His tank almost fell out...

[greg454]

We were 50 feet underwater, when I noticed that my dive buddy's tank was almost falling, just hanging by a threat. So I grabbed him from behind, open his straps, pull up the tank, and then close the straps.

My question is, should I have given him a warning before coming from behind?

What could have happened if his tank had fallen out completely? Would it have pulled down his regulator?

It was scary. Ironically, on dive #2 something similar must have hapenned, because someone grabbed me from behind and fixed up my tank or something.

 

[H2Andy]

the tank probably wouldn't have taken down the regulator. at least it didn't
with me.

this happened to me during my Intro. to Cave class (on the very first dive).

i signaled my instructor (who was in the lead) and he came back and fixed the
tank for me. i was wearing an Oceanic Probe, with a single trank strap.

i eventually moved on to a bp-wings with two tank straps, and have never had
that problem.

another thing to do is to wet the strap(s) before putting them on the tank,
as they tend to expand when wet, and if you put them on dry, they'll expand
when you get in the water.

 

[anakin]

two tank straps is definetly were its at. I have to and never have to worry about them even if i dont wet them prior to diving.

But you always should remeber to wet them before you start your dive, and then sinch them up real good. Plus another big problem is people dont even thread the band correctly. So check that first, that will drop those occurences dramatically

As for signalling him, if i noticed my buddys tank strap was loose, i would get his attention tell him to stop, then fix it before giving him the big okay to begin diving again.

The tank usually wont pull the reg down much if at all. The tank is fairly neutral in the water so it doesnt pull a significant amount. but just remeber to check that in your Buddy check!!!

BWRAF!

haha such a PADi answer!

 

[Doc]

What Uncle Ho said, and yes... signal the guy... with a you wait here motion and then go fix his straps. If he doesn't figure out what's going on, he'll undoubtedly know you are doing something good for him. Just avoid any BrokeBack SCUBA moves and you'll be his new best pal.

Watch your depth carefully while doing this. Fix on an object (reef wall, wreck, down line) so you both don't ascend or sink.

And, no- most folks don't even notice this slipping thing is happening.

 

[SmileMon]

Andy, I think that a steel tank will pull the reg out of your mouth, some of them get to -15 pounds..

 

[H2Andy]

i had a steel tank on... i believe a 95 at the time. it didn't pull my reg out...
basically, the strap and bc hose and spg hose plus the two reg
hoses over my shoulder helped keep it more or less from yanking the reg out of my mouth.

 

[lamont]

I'd signal "HOLD" with a fist. That's probably the second most useful handsign, but generally not taught in OW classes. If my buddy throws a 'hold' sign on me and then starts fiddling with my gear where I can't see I know he's spotted something -- or possibly i've become entangled -- and i just need to let him work it out. It can also be very useful if you're getting yourself worked up into a CF and you need to slow it all down and try a different approach.

 

[Wildcard]

The LP inflator hose usualy takes what little weight there is. Ive seen people ( not me realy!) swim around for a while with a loose tank.

 

[DennisW]

I've had a tank come loose twice. Once I am sure I must have not locked it in tight because a Scubapro tank lock is fool proof. The other time was with a rented BC. It's a bit of an aggravation. With my Scubapro BC, if a friend hadn't snapped th lock in place, I would have removed the BC, locked it, and put it back on. (Remember those doff and don skills most agencies don't use anymore? They are useful.) The rented BC came loose on a shore entry and I had to carry the darn thing back to shore again to get it locked.

 

[H2Andy]

I've had a tank come loose twice. Once I am sure I must have
not locked it in tight because a Scubapro tank lock is fool proof.

obviously not!



(hey Dennis... how are you? long time no see)