Calm-headed response

[Lorenzoid]

Precisely!! I had the same thought. Just seems like a bad idea to make that big a show of it all. But still, hat tip to the guy--cool as a cucumber.

For all we know, he explained his actions to the others during a debrief and explained that he doesn't recommend others handle it that way. Maybe as a dive pro, on a relatively shallow dive, he thought it would be an opportunity to see if he could re-seat a reg underwater--perhaps something he knew was possible but had never tried--and otherwise decided to make a teachable moment in keeping calm out of it.

 

[Kay Dee]

Show off or not, that was one coooooooool dude! But I wouldn't call the incident "at depth", it looked like a pretty shallow dive to me. Still, all kudos to him just the same.

 

[Slow]

I have been on a dive with a DM with a similar problem and similar cool reaction...his inflator hose popped at about 40 feet with nobody near him. I was the first diver to him and offered him my octo, which he refused. He already had his BC off and was breathing from the escaping gas coming from the broken hose. He would turn off the valve between breaths.

Valve on. Breathe in. Valve off. Slow exhale. Valve on. Breathe in. Etc.

He eventually did take my octo, roman handshaked and we surfaced with a safety stop. My main thought at the time was, "You know, that's excessive showing off." He later said to me that he was just trying to see if breathing like that could successfully be done...once he was happy it could be, he took my octo.

Oh, this was my last AOW cert dive too...I passed.

 

[SapphireMind]

he didn't need a pony, his skills and diving with others mitigated the failure. Plus, even with the leak, he had enough gas to make the roof in a controlled assent. Recreational diving is cool that way actually.

Exactly. This is why I will never be a tech diver. I like the reassurance that the surface is always available.

That has not always been true. The faster one can get certified, the fewer options one can be taught and practiced for use in an emergency.


Bob

I was taught controlled surface ascent if you had air issues. Perhaps it's over-conservative, but if I have a major equipment issue underwater, my plan is to safely ascend in a controlled manner, then investigate what went wrong.

I was taught the former, but definitely not the latter. Yes, find an alternate gas source, preferably ASAP. No, don't bolt to the surface unless you really, really need to.

If you have gas, you have ample time to resolve the issue. Or at least make a controlled ascent.

I agree, bolting to the surface is almost never the answer and that is taught in classes.

 

[tursiops]

I agree, bolting to the surface is almost never the answer and that is taught in classes.

I doubt that. Surfacing is taught, but not bolting. Definitely not bolting.

 

[SapphireMind]

I doubt that. Surfacing is taught, but not bolting. Definitely not bolting.

You misunderstand what I was saying. I was not saying that bolting was taught. I said "bolting to the surface is almost never the answer" and then said that the previous statement (bolting to the surface is almost never the answer) is taught in class.

 

[tursiops]

You misunderstand what I was saying. I was not saying that bolting was taught. I said "bolting to the surface is almost never the answer" and then said that the previous statement (bolting to the surface is almost never the answer) is taught in class.

Yes, I misunderstood. Sorry.

 

[martincohn]

This is why I will never be a tech diver. I like the reassurance that the surface is always available.

You scratch the surface of the oceans...we just get a little more under our nails.

And get to hang there looking at the light stuck watching the time tick away.

 

[myshadeofred]

This was a great video of an actual malfunction and his confidence shown through. I do agree, for this I think a pony would have been in the way.

 

[Khrissi]

@cerich good to see. I would dive with that man. NO PANIC. Thanks, K