Diver in travel group kept running out of air and sharing on every dive?

[halocline]

The OP doesn’t explicitly say that the diver in question was out of air, and I would be very surprised if she was. I’ll go out on a limb and speculate that she was low on air, maybe had hit the agreed ascent pressure (even novice divers in a recreational group have one) and wanted to stay down longer. Maybe she didn’t want to force the others in the group to ascend early, who knows. IF that’s an accurate description, then it’s a little sketchy, especially for a new diver, but not an immediate emergency. I would also assume that she had agreed with the donors before the dive to possibly share air. If she’s surprising people asking or air, that’s getting sketchier. One issue is ascent rate, safety stop length, basically controlling the profile, but I suspect those concerns were probably beyond this diver.

Obviously, if she was really out of air then it’s a very bad, dangerous practice, but it doesn’t make sense that anyone would tolerate such behavior repeatedly on a group dive trip.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

The OP doesn’t explicitly say that the diver in question was out of air, and I would be very surprised if she was.

Didn't read the entire thread but it appears that the OP's actual title to this thread explicitly states the OP's position that the diver in question was out of air. I would also be surprised if that was the case. More likely that the diver was low on air and sharing.

Thread Title: "Diver in travel group kept running out of air and sharing on every dive? "

 

[jadairiii]

I am OK with it, if the people involved are OK with it. People looking on may not know that the people involved are in on the game.

Normalization of Deviance.

 

[VsubT]

Maybe she didn’t want to force the others in the group to ascend early, who knows.

Seems like this may have been what was happening in the OP’s case.

I had a similar experience in Bali as a new diver. My first few dives post OW certification were with a local guide and an experienced photographer on some of the local sites around Amed and Tulamben. My air consumption was pretty horrible, to the point where I realized it and stayed a bit higher than the guide and photographer buddy to conserve air. When I let the guide know that I was at 100 bar, he motioned me closer and gave me his spare second stage. I swam alongside him with a hand on his BC and enjoyed a good bit more reef before switching back to my own second stage and finishing the dive uneventfully.

The switch surprised me at first, but it turned out to be a very chill way of extending the dive for all of us. We talked about it during lunch that day, and it was pretty clear that the guide was trying to provide the best experience for everyone but still be safe. Photographer guy cited it as one example of many that I would now experience between real world diving and what is taught in classes. That conversation and the excellent chicken sate served on the beach made it one of the more memorable surface intervals I’ve ever had.

Looking back at it, I would now be the photographer in terms of experience and air consumption. If paired with an insta-buddy with rapid air consumption, I would really appreciate the guide doing something similar if the insta-buddy was cool with it. Obviously a no go if the insta-buddy is having trouble themselves or uncomfortable for whatever reason.

The one difference I would’ve liked to see was discussing it first as a possibility.

Lance

 

[halocline]

Didn't read the entire thread but it appears that the OP's actual title to this thread explicitly states the OP's position that the diver in question was out of air. I would also be surprised if that was the case. More likely that the diver was low on air and sharing.

Thread Title: "Diver in travel group kept running out of air and sharing on every dive? "

I’ll guess that the OP didn’t mean literally out of air, as in completely empty tank. Can you imagine someone diving like that, repeatedly? I guess it’s possible that such a person would still be alive, lol.

 

[BRT]

Normalization of Deviance.

So you think it is bad to be good at sharing air?

 

[Nemrod]

Calculate out how much each dive minute costs. All the tips, food, fees, taxes, airline fares, baggage fees, dive fees, livaboard fares, all of it and divide that number by the number of dives and then the number of minutes per dive. Then charge her the $ for each minute taken with her foolishness. Whoever she is taking air from to extend her dive is costing another diver their time. There is probably some other way to encourage better air management I suppose. Or just avoid her.

 

[Tippytoes12]

I always assumed that sharing air should be a one off measure if another diver unexpectedly ran low on air, and that the reason why would be identified and rectified. Seems as if I am wrong, again !

 

[Blackcrusader]

Proper gas planning is part of being a good diver. I don't choose to continue to dive with trash divers. Bring more gas or plan ways to be more efficient.

Not once on any NDL planned dive have I done gas planning for that dive. I have never seen any guide / instructor or diver do so. I do gas planning at home using various SAC rates and on different gas mixes 21% 25% 32% 40% for NDL and DECO dives for fun using AL80 with 210 bar 2300 liters of gas.

I am going diving in May in Maldives with a dive buddy I have done hundreds of dives with. We will do around 55 dives. I might ask him does he want to practice sharing air but I think I know what his response would be... NOT lol

 

[jadairiii]

So you think it is bad to be good at sharing air?

Practice=Good; Necessity=Bad.