Diving with 1 Reg

[rob.mwpropane]

Ok, so I'm sure I'll get scolded by the scuba police for this but I wanted to get some different views anyway. Went diving with some buddies (4 of us total). I had the pleasure of helping everyone with gloves / hoods so I was the last one in. My brand new primary second stage worked fine when topside but as soon as it hit the water it would freeflow. I messed with it for about a minute and stopped the freeflow, but couldn't breath on it without getting water through the exhaust valve. I switched to my octo (which used to be my primary and had been serviced 6 months prior) and continued on with the dive. I let everyone know about the situation and the plan was already to not go deeper than 60' or so (we had a new guy that was just freshly certified and he wanted to respect the guidelines for his cert. Everyone was fine with that).

I know that in a perfect world I should have ended the dive. The world is not perfect. I assessed my personal risk and proceeded onward. Everyone in the group showed me where they're octo was hanging. Vis was 40'+ and I stayed withing 15'-20' of someone at all times

Turned out that when I had pulled the face off my new regulator to have a look the week before I didn't get the diaphragm to seat properly. I was inhaling water around it when taking a breath. Very simple / stupid mistake.

I guess my question is what would you have done? Please keep in mind this is purely recreational. No wreck, no overhead. Could see the surface or just about at all times.

Thanks for replies, and if you feel the need to beat me, go for it! I guess I need it

 

[mmerriman]

I would have been concerned about the freeflow happening again. In an ideal world, I would have removed the 2nd stage and replaced it with a spare. I realize most people don't carry a spare, and in that case I would have removed it and plugged the hole. Better to have no spare than one that will kill you if you were to use it. But yeah - abort the dive is the correct textbook answer.

 

[boulderjohn]

I assessed my personal risk and proceeded onward.

You were not the one at risk. Your buddies were the ones at risk. The primary purpose of your second regulator is to give them something to breathe if they go OOA.

Decades ago, diving with a single regulator was standard. Divers were taught to share one regulator (buddy breathe) in case of an OOA emergency. Buddy breathing is not taught by most agencies today because the second regulator is now standard and because research showed that it took lots of training and practice to do it well, and attempting it in a real situation too often resulted in two casualties. A few years ago in Florida, a woman rented gear that did not have a second regulator. As luck would have it, she ended up having to share air through buddy breathing with an OOA diver, and they did indeed both drown.

So, if your 3 buddies knew that you could not offer them help in an emergency, and if they were willing to work as a 3-person team with you tagging along in case you needed their help, then that would be OK in my view. In case your regulator free flowed again, you could easily go to the surface from that depth.

 

[tbone1004]

I would have unscrewed the cover and checked it out as soon as I noticed it to see anything obvious where you would have found that and fixed it.... but that comes from having stuff like that happen to me more times than I care to think about.

What @boulderjohn said is my opinion. You're fine, but the secondary is for your buddy not you, so if they don't know how to buddy breathe, and/or you don't know how to breathe off of a malfunctioning regulator, then you would have been in trouble

 

[northernone]

-edit, others typed faster, see above for a more articulate version-

No beating required.

What happened in this situation was it is your buddy who you endangered. Your personal risk assessment needs only one regulator on you. Your buddy's training requires your secondary regulator to be available for them for THEIR safety.

Without you as a buddy and the alternative air source, they can not dive within their training limits. By definition beyond their certification. If they were equipped and training for solo diving, no problem.

You're fine, it's the other diver you buddied with in the water who's life was risked. If they were ok with a 3 buddy team knowing you were not an alternative air source, that's their risk assessment to make. Sounds like they were ok with it.

I'll use only one reg if the diver I'm with is trained to competency in reg sharing buddy breathing. Otherwise, my second octopus is their alternative air source, not mine.

Cameron

 

[boulderjohn]

As a second note, one of the problems with scuba training is that divers are not taught the simplest of repairs that can be made on site. I myself had completed hundreds of dives before I knew the following.

• An improperly tuned second stage will free flow when it hits the water, and this is very common with new setups and with newly serviced regulators. Using a wrench to removed the regulator and a screwdriver or hex wrench to give the tuning device a quarter turn will solve the problem.
• A regulator that breathes wet usually has a diaphragm problem, and it is usually a simple displacement. Opening it up and putting it back in place is very easy in most regulators. With many it can even be done while you are diving.

 

[Bob DBF]

What I would do would depend on who was my dive buddy was and everyone knowing that I would be of little or no assistance in an OOW situation. I have dove with broken gear while testing, and without a safe second, however it is solo or with another diver that can actually buddy breathe.


Bob

 

[Neilwood]

As a second note, one of the problems with scuba training is that divers are not taught the simplest of repairs that can be made on site. I myself had completed hundreds of dives before I knew the following.

• An improperly tuned second stage will free flow when it hits the water, and this is very common with new setups and with newly serviced regulators. Using a wrench to removed the regulator and a screwdriver or hex wrench to give the tuning device a quarter turn will solve the problem.
• A regulator that breathes wet usually has a diaphragm problem, and it is usually a simple displacement. Opening it up and putting it back in place is very easy in most regulators. With many it can even be done while you are diving.

Good information to have.
Couple of questions:
1) Exactly what do you adjust with the screwdriver/hex key?
2) I have taken the covers of my regs (to check for debris etc) but I think it is worth noting that some regulators have a pin in place which will require removal with pliers to stop the faceplate moving inadvertently (Scubapro certainly did on both my regs S600 and R195). Removed the pins from both and threw them away to allow me to do a tool free inspection of them - just need to occasionally check the tightness of the plate.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Interesting points from all. (Not really what I expected, so I'm glad I asked). I do know the above practices (regulator adjustment), but in the heat of the moment and already being suited up I went with it. It really was as simple as removing the face and re-seating the diaphragm. In reality, it was a good learning experience. Just because I planned everything down to the detail, something still went wrong. I had all my stuff laid out and triple checked before I went, and it still wasn't enough...

The only thing I wished I did different was give myself another minute to figure out the problem. It was an easy fix, and had I been the first one in I think I could of got it. Being last and everyone else already 20' from shore, well, just didn't go that way...

...that and the fact that the guys I dove with are strictly recreational divers (as am I, but I like to learn). They don't care how a regulator works, they don't care about ip creep. If it's broken, take it to a shop to fix. It scared the s*** out of them just to know that I opened the regulator up, so fiddling wouldn't have built any confidence...

 

[tbone1004]

@Neilwood

1) enjoy

2) very few these days don't allow easy removal of the cover, but if you do, just be aware of it
@rob.mwpropane one of the skills we teach in our AOW/Rescue course is disassembly of the second stage in the water, while breathing on the octo *apeks, so cover, diaphragm holder, and diaphragm removal*, place on the bottom of the pool. Breathe from that regulator by manually pressing the lever for several minutes, then reassemble.