Divemasters, is it really our job ?

[Scubakevdm]

I'm curious, as divers what do you think my job description is.

Your job is to help people while they're diving. There's an infinite list of things to do and every diver needs something different. Some need help with the basics of diving, some could probably give you a few pointers. The better you understand diving, the better you will be able to understand and anticipate each diver's needs. If you start to get confused during the course of the day, ask yourself; this thing that I happen to be doing right now, am I doing it so that I can have fun, or am I doing something so that the customer can have fun? That should resolve about 99% of the ambiguities. Being a DM is my full-time job. Regardless of whether or not hand holding is a part of my job description, if the customer leaves my boat with a bad experience, I haven't done my job.

 

[Scuba]

Your job is to help people while they're diving. There's an infinite list of things to do and every diver needs something different. Some need help with the basics of diving, some could probably give you a few pointers. The better you understand diving, the better you will be able to understand and anticipate each diver's needs. If you start to get confused during the course of the day, ask yourself; this thing that I happen to be doing right now, am I doing it so that I can have fun, or am I doing something so that the customer can have fun? That should resolve about 99% of the ambiguities. Being a DM is my full-time job. Regardless of whether or not hand holding is a part of my job description, if the customer leaves my boat with a bad experience, I haven't done my job.

I agree with the above.

I'll just add, whatever YOU think your job is, don't ASSUME others think the same way. Communicate what you will be doing - and if necessary not doing, clearly and accurately. This was the main point in that other thread. For a relationship to properly function, all must have the same understanding, as a minimum.

 

[miketsp]

"One thing I'd personally be leery about is if a person indicates they're alone/solo, the dive is deeper than 25-30 feet, and I don't see the diver carrying redundant gas (a pony). In that case the diver should be paired/tripled, doesn't matter if I think they said they want to be solo -- basic safety at depth requires access to backup gas. (People are ultimately personally responsible, but as DM you want to catch obvious whoopses, and solo deep without backup classifies as an obvious this-isn't-right)"

I totally disagree with you. I have done a ton of diving at depths greater than 30 feet, as have most divers. Diving "solo" with no backup gas? Not really a problem if you know what you are doing and are careful. (my opinion). It all has a lot to do with your experience, your gear (reg) and your tank and it's size. I dive a Low Pressure Steel 95 and have NEVER run out of air on a dive. Even on dives exceeding 80 feet I have not had a problem. I dive using the rule of 3rds as far as my gas consumption goes and it has never failed me.

Who's talking about bad gas planning? What do you do if you have a major failure in a non-redundant system at the end of the dive when your tank pressure is low and even within NDL a rapid CESA might put you on the wrong side of the statistics?
I've experienced an o-ring blowout and my regular buddy had an octopus come unscrewed.
Being careful isn't enough (although nowadays I do always check the hose nuts).

 

[TheRedHead]

I had a primary from a rental come unscrewed and my buddy made it worse by trying to fix it underwater. I had a free flowing second stage during my open water checkouts. No big deal. You gotta get mental about it.

 

[miketsp]

I had a primary from a rental come unscrewed and my buddy made it worse by trying to fix it underwater. I had a free flowing second stage during my open water checkouts. No big deal. You gotta get mental about it.

Calm or not is not the point I was making.
You had a buddy, I had a buddy and my buddy had a buddy.
ScubaMike14 is advocating solo diving without redundant gear.
That is just tempting Murphy.

 

[ScubaMike14]

Who's talking about bad gas planning? What do you do if you have a major failure in a non-redundant system at the end of the dive when your tank pressure is low and even within NDL a rapid CESA might put you on the wrong side of the statistics?
I've experienced an o-ring blowout and my regular buddy had an octopus come unscrewed.
Being careful isn't enough (although nowadays I do always check the hose nuts).

To start, I AM NOT advocating anything. Trust me. However $#!T can happen to anyone at anytime regardless of buddies, redundant gear, etc. You and perhaps others that read or have read this may think that I am crazy, unsafe, or just plain stupid. I'm fine with that.

1. As for Gas Planning, I dive by the Rule of 3rd's so that I will (hopefully) never run out of air. 3000+ PSI to start, 2000+ PSI = Time to ascend, 1000+ PSI left over for any emergency that may arise. By diving this way I have never encountered any problems. I have even had to share air with other new divers on an ascent line and still surfaced without either of us running out of air or doing a CESA.

