BCD failed while shore diving in the Phillipines

[LarryR]

I had a BCD failure a few years ago diving solo. I wrote about my " learning experience" in the "I learned about diving" section.
My BCD would not hold air due to a crack in the inflator hose connection. After realizing what was happening, I quickly checked my gas level and knew that I had plenty of time to work the problem. BTW was at 100 ft. Dropping weights is the last thing you want to do as long as you have bottom under you and gas in your tank. It is very possible that you were a bit heavy with weight as others have mentioned. Experience will help you find you "correct" weight.
Untill then,
One thing you may want to invest in is a SMD or safety sausage as mentioned above.. In the event of this type of failure, it can be used to assist in reaching the surface.
You can use it as to help "float". Remembering that it will expand as you rise and it could be tricky to regulate.
Or, shoot it up with a line and pull yourself to the surface.
In both cases, drop weight when you reach the surface.
I don't dive without one since my experience.
As it was, I didn't think to use mine at the time. I simply worked my way back to the anchor line by swimming and sort of crawling on the bottom.
Big key is to remain calm and work through the issue. Don't let stress turn into panic and make a poor choice.

 

[Damselfish]

Possible causes are limited by our imagination.

yup. Had one that was fine one day, leaking the next - something chewed a hole in my apparently tasty inflator hose overnight.

 

[gcarter]

Pinch flat in my wing caused by a crew member messing with my rig between dives.

That's always fun. At least it was low down, so as long as I stayed slightly heads up it would hold sufficient air.