Can you reach your tank knob to turn it on?

[do it easy]

That seems odd unless you have a tank that can hold 30 pounds in weight of air, or you have a really compressible drysuit.

You really only "need" to be negative by the amount of buoyancy change you experience during the dive (in a drysuit) which is basically the minimal compression of undergarment, and weight of gas carried, right?

Yes, I have a crushed neoprene drysuit. I had dropped my weightbelt on the entry (giant dive) and pulled myself down the line to retrieve it 50' below. Yes, it's a bad idea, don't try it at home or anywhere! I didn't inflate my wing or drysuit at first. When I got around 30', I was negative. Towards the bottom, I had to inflate to get neutral.

As far as the weighting question, yes, if neutrally buoyant with empty tanks and lofted drysuit, then at the start of the dive on the surface, I would be negative by the weight of the gas. However, since the neoprene compresses with depth, I become more negative as I descend. That is the nature of neoprene. I need the weights to leave the surface, but after that, they are dead weight, until I want to make a controlled ascent.

Now, back to the retrieving the weights. I didn't want to ascend without them, but I had inflated to pick them up. The bottom was silty and I didn't want to blow it out either, so I decided not to "kneel on the bottom" to replace the weights. I could have put them on and remained neutral, but I did not want to risk dropping them. Instead, I ascended along the line with my weights firmly in hand. Dropping the weights would be bad, but the line was nearby to help mitigate that risk. In the perfect world, I should have sent some divers down with a liftbag to float them up to me.

 

[HowardE]

It's easy to reach your knobs with one of these.

 

[KMD]

Well, maybe if someone would give a few reasons when it is necessary. I've told you how all situations that have been prescribed already can be dealt easily with the basic skills we have all learned in OW training.

I think divers should get VERY good at those skills, and they should be able to handle nearly every situation thrown at them. Practice, practice, practice.

Why can't those people who object to my view give a situation when the normal OW skills won't save them?

- ChillyWaters

You and your buddy do your predive checks and you jump in the water. After a final quick review, you swim to the boats anchor line and thumb the decent. The plan calls for you to decend along the line until you reach bottom. Unfortunatly you didnt notice that as you decended the line got between your valve and the tank. The friction from the decent caused your valve to roll off. You are now underwater, negative and have no air. Your choices are:

a) Your buddy fixes the problem. This relies upon him knowing there is a problem in the first place. What if he was decending slightly ahead of you? or is slower on decent? or has his attention elsewhere for some reason?
b) Do a CESA Tougher to do. Cesa is often times practiced even less then valve drills. Plus you are already negative and out of breath.
c) Reach back and turn your valve back on.

 

[Kim]

My original rebuttal about it not being a necessary skill on a single tank, well that argument is void for tech divers, as they generally are NOT single tank divers.

That's actually not true. An entry level tech course like cavern is often taught using a single cylinder. Reaching your valve is an essential part of that course.

 

[limeyx]

Exactly. I think many people that have responded need to ask "what am I doing wrong?" before asking "how do I fix it?"

- ChillyWaters

Except i misread the original post
I thought it said "I am 30 POUNDS" negative ... not negative at 30 feet

and BTW, I am one of the ones that agree that reaching the valve is a necessary skill...

 

[limeyx]

As I read DIE's post, it states that he is negative when he hits 30', not that he is 30lbs negative.

Yeah, I misread the post.

 

[limeyx]

That's actually not true. An entry level tech course like cavern is often taught using a single cylinder. Reaching your valve is an essential part of that course.

Or don't go into an overhead environment without a redundant gas supply ...

 

[pilot fish]

I was trying to keep your thread pure. Besides, that was baiting, not trolling.

A difference without a distinction

anyway, this is as much YOUR thread as it is mine. I'm learning a lot from this thread. Thanks

 

[pilot fish]

Its not, but the fact that you see it as a different argument shows a bit of shortsightedness.

I agree with you JeffG. Also, sport divers want to survive an accident as much as tech divers do.
Hold it, hold it! You're not a Tech diver so get your hand off that knob. Find another way to get air! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[pilot fish]

Exactly. I think many people that have responded need to ask "what am I doing wrong?" before asking "how do I fix it?"

- ChillyWaters

I'll ask that question AFTER I fix it.