Gear Exchange Help Tips? (I bailed)

[rk1]

Hi,
Looking for hints or suggestions on how to best practice the Equipment Exchange.
I attempted to do the exchange yesterday at the bottom of the dive tank while buddy breathing.
We got thru everything quite well until we got to the last item the mask exchange when I pooched it and bailed.(yes I bailed to the surface).

We did fins first then exchanged the scuba units and all was going just fine until we took off our masks.
Problem starts here:Somewhere in the midst of the attempt to put the mask back on I started to want for air and reached out in an attempt to get the reg. from my buddy but I could not see anything with no mask and after some fumblling around trying to find the reg or hose to grab on to in hopes of getting a badly needed breath of air I gave up and Bailed to the surface. (yes the instructor blasted me saying that I need to learn to deal with problems underwater and bailing to the surface is not an option.) I do agree with that but I am still trying to reason this thru and find how other I could have solved my problem underwater. I did not just bolt to the surface (I tried to find and reaching out secure the AIR for as long as I felt I could (seemed like minutes) before blowing to the surface as I was not being sucsessfull at finding air as I could see nothing and I assume my Buddy also could not see me and help provide air as he was busy messing with his mask with I assume the reg. in his mouth. Any suggestions in helping me get past this hurdle would be greatly appreciated.
My instructor did not seem to have much assitance to offer me except for saying that I need to practice. I did ask for suggestions but he seemed more pissed that I had surfaced than interested in offering advise so that is why I am asking the learned group here.

 

[under water]

Did you have your eyes closed or open? Without a mask you should try be able to see, just not great.

 

[rk1]

I had my eyes open and all I could see was a cloudy white Haze I could not even see a shadow of my buddy.. I knew my buddy was directly in front of me and I was touching and pawing trying to locate a hose or a feature that I could identify and also hoping that he would realise that I wanted something but was not successfull before deciding I had to surface before breathing water. I had exhausted most of my air before I began my search for air thus my rush to find it. BTW I had my mask on and needed a breath of air so that I could clear it and see. I felt like I was in a catch 22 situation :-0

 

[MSilvia]

If you were buddy breathing, you should maintain contact with the regulator, or at least with the wrist of the person holding it. Get a fresh breath of air before putting the mask on, as you'll need that air to clear it.

How long did you have to go without a breath? You should only be taking a breath or two before passing the regulator.

 

[boulderjohn]

1. Start with your masks switched so that you are putting on your own mask.

2. Do the mask exchange first.

3. Don't start it until you have a good rhythm going with the breathing and you have the entire process thoroughly envisioned.

 

[rk1]

My un-reliable estimate is 45 sec. to a minute since my last breath.

 

[Brodie.davis]

Sounds like you need to practice the mask exchange and the mask exchange only. Try doing a couple of practice runs on the surface. Just so you can get the motions right, and then do it in a shallow part of the pool so you can kneel and do it. Then once you are comfortable move into the deeper water and do it, and then do it as part of the exchange.

Also as soon as you pass back the reg put your mask on.. so you can do your little bubbles out into the mask, this should at least half clear it. And then you can calmly wait for the reg back from your buddy. But the buddy with the reg should have his mask on and clear by the end of the 2 breaths and should be putting it at or in your hand/mouth.

I had lots of trouble with this to start with. Its just a matter of practice and trusting your buddy. While this seems really hard, once you have done it a few times its gets easier (I won't say it ever gets easy) and it has a flow on effect into the rest of your diving because you know that if the worst happens you can still handle it (ie 3 out of 4 regs failing in a dive out of a buddy pair).

 

[rk1]

Thank you.

 

[philmayer]

It sounds like your biggest issue was not being able to reach your buddy. What exactly is a "dive tank"? How bad was the visibility when you had your mask on?

Failing the gear exchange the first time is pretty common.

When I did mine, I forgot that my buddy dives without weights. We exchanged fins fine, then when we exchanged BCs I realized my mistake. I had to get the BC on and fitted and masks exchanged while upside down and kicking pretty hard to stay down!

 

[Kwbyron]

Pardon the interuption, I havn't heard of doing this before, what class was it for?