I agree Rick. I didn't say always or never did I?
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MikeFerrara once bubbled...
Who taught you that? The PADI OW text lists these responses to a low on air or out of air situation IN THIS order.
1, Normal ascent - You notice your getting low and simply end the dive normally
2, switch to buddy's alternate and share - You blew it or had an equipment failure. You signal (or not) and get air from the buddy who is right next to you
3, CESA - You doubly blew it and your buddies too far away. ALL equipment stays in place and you ascend at a normal rate of speed exhaling as you go. Of course you keep the reg in your mouth because as you reach a lower ambient presure you might get another breath or two.
4, buddy breath - they stuck this here because it's optional to teach and they don't want you to do it because everyone should have an alternate.
5, Buoyant ascent - You really blew it. Your too deep. You've done the CESA for as long as you can and you ARE going to drown if you don't get to the surface now. We have screwed up so bad that we have come to grips with the fact that we are likely to be injured and we're just trying to survive.
Dropping weights at depth is an absolute last stitch effort to live. You have to make many mistakes before this should ever happen.
Please get that dropping weights at depth stuff out of your head and avoid the instructor who taught it to you.
At the surface it's a different storry. If you are in doubt about being able to maintain positive buoyancy at the surface don't hesitate to toss the lead.
Angie S once bubbled...
We did a SSI course, and in the NASDS textbook we used it says that for an OOA, the first option is to share air with a buddy. If you have to take independent action, it teaches the steps as:
"3 R" rule: regain control, respond, react
Release weights
Exhale
Ascend
Arch out at 15-10 ft to slow the ascent
MikeFerrara once bubbled...
Do we teach divers how to avoid running out of gas? I don't think so. We tell them to watch their gauge but we don't tell them what the numbers mean or how to plan them in advance. We tell them to end the dive with a few hundred psi left. We don't tell them how. One could argue that this could work on a 30 ft dive but new divers go streight to Cozumel and do 100 ft dives right from the start. They have no idea how to plan their gas usage for such a dive. They are relying on the guid to plan and arrange things so it works for the group.
ivansie once bubbled...
IMO and of course depending on the depth at the time of the incident, asuming you are within a reasonable distance of the surface, I dont deep dive so I dont know what you do at 130', you might also loose precious time and energy trying to drop weights if they are not properly assembled for the emergency situation, since at that point the diver will probably be nervous, if he/she is not familiar with his weight system or has problem getting rid of it rather than just hit for the surface right away the solution could be worse than the problem... just my opinion
bye
ivan