Diving in lake Camanche

[pacificgal]

I'll PM you my number, use it. I would go with you to Comanche next week if I thought I would actually see something, lol.
Text or phone is fine, Sundays I'm usually more available than Saturdays, though I've been known to dive Saturdays too.

 

[master00sniper]

Sundays I'm also more available than Saturdays. There is always a chance I'll end up pulling a last minute OT shift for Apple on Saturdays that is usually voluntary, sometimes mandatory, and that I never want to miss because I have to pay for scuba gear somehow lol.

 

[keithk]

I have one final suggestion. Most terminal tackle is attached to steel leader of varying tests. This is not cut very easily with a knife. A good pair of shears from your LDS could save your life and are a bargain at any price. Every single experienced diver I know has a pair in their pocket on every dive.

 

[master00sniper]

thank you keith. I did not know that. I now know what to pick up monday when I head down to my lds. Again, thanks everyone for helping me out here making this as safe a dive as I will possibly let it. I know i'm a bit stubborn haha.

 

[Peter_C]

In the end, my only regret was that I went out WITH a buddy because I had at least another 10 minutes of air left in my tank before running it down to a few hundred pounds and his tank was completely drained.

WOW! :shocked2: I sure hope you discussed gas management after that near miss. Due to pressure gauge failure and many other reasons the rule of 500 psi in the tank is there to save your life, and not something to take lightly.

Also I found that I was the one making sure he didn't swim away without thinking and get lost. Its rather annoying bolting ahead at full speed to keep your buddy who isn't paying attention from getting lost in low viz water. Good waste of oxygen. I'd rather go out alone than with a bad buddy. Its probably more safe. This way I don't feel bad when he swims off gets stuck and kills himself because I can't find him.

Oxygen?

Learning to be a good buddy or be part of a dive team requires knowing and discussing protocols to keep the buddy team together before the dive, with a debrief after if necessary.

Before even thinking of going solo you should have the experience of at least a hundred dives, along with understanding and practicing with a redundant air source. With a few hundred dives under my own belt I am always still learning.

 

[andrewy]

Peter clearly this thread is road to nowhere let the guy dive and hope he comes back alive. As the saying goes there are brave divers, there are old divers, there are no old and brave divers. .
Master dude no one teaches how to live its just dyin at murky camanche is stupid, getting hanged on a rapala lure with 200psi in your tank. how about monterey or tahoe?

 

[master00sniper]

WOW! :shocked2: I sure hope you discussed gas management after that near miss. Due to pressure gauge failure and many other reasons the rule of 500 psi in the tank is there to save your life, and not something to take lightly.

When I said completely drained though, I didn't mean literally. I think he had 100 psi before we went up. He wanted to use it all up apparently. @ 30ish feet under with me I didn't mind. The dude wanted a longer dive. I had my octo. He did stay close at the end. Is it something I would do? Hell no. Depensing on the dive I might not surface right at 500, but never less than 350 or so. At camanche ill leave at least 700psi in the tank by the time I surface.

Oxygen?

Learning to be a good buddy or be part of a dive team requires knowing and discussing protocols to keep the buddy team together before the dive, with a debrief after if necessary.

Before even thinking of going solo you should have the experience of at least a hundred dives, along with understanding and practicing with a redundant air source. With a few hundred dives under my own belt I am always still learning.

Yes, waste of oxygen trying to swim fast and catch up to him. We did discuss protocols before the dive. Apparently protocols are hard to adhere too for some people.

And I disagree about 'few hundred dives' of experience before going solo. Even my DM said I should get a few solo dives in before taking the AOW, which I plan on doing in October or November. Perhaps he wouldn't have recommended lake Camanche. The people at the same dive shop didn't seem to see anything wrong with it though.

 

[Peter_C]

When I said completely drained though, I didn't mean literally. I think he had 100 psi before we went up. He wanted to use it all up apparently. @ 30ish feet under with me I didn't mind. The dude wanted a longer dive. I had my octo. He did stay close at the end. Is it something I would do? Hell no. Depensing on the dive I might not surface right at 500, but never less than 350 or so. At camanche ill leave at least 700psi in the tank by the time I surface.

You just do not get the rule of 500psi. It is not 350psi it is 50 psi. 100psi is less than IP pressure. Your friend is very lucky to not have run out of air. How does he know his gauge is accurate in that range?

Yes, waste of oxygen trying to swim fast and catch up to him. We did discuss protocols before the dive.

Oxygen is for deco. Air or nitrox are for diving.

Apparently protocols are hard to adhere too for some people.

Then I wouldn't dive with that person either.

And I disagree about 'few hundred dives' of experience before going solo. Even my DM said I should get a few solo dives in before taking the AOW, which I plan on doing in October or November. Perhaps he wouldn't have recommended lake Camanche. The people at the same dive shop didn't seem to see anything wrong with it though.

WOW! :shocked2: First of all what do you know with less than 100 dives? DM's are often the most dangerous divers out there. Does the DM have a hundred dives? So just what dive shop is this that has no problem with newbies going solo?

 

[master00sniper]

What if it's not accurate? What if he had ran out of air? The last few breathes breath hard. It would have been one of the most ideal situations out in the real world to run out of air. He would have gotten a chance to practice the skills we had just learned in it's real application. Probably would have better cemented it in his mind compared to later on if he doesn't dive often.

Excuse me if I don't quite know all the terminology. I do know that the usable part of the air that we breathe is the oxygen, so wasting air and wasting oxygen would be the same thing no? As for my DM, I'm pretty sure he had 100 dives within his first couple years of being certified, and he has dived pretty much at the same rate the entire time since. He was certified in 63. Do the math.

 

[master00sniper]

My DMs exact words were,lots of people solo dive, it's safer to dive with a buddy but as long as i know all the risks involved and remember murphys law I'll be fine. Also, the dude has over 3000 dives under his belt, and has been instructing students for longer than I've been alive.