Got quite a scare today...

[El Orans]

Laurens, I'm glad to see you're getting the most out of your DIR-F...

...snip...

What did your instructor say about it?

That's what the class (and life) is all about.

I 'll have to disappoint you both, my class is not due until the end of july. By then the water should be a lot warmer, thus removing the need for a lot of lead and neoprene...
This was just a dive with my future DIR-F classmates.

Laurens

 

[MikeFerrara]

If...a reg body is full of air and the mouthpiece is turned up there is a strong likelyhood that it will flow. If this is the case and the reg is not flowing due to icing then turning the mouthpiece down and/or covering the mouth piece to create some backpressure will stop the flow. This is common at the surface or when switching regs at depth because in both cases the reg body is full of air. So...sloppy reg handling can cause free flows but they're the stoppable kind. PS. this is also why you point the mouthpiece of your primary down when you remove it from your mouth to donate it. It prevents you from handing your buddy a face full of bubbles. have you taken the DIRF yet? I know they teach this.

As to the instructor who said you won't have to add much air if you're properly weighted...that's true if you stay shallow or if you're not wearing a heavy wet suit. With a heavy wet suit, however, you'll lose lots of buoyancy due to suit compression as you go deeper. The reason we use a bc is to compensate for it.

 

[mweitz]

Laurens,

I find that I get a little numbness in my hands when in my BP/Wing in my doubles when walking around in it for extended periods, you know, over 45 seconds or so . (I never got this in my singles rig). I wonder if it has something to do with the fit (maybe a little too tight on one side).

Just for kicks I would put the rig on with your exposure protection and wear it around the house for 10 minutes or so and see if the numbness comes back....

Mark

 

[El Orans]

Complicating factors may have been:

• New buddy;
• New divesite;
• New drill;
• New equipment.

Laurens

 

[Diver0001]

I 'll have to disappoint you both, my class is not due until the end of july.

Oh yeah... (slaps forehead). If you say this often enough I might actually remember it. LOL.

R..

 

[Sideband]

Thanks for thereply Laurens. I truely didn't mean to sound like I was picking you apart. Like I said earlier, it's easy to quarterback from here. Like Reefraff said, you did more right than wrong and are OK. That's the important part. I will also retract my statements about your buddy since you say he did offer his reg and to shut down your tank. Take what you learned and move on. Good luck with your class.

One more question though. You said your inflator was tied down. What does that mean exactly. I can't picture it. Is that a DIR thing?
Take care.

JOe

 

[El Orans]

One more question though. You said your inflator was tied down. What does that mean exactly. I can't picture it. Is that a DIR thing?

My inflator is attached to my harness, similar to this picture.

Laurens

 

[divealaska]

-Interesting conversation! Please allow me to raise a couple more questions to ponder? If the dive was say...38 ft for 10 minutes before the "incident", even with a direct 60 fpm ascent to the surface the pressure gradient shouldn't be much more than a 2:1 ratio. In the day of Haldanes writings, this was once thought to be acceptable. (Not suggesting it is...) Gradient factor seems to only reach about 90% of m-value in controlling tissue. DCI seems highly unlikely.
- Remember that the rear dump facilitates a horizontal ascent which allows for more "drag" to slow ascent.
- I like the harness "digging in" suggestion most of all, but wouldn't rule out slight hyperventilation from the excitement either. congratulations on a harmless yet valuable lesson learned! Keep up the practice
perhaps in another forum I'll write about my 80 foot "CESA" in 1990 with my NAUI instructor....

 

[El Orans]

DAN didn't call all morning. Turned out that they didn't try to reach me on my cell phone but on my home number. When they couldn't reach me there, they used my private email which just happens to be forwarded to my corporate email.

Laurens

 

[mweitz]

A couple of other points. Try to keep to only one of these per dive. When you start mixing up a lot of new stuff it is the recipe for .... well, you know.

Personally I think that it is more important to get used to diving the rig than "practicing" before class. Dive the rig as much as possible before the class. Do the modified S and Valve drill on the surface before each dive. In the water you can practice by just hovering as close to the bottom as you can without touching it, and work on not moving (keeping perfectly still, no finning or hand movements). Get in formation with your buddy (facing each other, and try to not run into each other, this is hard and will be required for the whole in water part of class). See how long you can hold that position. Try to do all this stuff at 30' (10M) or so. Another good drill is to try to stop each 10 feet on your ascent (and descent). So, say you are at 33'. Do your ascent to 30' and stop for 30 or 45 seconds. Keep with your buddy. Then move to 20'. Pause there for 30 seconds or so, then to 10'. Now try to take a full minute from 10' to the surface. Watch your bottom timer, and as soon as it clicks over, start your last ascent. Go as slowly as you can. A minute is a LONG time to move 10' . If you can master these skills the class will be much easier. Mastering them will also make sure you and your buddy have your buoyancy in your BP/W down and are familiar with the gear.

The real objective of the class (in my opinion) is to show you how to do the drills in a safe environment, so you can then go practice on your own. If your buddy really has their stuff together and is showing you then I would (maybe) say OK. Here on the West Coast of the US it is discouraged to practice with others that haven't taken the class.

My thoughts FWIW,

Mark

Complicating factors may have been:

• New buddy;
• New divesite;
• New drill;
• New equipment.

Laurens