Close calls?

What kind of close calls have you encountered while diving?

  • Out of air emergencies

    Votes: 2 6.7%
  • Entanglements

    Votes: 9 30.0%
  • Equipment failure

    Votes: 12 40.0%
  • "Dangerous" marine life encounters

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Entrapement

    Votes: 1 3.3%
  • Medical problems

    Votes: 1 3.3%
  • loss of orientation/lost

    Votes: 5 16.7%
  • unknown cause/not sure what happend

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    30
  • Poll closed .

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divemed06

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Have you ever had any close calls while diving! What type of problem did you encounter? Share your stories so that we may learn from them.
 
divemed06 once bubbled...
Have you ever had any close calls while diving! What type of problem did you encounter? Share your stories so that we may learn from them.

...also, what you did to fix the problem/prevent a disaster. thx
 
I have had or been there when several of the above happened. I was there when a (possibly) narced diver freaked at 100 ffw in a cavern and did a too-rapid ascent, making it neccesary to fly them to a chamber.

I was there when another diver on our charter made a too rapid ascent (for reasons known only to her) from 110 fsw on a wreck dive and was killed.

Last January, while performing a wreck dive, I was swimming around the stern of the wreck at about 100 fsw when I swam into a large tangle of invisible fishing line. I was almost immediately tangled: head, legs and arms. My buddy, seeing my distress, swam closer, but I waved her back. I didn't want to get her stuck as well.

I managed to get to my knife and was able to cut myself free. We finished the dive and finished the trip. I DID yell a lot of expletives into my reg, though.

I've been stung by jelly fish on two different occasions.
 
I forget to chek the box that allows several options to be chosen on the poll...sorry!
 
I had an interesting experience today. I was in 75 ft of water lifiting a 400lb rock with a few 100 and 200 lb lift bags in order to move it add to an existing anchor for a mooring that is a little light for the winds and waves in the area.

One of the little bungee cords that holds the bag when it is rolled managed to wrap itself around one of my first stages. In the low viz conditions present after rigging the bags on a mud bottom, this was not obvious until the bags and rock lifted and started for the surface. Some quick action with a dump valve was required to set everything back on the bottom.

In the now zero viz of the post impact mushroom cloud of silt, I then felt around for the problem. I could feel the strap stretch so I new that the bungee loop at the end of it was what had snagged. I also could not get the thing free and it was quicker and easier in zero viz to just cut the offending bungee than it was to try to communicate the problem to a buddy I could not even see, or to remove the wing to get a better "look" at the problem.

The new technique derived from this experience is to clip the offending bungee loop on the carabiner along with the ring from the bag when rigging it for the lift so that the bungee is not free to float around and snag on anything.
 
I've been entangled a few times, but one in particular was close call for me.

I got entangled in some kelp, my buddy was oblivious and just swam on by. I was thinking <CENSORED>! Ok, think!!!

It took some doing, I was pretty tangled up. I did get free, alot of time had passed though, no buddy near by. I surfaced normally after freeing myself, waited, waited, buddy finally showed up. I was amazed, he didn't even ask, "Dude, are you ok"? he was more like Dude! what a great dive! Yeah, I was a little tweaked out about it inside. I don't dive with that guy anymore. But, I do remember thinking MANY thoughts while I was busy trying to free myself. Had I not kept a cool head, that day might have turned out quite differently.

Yes, I still dive in kelp, what I want to see is there, in the kelp. I've also been entangled a few times since, I'm alot better at getting clear of it though.
 
One of the little bungee cords that holds the bag when it is rolled managed to wrap itself around one of my first stages
 
divemed06 once bubbled...
Have you ever had any close calls while diving! What type of problem did you encounter? Share your stories so that we may learn from them.

I had an interesting experience about 18 years ago that I still remember. I was playing "victim" for a rescue course and the rescuer knocked the reg out of my mouth when he rolled me over on the bottom. He then proceeded to lift me in a very odd way by grabbing my arms and sort of slinging me over his shoulders (needless to say he had to repeat the exercise but that's another story). My reg was floating somewhere and I was pinned on my rescuer in such a way that I couldn't get an arm free to retrieve it. I started out thinking I could make the ascent without the reg in my mouth but he was going nice and slow and I wasn't going to make it. I started trying to get an arm free but the more I struggled the tighter he held on. It was looking pretty depressing so I went limp and he let loose a bit and I put all my energy into one big YANK and pulled my arms free. He turned around to see what I was doing and I gave him the OOA sign (sort of, I opened my mouth and pointed in.... :)) He gave me his primary and we finished the ascent buddy breathing.

That's the closest I've come to being in real trouble. After that I started holding my reg in my mouth when I was getting lifted. :)

R..
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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