Experienced Divers: What are the most common "oh, crap!" situations?

[Litefoot]

Hello. Thanks for letting me ask a basic question. I'm a brand new recently-certified OW diver. I know that buoyancy control may be the most important skill at this point. But my biggest fear is having a panic attack when something goes wrong. In your experience, what is the most likely problem I will face? Right now, in my limited experience, losing my mask is my biggest fear because I struggle keeping water out of my nose. Is that the answer? That is, focus my practice on those scenarios that I already know will likely induce panic. What do you say?

Note: I am reading and learning form the "What would you do?" thread that is pinned at the top of the forum.

 

[Dody]

Great, I'll have to do this drill again, next time I'm in salt water. Or next time I'm in fresh water with my contacts out. Fresh water makes my contacts sticky, they roll up and painfully disappear behind my eyeball. I've got a prescription mask for fresh water, haven't tried it yet. Obviously I prefer salt water.

I think I can read my comp at least, since it's lit up. I dont remember checking it. My spg is on a 30" hose, so I can get it right into my face. No idea if I can read that.

But basically, I'm thumbing the dive and going slowly up, negatively buoyant. By finning. Just a matter of making the bright blur get closer, and the dark one go away. I sure as heck remember being able to see up.

But what I do specifically remember, I felt perfectly confident with my mask off.

It was part of our open water certification, take our mask completely off, picture taken, put mask back on, clear mask, picture taken. My brother in law laughed at my Pic " nobody said you had to open your eyes and smile for the camera."

Taking mask off and swimming horizontally was also part of my training. No thrill. However, I never ascended from deep without a mask. I guess that’s a good drill.

 

[Wibble]

Sometimes you have to be prepared to remove your mask, for example to wash out some crap on the faceplate or to run your fingers around the seal. In cold water, that's a pretty horrid prospect, but one that has to be done. Once over, it's easy.

 

[Dody]

Sometimes you have to be prepared to remove your mask, for example to wash out some crap on the faceplate or to run your fingers around the seal. In cold water, that's a pretty horrid prospect, but one that has to be done. Once over, it's easy.

The only time I remove my mask underwater is when it is foggy. I then avidly lick the inside lenses. I have to admit that the result is not guaranteed

 

[Russell Bowyer]

In all the time I've dived I haven't lost my mask, but at the end of a night dive on the Thistlegorm wreck in the Red Sea, the current was so strong my mask was being pushed off my face, but even then I didn't lose my mask.

Three moments to share with you, as possible "oh crap" moments...

- Having to rescue a fellow diver whose regulator stopped working at 20 metres (66ft) diving in Bonaire (this was a guy staying in the same hotel as me and asked to join myself and my diving partner). It was good he was diving with me with the training I've had, the amount of dives I'd done and because I also taught diving, because his signal wasn't very clear that he was struggling to breath. It was only down to my diligent checking as the dive leader that I brought him to the surface using my octopus rig. He was fine, but I told him he need to give a clear "Out Of Air" signal in future, but I think he learned a lesson.
- Saving someone on a dive in Devon in the UK who's first stage blew underwater! This was at about 15-20 metres from memory, and all was good in the end with this diver too, who I brought to the surface on my octopus rig.
- Getting caught in a strong down current at Elphinstone Reef in the Red Sea and being pushed to 65 metres (213ft), which was a bit of an oh crap moment as the waters there are deep! Some of the buddy pairs were pushed even deeper than my buddy and me, but I helped her by staying calm and giving her quick instructions as it was happening.

I think for me and because I trained the old way with BSAC, which was rigorous training with loads of rescue scenarios in the pool and in lakes and open sea, everything comes naturally and is like second nature.

So the best recommendation from me is to do lots more diving, and get more experience, so you get more confident in the water. It may also be a good idea to do more safety training too, which I know costs, but is worthwhile.

