Freeflow at depth. Training pays off!

[Vayu]

I was diving today at Royal springs in Florida with my buddy Sea-Jay. We were practicing S-drills (out of air drills) and having fun. We had just finished a drill and I was making sure my hoses were in place when my regulator began a major freeflow. I could not control it. It made quite a show with roaring noise and bubbles all about. I turned to my buddy and he was already set and ready to donate with the 7 foot hose. We were at about 35 feet freshwater.

All in all the freeflow took me from about 1700 PSI in an AL80 to around 700 in a matter of seconds. We took about a minute at depth after the donation to sort things out and to catch breath. We made a normal ascent with safety stops while sharing. I am sure glad I had a good buddy that was close and paying attention. I always wondered how it would be when it wasn't a drill. We train for a reason and this is why. Shout out to my buddy for bailing me out

-V

 

[PerroneFord]

Good stuff man! And it's why I like diving with you guys. Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your regs?

 

[Whale Whisperer]

Glad to hear you made out alright!

 

[FFMDiver]

Nice to hear this went well.
Did you attempt to rectify by disassembling the second at depth?

 

[MBH]

Good job guys. I've been practicing deploying the long hose and man...it's just too easy.

PerroneFord is right... "resistance is futile"

 

[TSandM]

Vayu, the first untoward event I experienced was almost identical to yours -- a freeflow following an air-share in about 35 feet of water. It was my good fortune that one of my two teammates was my GUE instructor, although my buddy also had his long hose out immediately. We did an air-sharing ascent (it's a little unnerving, with all that noise around your head, isn't it?) and the tank was empty before I got to the surface.

Question -- Did your buddy turn your tank off?

 

[Vayu]

Question -- Did your buddy turn your tank off?

I remember reading about your experience and thinking about what I would do in a similar circumstance. Since I could not control the freeflow I made the decision to solve my main problem of not being able to breathe. After I got situated again I addressed the regulator and got it to stop freeflowing. I checked my SPG and since the freeflow released around 1000 PSI I decided to stay on my buddies longhose until we hit the surface. I never turned off the tank. I would have if the freeflow was still a problem.

Whole thing was really quick and really loud. Thinking back on it all I see is bubbles and chaos and that loud roar. I feel for people in this situation who have had to CESA or swim farther. Its a good reminder of how quickly things can turn.

Thanks for the comments! See you in the water.

-V

 

[piikki]

Good job. Did you take a look at your SPG while it was happening? I think that has been one of the most enlightening moments for me - to see how quickly that needle can dash... Makes you gain some respect.

And one more thing, I hope you clipped your longhose. I didn't in my incident.

 

[jeckyll]

Nicely done Vayu!

I know that I'll be continuing to work on my valve drills. Next time I leave the doubles at home I need to work on getting to the valve on my single

 

[wfmiller]

This brought me back to last year when I had my freeflow at 90 feet in a dark and cold quarry. Skills are so important but having a good reliable buddy is priceless.