Divers bent at Pleasant today?

[Kangy]

Well so far I have had one person contact me that is interested in and capable of doing the equipment salvage dive and right now we are going to be working on planning it out for next month.

I'm just going to stress again to those divers involved or anyone else for that matter that has the idea in their head of trying to retrieve the equipment, please think twice before you do something stupid. If you are not qualified to properly execute a 160ffw dive and do it safely DON'T DO IT. If you don't know how to do light salvage properly DON'T DO IT. If you don't know how to swim a proper search pattern. DON'T DO IT. If you don't have experience/training in any of those areas DON'T DO IT.

We don't need another news story about a diver getting themselves killed over a couple of stage bottles. So unless you are qualified to do the dive to retrieve the equipment, leave it be.

If you would really like to be involved and want to help out with the planning and support or want to just be there for it then by all means please get ahold of me.

Dive Safe,

 

[Teamcasa]

Here is the scoop from a very very very reliable source.
I promised the source I would not divulge their name so don't ask.This is about the two divers “bent” at pleasant.
I think it should be posted, because we all need to learn from accidents.


Two divers out at Lake Pleasant. Diving as a buddy team to 150'. They were in 160' of water, 10' from the bottom. They are Dive Cons (SSIs version of a DM) out of Tucson. Both were wearing 80 cu ft tanks on their back and slinging 80 cu ft Nitrox (32%) at their side. Not sure if it was one or two tanks they were slinging each.

One of the divers FORGOT to hook up his drysuit hose (No pre dive check???). Was getting squeezed by almost 6 atmospheres of pressure. Obviously it is dark, nasty and cold in Pleasant at 150', so he probably had a touch of Narcosis. In complete discomfort (no relief) and Narced, the diver, for some reason, added air to his BC. Additionally, both divers dropped their slung tanks; they are sitting at 160'. Now the drysuit diver is ascending uncontrolled.

At the surface, the diver with the drysuit problem needed CPR. His buddy flagged down a boat. The drysuit problem diver was sent to Scottsdale Osborn, but was not bent. The other was released at the scene. Very glad they did not have long lasting or fatal injuries.

“HERE'S THE ?????? PART” They are going to attempt to retrieve the tanks and regs they dropped next weekend!?!?!?!?!?!??

Holy Smokes! I'm sure glad those guys a OK.

 

[AZTEK DIVER]

Holy crap!!! It's very sad, but it's funny! Get the numbers from your source. I'll be there next month and I can get those bottles. Oh, but I'm not giving them back...

This is just waaay too funny, 2 idiots without a clue trying their best to kill themselves, and can't even do that right. If he couldn't figure out his drysuit hose was a problem in the first 20', and STOP and fix it, he doesn't know what he's doing in a drysuit. To the poster that thought you need a light to fix the problem, you don't belong in a drysuit either, if I couldn't find my hose and hook it up under water without any help, I'd go back up and start over. Rob, I'm with you, keep the tanks, you'll be saving their life. Kangy, you're either waay too mellow, or trying to get customers, these guys don't deserve any help. (this is a tech diver response, but death is very real)
Rob, let me know when you're in town, I'll buy.

 

[Kangy]

Rob, I'm with you, keep the tanks, you'll be saving their life. Kangy, you're either waay too mellow, or trying to get customers, these guys don't deserve any help. (this is a tech diver response, but death is very real).

Maybe they dont' deserve any help but you are right, death is very real, and from the way it sounds is that if someone else doesn't get those tanks then those two divers will go back for them. We can hope that this incident would be a reality check for them, but lets face it, it probably isn't. Who gets that tanks after they are brought up can be decided later, Rob can keep them, I can keep them, the divers who lost them can have them back, whatever. I'm just trying to stop them or anyone else who shouldn't be doing that dive for that matter from attempting to retrieve the tanks and getting killed.

If someone values a couple of tanks more than their own lives call it Darwinism or anything else you like but a diving fatality at the lake is still a diving fatality at the lake and if it can be avoided then I am going to try and avoid it.

And I would rather have 'curious divers' be involved on the sideline observing than have them out there on there on their own getting hurt. I'm not trying to get any customers out of the deal. I think I already know who the divers are and SSI Dive Con's are not exactly market potential for me. I am not looking at making any money or recruiting any customers from this deal.

John, the technical diver side of me agrees with your post completely, but that does not mean we should sit back and let people weed themselves out of the gene pool when there is something we can do about it. And maybe, just maybe if those divers or anyone else pondering retrieving the tanks get a chance to watch and see how this dive should be planned and conducted properly then maybe that might help put it into perspective and instill into those divers a respect for the deep and make them realize that getting cocky and over confident is dangerous and keep others from making this same stupid mistake.

To any divers reading this, there is nothing wrong with admitting you can't do a specific dive. Now whether it's an ego thing or lack of common sense thing, Anyone can call any dive at any time no questions asked. This is a perfect example of why we have certification limits. KNOW YOUR LIMITS AND RESPECT THE WATER!!

 

[Rudebob]

Holy crap!!! It's very sad, but it's funny! Get the numbers from your source. I'll be there next month and I can get those bottles. Oh, but I'm not giving them back...

Better hurry. If the lake level at Pleasant drops as much this summer as it normally does they will be within Rec limits soon enough.

'bob

 

[Reef Man]

Hey Kangy....Well spoken....Know your limits.....Hey I would by one of those on the side lines watching you all retrieve the tanks.... I have no problem at all saying I don't want to make that dive in the lake!!!! But when the water drops 30 feet....hey I am in!!! LOL

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

To the poster that thought you need a light to fix the problem, you don't belong in a drysuit either, if I couldn't find my hose and hook it up under water without any help, I'd go back up and start over.

Like I said, I don't know from drysuits. But I do know that you don't dive in Lake Pleasant without lights. Day or night.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Better hurry. If the lake level at Pleasant drops as much this summer as it normally does they will be within Rec limits soon enough.

'bob

All the better. If I can do it within recreational limits, it will save me from having to buy helium...

Like I said, I don't know from drysuits. But I do know that you don't dive in Lake Pleasant without lights. Day or night.

Lights won't help much at depth if the visibility is less than 5'. I've been 90' down in Pleasant with a HID 10W and I still couldn't see...

 

[aqualelaki]

First, I am glad that they're alive.

But, I'm very curious about the location where they did the dive. Is it 150 feet for real? Did someone actually look at their computer/depth gauge or whatever?
Going to 150 feet without even adding air to the drysuit and not trying to fix it and continue the dive .... I can't understand the thinking ... It's almost unreal to me.
And now they're thinking to retrieve the stage bottle after the accident .... It's almost unreal to me. If this is true, to me they don't have a common sense in this life. How much the cost for stage bottle, regulator, and SPG? Do they think their life is worth less than $1000?
Moreover, the divecon or divemaster should have more knowledge or common sense than the regular diver.
The bottom line is I'm having a hard time to believe that they dive 150 feet without adding air to drysuit and want to retrieve the stage bottle after getting the accident.

 

[AZTEK DIVER]

I'd love to hear the resoning used when leaving 1/2 your available gas on the bottom, on a dive that's already gone to ****. FAS