DumpsterDiver emergency ascent from 180'

[CuzzA]

The incident was that it happened solo @ 180' on a single tank. I find it unlikely that half of all vacations divers would simply die if that happened @ 40' with a buddy next to them.

Yet every week we get the A&I reports of open water divers dying of what appears to be trivial issues, like buddy separation, for example.

 

[seeker242]

Yet every week we get the A&I reports of open water divers dying of what appears to be trivial issues, like buddy separation, for example.

And we don't get reports of people dying solo @ 180' because nobody does that because it's just plain stupid to do.

 

[uncfnp]

The incident was that it happened solo @ 180' on a single tank. I find it unlikely that half of all vacations divers would simply die if that happened @ 40' with a buddy next to them.

The "incident" was the failure of the first stage. The circumstances of the failure include the depth, redundancy and solo.

 

[CuzzA]

And we don't get reports of people dying solo @ 180' because nobody does that because it's just plain stupid to do.

Well, I'd say you don't know a lot of com. and rec. spearfishermen.

 

[seeker242]

Well, I'd say you don't know a lot of com. and rec. spearfishermen.

So you're saying it's smart to solo dive to that depth in a single tank? Alright then... LOL

 

[mmadiver]

Yet every week we get the A&I reports of open water divers dying of what appears to be trivial issues, like buddy separation, for example.

Perhaps we put to much emphasis on buddies and equipment and not enough on diver competency.

 

[CuzzA]

So you're saying it's smart to solo dive to that depth in a single tank? Alright then... LOL

That's not what I said and you're just making up the claim of single tank. Even in this incident there were two tanks.

My point is you seem to be taking an issue with deep solo diving, stating nobody does that, I'm telling you these dives are conducted all the time, usually with some form of bailout gas, including a deco gas.

Now, I agree deep solo single tank diving is not safe. We can look at all the rig diving deaths in the upper Gulf coast for all the proof we need.

 

[seeker242]

That's not what I said

Sure you did. I said it's stupid are you're trying to rebut that.

 

[rmssetc]

The incident was that it happened solo @ 180' on a single tank. I find it unlikely that half of all vacations divers would simply die if that happened @ 40' with a buddy next to them.

Sure.

But what about the recreation diver who's at 100', either in a swim-through (single-file, where the gas eruption essentially turns the short passage into a zero-viz silt-out) or where the divers are 15' apart and watching the turtle, not watching their insta-buddy.

 

[Skeptic14]

I find it unlikely that half of all vacations divers would simply die if that happened @ 40' with a buddy next to them.

So if a catastrophic reg failure occurred, they would probably be between 40-60 ft, with a buddy of some sort, and would most likely survive such an encounter. I think your comment about most divers being one breath away from being dead might be a bit of an exaggeration,

So the majority of vacation divers stay shallower than 40 feet? I'm sure there are some excellent shallow dives around the world but there are probably plenty more much deeper. I doubt most vacation divers spend the majority of the time around 40 feet so I think it's just as probably that your average vacation diver could have this occur at greater than 70 feet where it's a much less benign situation.

I also don't necessarily think all vacation divers maintain excellent buddy proximity.

Yet every week we get the A&I reports of open water divers dying of what appears to be trivial issues, like buddy separation, for example.

Or like an over weighted diver panicking immediately and not having the state of mind to dump weights and unfortunately perishing.

I'll never do anything close to a 180' dive but my take away from this thread is to mentally rehearse reacting to a failure like this and to make sure my buddy is on the same page on how to handle the situation too if it arises to try to have some preparation to hopefully ward off panic.