Should something similar to your experience's such as a blown O-Ring, loose 2nd Stg, etc occur, by managing my gas the way I do none of these would result in a life or death problem. That is, within recreational limits. On technical dives such as deep wrecks, cavern or cave you enter a whole new realm of diving where double and triple redundancy is absolutely the norm. When doing these types of dives I sometimes have 2 or 3 extra bottles for backup, stage gas, etc.

Relying on someone else to be there for you in case of an emergency just doesn't work. "Hope" is not a planning factor. Unless your buddy is attaced to you for the entire dive, and he/she has enough gas left for the two of you. What if you run out of air or have a catastrophic failure, swim to your "buddy" to find out they only have 500 PSI left and your depth is 100 feet? Time to seek Jesus! What if (Posideon forbid) that you get your leg caught in a Giant Clam! What if a whale swallows your buddy?

I am not trying to belittle or talk (type?) down to you. I am just saying that you and you alone are responsible for YOU. I guess I have applied some of my advanced training and reading to recreational diving. Basically you have to know your gear, be ready for any emergency, and know that when it comes down to it, you can only rely on yourself.

Allright, I will now step down from my soapbox. I welcome comments from others and may actually learn a thing or two from them. However I am not looking to start a 4000 post flame war.

 

[TheRedHead]

Calm or not is not the point I was making.
You had a buddy, I had a buddy and my buddy had a buddy.
ScubaMike14 is advocating solo diving without redundant gear.
That is just tempting Murphy.

Oh, ok, my bad. I'm not sure what he is saying though.

 

[Narced141]

This thread is great, I am a new DM and all the info will help me be a better DM.
I got a lot of information in a shot time in my internship but this thread gives me a lot to think about. Thanks!

 

[Charlie99]

I totally disagree with you. I have done a ton of diving at depths greater than 30 feet, as have most divers. Diving "solo" with no backup gas? Not really a problem if you know what you are doing and are careful. (my opinion). It all has a lot to do with your experience, your gear (reg) and your tank and it's size. I dive a Low Pressure Steel 95 and have NEVER run out of air on a dive. Even on dives exceeding 80 feet I have not had a problem. I dive using the rule of 3rds as far as my gas consumption goes and it has never failed me.

Should something similar to your experience's such as a blown O-Ring, loose 2nd Stg, etc occur, by managing my gas the way I do none of these would result in a life or death problem. That is, within recreational limits.

How does the rule of thirds help when your tank O-ring blows or you have catastrophic no-gas failure of your reg at 100+', no redundant gas source, and no buddy around?

 

[ScubaMike14]

How does the rule of thirds help when your tank O-ring blows or you have catastrophic no-gas failure of your reg at 100+', no redundant gas source, and no buddy around?

Thanks for the input. I have never heard of a "no-gas failure" of a regulator unless the tank is empty. Then it's really not a regulator problem, it's operator error, poor planning, failure to pay attention, etc. Having been factory trained by Zeagle and Sherwood Scuba I know a thing or two about regs. (at least thiers). If something goes wrong, LP seat bursts, O-ring goes out, etc...the reguator will free flow like crazy. This is a safety feature inherent in almost all regulators.

So, let's say that we are at 120ft, we have 2000psi left in our tank, and BAM! our reg begins to free flow due to some type of problem. If we go back to our OW training (at least PADI) we are taught how to breathe from a free flowing regulator. And since ScubaMike dives by the rule of 3rds, he knows that at 2000psi it's time to end the dive anyway.

So even with a free flowing reg, or a tank valve leaking like crazy, you've got 2000 pounds of air to get you to the surface. If it's a tank O-Ring I would do the following:

1. Stay cool and don't panic.
2. Take off my BC and hold it in front of me.
3. Keep a close eye on my bouancy.
4. Close the tank valve until the stream of bubbles is smaller
5. Breathe those bubbles from the tank valve much like that of a free-flowing reg.
6. Safely make my ascent, keeping an eye on my air pressue.
7. If I've got enough air at 30-15 feet or so, then do my safety stop.

People who dive thier tanks down to 750-500psi and then end the dive won't be able to do this and will have serious problems should something happen. Also, even with a redundant gas source, a failure of any piece of equipment means the dive is over!

Here's something to think about...what if your backup reg (which never get's used) or your backup gas (which has had the same 3000 psi in it for 3 years) fails?

All I am saying is that no matter how safe we dive, things can and do happen. Granted, a redundant air source and a buddy could be of help in a bad situation. But they both could also cause a lot of problems or give you a false sense of security that over-rides common sense and safe diving skills.

Thanks for your comments and questions...discussions like this that make us think also make us better divers in the long run.

Mike Rushton