DO YOUR CROSS-CHECK, candidate ! ! ! !

[The Kraken]

I read the posts on the ScubaBoard many times during the day when things are slow at work. I especially enjoy reading the posts regarding OOA situations, analog gauges versus computers, etc . . .

One thing that I feel that I am missing is a concentration or focus on doing a frequent cross-check of gauges.

Something that I brought with me from my military flying experience is the necessity to maintain a constant and frequent cross-check of the instruments of the aircraft to insure that it is functioning properly and there are no abnormal changes starting to occur.

I'll refrain from mentioning my certification organization, but I personally feel that this was not stressed in the training program as much as it should be.

In flight school the instructor pilot would frequently cover the instruments on the panel and then ask a question regarding a specific instrument reading. Failure to give a correct answer to IP's question would result in demerits being "awarded". Enough demerits led to more sinister results . . .

A frequent cross-check of ones instruments keeps one aware of the critical aspects of our hobby, air remaining, dive time, depth, etc. It also helps in determining, if the diver is aware and uses the information given him or her, if the diving condition is moving from a normal, controlled dive to a diving situation that requires immediate attention.

Is there any certifying organization that puts a strong focus on this aspect of diving in its training program?

 

[azsilver]

The Kracken,

I too do frequent cross-check of my instruments (i.e. two dive computers and analog gauges) as well as check with my buddy who dives with the same instrumentation. I did not get that much about doing the crosscheck during my OW or AOW. I did get that instruction during my Padi Enriched Air training that we just took in Cozumel. I too feel that most of my cross-checking of instrumentation and having back-ups come from my flight training. As I constantly train to handle emergencies in the Air, the same thing goes for UW.

AN AZ Diver

 

[gfisher4792]

It seems that this would be more of a function of the instructor than the certification organization. Personally, my instructor (NAUI/YMCA) had emphasized doing regular checks of your gauges, especially when doing "deep blue" dives, where there is no bottom, maybe just a wall. He related stories of wall dives where some people didn't notice that they were sinking slowly, and were 80' below what they thought. Not good.

I check my gauges fairly often, and I check my gauges when I see my buddy check his. PSI, depth, bottom time. It ends up being a lot of checks, but it takes, what? 2-5 seconds? Worth it.

 

[MCL]

It was emphasized quite a bit in my classes. While in the pool the instructor would randomly ask how much air we had left and we had to tell him w/o looking. I'm pretty anal about keeping an eye on my guages!!

 

[Allen42]

I think he's talking about checking multiple gauges against each other. Most rec divers do not carry redundant gauges.

For a rec dive, my thoughts are that you should be aware enough of your situation to know if a gauge is malfunctioning. If it is, the dive's over--it doesn't matter too much what the guage says at that point. This awareness comes from frequent checks, situational awareness, and experience.

 

[Allen42]

The Kracken,

I too do frequent cross-check of my instruments (i.e. two dive computers and analog gauges) as well as check with my buddy who dives with the same instrumentation. I did not get that much about doing the crosscheck during my OW or AOW. I did get that instruction during my Padi Enriched Air training that we just took in Cozumel. I too feel that most of my cross-checking of instrumentation and having back-ups come from my flight training. As I constantly train to handle emergencies in the Air, the same thing goes for UW.

AN AZ Diver

You rec dive with two comps, and multiple analogs? How many HP ports do you have? Where do you clip all this off? Most importantly, can you get me a paycheck similar to yours?

 

[mossym]

my PADI instructor had do frequent instrument checks, and every second or third one would involve checking your buddies too....handy on deep dives where one might be narced up

 

[azsilver]

You rec dive with two comps, and multiple analogs? How many HP ports do you have? Where do you clip all this off? Most importantly, can you get me a paycheck similar to yours?

We rec dive (my buddy, my husband) each of us have two wrist computers one AI, and a back up analog gauge with pressure and depth. We each have a Wrist Uwatec Air Z nitrox AI on one wrist and a wrist Vytec on the other wrist (also have AI for the Vytec’s but not using it now as we have only 2 HP ports) and the analog guages. So we only clip the analog guages to our BCD's.

Sorry but we do not have a great paying job---just saved our money for diving---and when we do go on dive trips we do not want to sit out 24 hours if our computer fails or have to abort a dive. We also check each others computers and guages during the dive.

Safety is number One when diving!

AZ Divers

 

[diver_paula]

A member of my local club worked in an automotive lab where he did all sorts of testing. He used to test our computers and depth gauges for us during his off hours. He retired last year. Fortunate for him, but unfortunate for us.

He'd do multiple depth tests and correlate the data. It was very interesting how many of the gauges read the incorrect depth. And how much the depth readings would vary on ascents versus descents. Very often the incorrectness would increase the deeper one went. Sometimes too shallow, sometimes too deep.

My first analog depth gauge read too shallow consistently. Not safe! At 100' it was up to 10' too shallow! Fortunately, I knew it and thus dove accordingly. It was good to know what depth I really was.

I later moved to one computer and the analog as backup, and then to two computers with identical algorithms. The two computers have never read more than one foot difference. (The one foot can easily be justified due to the different mounting positions.)

Does anyone know where this type of testing can be acquired now that my friend has retired?

Paula

 

[The Kraken]

Mossym, I think you are one of the fortunates who had an exceptional instructor.