Can you reach your tank knob to turn it on?

[JeffG]

must be a Canadian thing.

Nope.

 

[Cacia]

come on people, give me a little credit...I am gonna cry now.

so, why is it the smartest divers are always having all the mishaps? sinking, no air, etc. I have never even know anyone that has happened to. I am really starting to worry about the drysuit experience.

 

[dherbman]

Now, that is ironic.

You're killing me.

 

[pilot fish]

If the statement that if you are thinking then you are an idiot is not an oxymoron, I don't know what is! :lol:

Red, he's missing it all and just does not see it. Can we say whoooooooooosh

 

[pilot fish]

Actually, reread what I said. You seem confused by it.

I referred to two different subjects, NOT the same subject.

The statement was definitely not an oxymoron.

- ChillyWaters

Trust me, Chilly, she is NOT confused.

 

[pilot fish]

come on people, give me a little credit...I am gonna cry now.

so, why is it the smartest divers are always having all the mishaps? sinking, no air, etc. I have never even know anyone that has happened to. I am really starting to worry about the drysuit experience.

It just happens. The whys you ask and investigate AFTER you fix the problem. Reaching back for the air tank knob is one of ways to help yourself survive. A very useful skill, and one I want to prefect.

I think it might happen with divers that dive in a lot of different locations, that don't dive the same area, spot, every week and therefore do not build up a routine? There are different schedules, different lengths of time to dive sites, do I leave it on after I check the amount of air I have in my tank, do I shut it off now till I get there 35 minutes from now, does one forget to turn it back on? etc When you get to a new location, new crew, new divers, maybe the newness throws you off a bit and you lose concentration? You might focus on one thing and over look another, etc. It happens, to experienced divers as well as new divers, WHICH IS WHY IT IS NECESSARY TO LEARN WHAT TO DO IF THAT SHOULD HAPPEN.

 

[Hank49]

I hear this senario often around here...can't imagine it myself. Don't you tak your first breath (and second and third) before you are very deep? And what about this "sinking"? Can't you simply fin to the surface? Checking that breathing is "going well" is my top priority the firat 30 seconds after splashing.

Also, if I had just started descending and noticed I couldn't breath, I wouldn't bother looking for any valve, I'd surface right away. What if the valve isn't the problem? The deeper you go, the deeper s**t you're in.

 

[lamont]

I hear this senario often around here...can't imagine it myself. Don't you tak your first breath (and second and third) before you are very deep? And what about this "sinking"? Can't you simply fin to the surface? Checking that breathing is "going well" is my top priority the firat 30 seconds after splashing.

Happened to me around dive #20. Someone did a "tank off + quarter turn on" to me on the boat and I didn't catch it. Inflating my wing worked fine, breathing off the regs was fine at the surface. Regs started breathing hard around 30 ft. At around 60 ft i caught up with my buddy, the DM who was leading the dive (good reason not to buddy with a DM) and was going to give him a "something up with my reg" sign, but the last breath i took at 60 feet wasn't enough to sustain life so I went with an OOA instead. We went over valve drills the next weekend.

Something which is more likely to happen to the inexperienced diver, and more likely to only happen once.

 

[ChillyWaters]

Also, if I had just started descending and noticed I couldn't breath, I wouldn't bother looking for any valve, I'd surface right away. What if the valve isn't the problem? The deeper you go, the deeper s**t you're in.

Yup, I said that about 20 pages ago, but got my head ripped off for it.

Especially if this skill is referred to as a necessary skill, imagine a new diver wasting his time trying to open up the valve, then not having enough time to get to the surface when that doesn't work... oooooopppppssss... I guess (s)he'll learn for next time though, right?

- ChillyWaters

 

[Cacia]

Okay, Lamont, I see how that could happen.

I think my valve (since I do not do valve drills) is always the LAST thing I do. In other words, I would not walk away from my tank, return and not repeat that step. If anyone touches it except for a few known entities...same thing.