Bounce dive to 65' for 10 dollar snorkel

[olli]

Just looking for a little input, we had just finished a dive to a max depth of 61' for 38 minutes with most of that time spent around 55'. after a safety stop at 15' we ascended to the surface. On the surface my buddy drops his snorkel and we watch it drop back to the bottom at 65'. We had about 900psi left in our tanks, and my computer had me at 1 bar into the yellow on nitrogen loading(Aeris atmos AI). He said he was going to go get it, and i said no way, you are out a snorkel.(can get a fold up for the pocket now) He still said it would be no big deal. We didnt dive for the snorkel, and decided to post the discussion here for who was right or wrong. Thanks

By the way dive was at an altitude of 5900

 

[VooDooGasMan]

When solo diving off my boat eventually you have to go down and dislodge my anchor (yes I did not do it correctly for when high current changes it now caught in another direction).


Sometimes in a greater depth than yours, it has to do with you air consumption, computers are really safe, depends on your dive also.

Happy Diving

 

[Dtaine]

Just looking for a little input, we had just finished a dive to a max depth of 61' for 38 minutes with most of that time spent around 55'. after a safety stop at 15' we ascended to the surface. On the surface my buddy drops his snorkel and we watch it drop back to the bottom at 65'. We had about 900psi left in our tanks, and my computer had me at 1 bar into the yellow on nitrogen loading(Aeris atmos AI). He said he was going to go get it, and i said no way, you are out a snorkel.(can get a fold up for the pocket now) He still said it would be no big deal. We didnt dive for the snorkel, and decided to post the discussion here for who was right or wrong. Thanks

By the way dive was at an altitude of 5900

You have 900psi left in your tanks, if you're using standard al80's with a starting pressure of 3000 or so then you've used up two-thirds of your air. Should you go back down after the snorkel and have a problem at depth then you've got significantly less time to work that problem out before your air supply is gone. Forget the snorkel, or get it on a later dive with fresh tanks.

 

[jjwdiver]

I'll agree with Dtaine

 

[RJP]

Well, that'll teach him for wearing a snorkle!

 

[jjwdiver]

Well, that'll teach him for wearing a snorkle!

that was my first thought

 

[gcbryan]

I wouldn't do it for a snorkel but would for something more valuable. The 900 psi wouldn't bother me if the search was short but I wouldn't go through the pressure changes (possible nitrogen bubbles recompressing and then expanding again) for a snorkel.

 

[harmony]

I dive on an almost daily basis and I have seen some valuable items go to the bottom. I would certainly not let a diver descend after surfacing to retrieve a snorkel. Things are not always as they appear. He might not find it immediately. The cost of a new snorkel does not warrant any risk. I know of a incident several years ago where a couple both drowned while trying to retrieve a rented scuba tank which had fallen off their boat in 18 metres. They left 2 young children without parents. Now I know that a dive tank is expensive, but nothing is worth such a risk. If the item is very expensive, I would probably go myself and handle any possible decompression. It depends on many factors. My advice is don't take unecessary risks.

 

[Brewone0to]

What is a snorkle?

 

[don Francisco]

Olli- I'm with you, & wouldn't go after it either. For me it isn't only a matter of remaining air and NDL time, there's also the issue of "mission creep".

It isn't likely that the snorkel fell straight down to be found immediately upon reaching the bottom. So we have to deal with the reality that the same person who was willing to dive for it in the first place probably wouldn't give up if he didn't find it right away. An "in for a penny, in for a pound" mentality would set in, extending the search effort while the air and NDL clocks continue to tick down.

Often it isn't the initial poor decisions that cause disasters, but a chain of events and poor decisions that occur subsequently.