 

[SlugLife]

How about rolling back, negative entry with a closed valve, single back mounted tank… -early in my diving experience, I had a good learning opportunity. I checked my air as we were arriving to a dive site and left the valve open. Unbeknownst to me, a dive guide went through opening/checking everybody’s air, but closed mine. WTF. How do you do that. Or maybe he was just trying to “learn“ me a point . I suspect honest mistake. Took a breath before rolling in, all good. Got in the water, first breath under the water gave me nothing. Realized I did not look at my SPG as I was taking a breath on the surface (I did when I checked the system when I opened the valve). That was my oops moment. A lot of good things came out of it though. One - do not let anyone to touch your gear! Two - do not get complacent. Recheck everything before jumping in. Still remember it as it was yesterday. Now, I just chuckle about it every time I look at my SPG before I jump in.

Maybe it's a solo-diver thing, but anyone who touches my gear is asking to lose a finger or two. Also, I have a routine, and am somewhat ADD, so if I'm interrupted, often the safest thing to do is start over.

I've probably heard at least 1-dozen such stories of boat-staff "helpfully" closing someone's tank valve, when they probably meant to open it. It's one of the reasons I'm a big preacher of proper weighting. It's also why I typically leave my valves closed pre-dive, until it's time to put on gear and jump in the water, because my routine is to always open the valve at that stage.

(more on proper weighting as a form of redundancy below)

What Are Your "Pro-Tips" for Safety, Redundancy, and Accident Handling

What are your "pro tips" (or amateur tips) for improving one's safety when diving? This can be equipment, redundancy, skills, training, mindset, pretty much anything! This can also be relevant to accident-prevention, incident-handling, self-rescue, other-rescue, etc. Disclaimer: Per usual...

scubaboard.com

 

[johndiver999]

Loads of options:
1) get out my backup mask
2) put up an SMB then wind myself up
3) can read a computer if you cup your eye and blow bubbles into the space
4) if an NDL dive, should be able to control the ascent and hang around at 6m for three mins and surface — fine if not too fast and the safety stop is just that. Just ascend slowly; you can feel the pressure in your wing and drysuit change.
5) if a deco dive then run the decompression as well as you can with extra time at 6m-ish
6) look around for another diver to help out

Trying to do a bubble mask is not going to work well when ascending due to turbulence. For a no mask ascent, grab onto buddy and hope he is a good seeing I god. If alone, just keep eyes open, look at bubbles and try to stay below them. That’s my plan anyway. You could also launch an smb and wind yourself up slowly which should be doable with very limited sight. I’ve never had a mask come off that I could not recover.

 

[lexvil]

Getting pulled over by the scuba police before a dive and having to explain my lack of a snorkel and mismatched gear!

 

[scubadada]

,,,Giant stride off a dock; part-way down I realize my (very expensive) hearing aids are still in my ears...

I back rolled off a boat in Bonaire in 2021 and didn't realize my hearing aids were in until I heard the feedback in both ears. Of course, they were dead. I carry a backup pair on trips for just such an emergency. Fortunately, the hearing aids were still under replacement warranty and were replaced at no charge, very lucky. First, and hopefully only, time I have done this since 2008. A few times, I have caught myself donning my equipment when I noticed I could hear too well

 

[Russell Bowyer]

I back rolled off a boat in Bonaire in 2021 and didn't realize my hearing aids were in until I heard the feedback in both ears. Of course, they were dead. I carry a backup pair on trips for just such an emergency. Fortunately, the hearing aids were still under replacement warranty and were replaced at no charge, very lucky. First, and hopefully only, time I have done this since 2008. A few times, I have caught myself donning my equipment when I noticed I could hear too well

That is a new one on me, that must have been a real "oh crap" moment!! It did make me smile though, hopefully no offence.

 

[SlugLife]

That is a new one on me, that must have been a real "oh crap" moment!! It did make me smile though, hopefully no offence.

Don't worry, neither of those divers can hear you