishing neutral bouyancy is the first thing one should do when getting in the water with SCUBA gear. Also, there is a differance between not breathing and holding one's breath. Had you been properly weighted (ie neutrally buoyant) all you would have had to do is inhale (whilst not holding your breath) and you would have ascended no questions asked. Your right, buoyancy is a difficult skill to master, and the best way to learn it is not to haul off into the water extremely overweighted to procure lobster. Your "good training" should have more then made you aware of this. I notice you included your pool dives in your dive count. That is...very interesting to say the least.

 

[Vayu]

Yeah.. It sucks that it happened, but it was relatively mild enough to be a good learning experience. Also, as you know, do not hold your breath on ascent. It is possible to ascend with breath control without holding your breath.

No worries man. Just dive smarter and don't mess with the wildlife protection laws. College scuba programs have alot of benefits, but they are no where near the best training available.

-V

 

[Packhorse]

Sounds like Karma bit you on your arse! It also sounds like you are way over confident. 20 dives is nothing. by the time you get to 100 dives you will realise this.
over weighted + under experianced+ over confident + bad karma from poaching= very lucky to be alive.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Not being over weighted in the first place is Solution # 1

Solution # 2 is to use some form of redundant floatation such as a buddy, or a lift bag and reel.

Solution # 3 is to drop the lobsters and swim up

Solution # 4 is to drop the lobsters and some weight and swim up.

And as a last resort if you cannot get off the bottom at all and do not have a lift bag and reel, roll on your left side with the inflator side low in the water on the under side of the BC so that you can inflate and trap some air in the right side of the BC. You'll have to ascend sideways, but it will get you to the surface. Ascending head down also works, but can be a little more disorienting if you are not an experienced diver.

I often see students really yank on the corrogated BC hose to get it to dump and in my opinon this is responsible for the majoroity of the failures of this type. An inflator hose mounted dump valve is designed to be gently tugged, the plastic fitting and the fabric it is mounted to will not tolerate a great deal of jerking or yanking.

I had a wing mounted dump valve fail open once (a couple dives after the dealer assured me it was not one of the valves affected by a recall.) The first repsonse to this type of "emergency" is to stop and think so you can identify the problem and then work the problem. The failed wing vented air in a normal swimming position and left me firmly on the bottom, but the wing trapped air in a vertical position so the problem and the solution were both pretty obvious even at depth once I stopped to consider what was happening.

 

[FSU John]

YES! I really appreciate you analyzing my dive Aquamaster. Your suggestion to roll on my side and try to inflate is an excellent idea if things were bad enough. Upon further analysis of the event, I believe that I may have put my arm between the hoses to keep it easily available to me. The BC was a Mares BC and from what I've heard they dont make the best quality equipment. I have recently purchased a Used SeaQuest QD+ which during my couple of dives with this BC the inflator hose is stiff enough that is always right next to my face when I go to look for it. I no longer have to put my arm through the two hoses to keep it close.

This BC is weight integrated, which is not what I was trained on. I am getting used to it and it is nice. Can you guys give me a some advice on weight for following situations?

I am 160lbs less than10%body fat and I dive with an aluminum 80:
no wetsuit saltwater
2mil wetsuit saltwater
5 mil wetsuit freshwater
Your suggestions will help get me a starting point. Thanks!

These boards are great, but it is hard to to clearly explain one's self. My pool dives are not included in my total dive count. I have 27 dives under my belt since becoming certified in 2004. I put the number of pool dives on the board b/c most people get 2-3 during their express training. I had 10+ where for instance we had to jump in and put all our gear on underwater while only having the regulator in my mouth. We had to follow a line with no mask. 200yard snorkle appreciation swim=No air in BC and NO SNORKLE and NO REGULATOR. We had to pass the certification swim=400yards in under 12 min. These are just a couple of things that have made me comfortable in the water, perhaps over confident? Maybe, but I doubt that many of you on this board werent over confident.... With enough enthusiasm to join this board I know you were ecstatic to get certified, if you even got certified back in the day when dinosaurs still roamed the earth...lol, j/k

 

[FSU_KURT]

John,
I too am a very new diver, and I thank you for laying your *** on the line in this forum so that I may learn from it. I looks like we both go to FSU. While I think that diving with you will result in my death, I will definatly have a beer with some time and talk SCUBA.
-K

 

[Vayu]

put the number of pool dives on the board b/c most people get 2-3 during their express training. I had 10+ where for instance we had to jump in and put all our gear on underwater while only having the regulator in my mouth. We had to follow a line with no mask. 200yard snorkle appreciation swim=No air in BC and NO SNORKLE and NO REGULATOR. We had to pass the certification swim=400yards in under 12 min. These are just a couple of things that have made me comfortable in the water

Big deal man. I had the same exact training at UF and it only makes you think you are comfortable in the water. College Scuba programs have a reputation of making superman divers - young athletes who are quite willing to jump in over their head before they realize that mortality still applies.

One thing your program did not do was teach you how to figure out your own weighting... with 10+ dives in a pool its hard to see how this could have happened. We trained bailouts all the time like you did, but a few simple trim and buoyancy sessions would have been better for the whole class. What you have also done is highlighted the fact that FSU does not teach environmental conservation. What else was lacking?

Seriously... been there, done that. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is take some time in a neutral environment and figure out diving so that you don't end up in this situation again. OW dive training, no matter how rigorous, will still only open the gates to learning about the aquatic world.

-V

 

[Butch103]

You can try to explain everything away, however it is obvious that you didn't pay any attention to your instructor regarding inflation and deflation of your BC. You again ignored local laws. I really hope you are not taking medicine or engineering where your lack of attention and care for laws don't kill someone other than you.

It is numbties like you that give the rest of us divers a bad rap.