hitting head when using BP/W

[Spoon]

I recall reading a story of a man who jumped in the water with his air turned off. He couldn't get to his valve and he drowned.

How's that for a good reason?

that happened to me before taking my dir classes luckily i was able to swim to the surface after dropping 5 feet

 

[halocline]

I recall reading a story of a man who jumped in the water with his air turned off. He couldn't get to his valve and he drowned.

How's that for a good reason?

Ummmm, it's definitely not a good reason; I don't understand how this relates to my idea of turning the tank around; the valve is just as acessible. Besides, there are so many things wrong with this sort of scenario, hear's a few:

Why didn't the guy check his air or have a buddy check before entering the water?

Why did the guy enter the water negatively buoyant?

Why couldn't the guy ditch weights and/or doff his rig?

Where was his buddy and/or DM during all this?

It sounds like a bizarre story; maybe you could find it and post a link. I suspect there was some circumstance we're not aware of. This is one of those "I heard about a guy" etc....anecdotes that people can use to inspire fear or doubt in something unfamiliar without really reasoning it through. As I said, turning the tank around does not change the accessibility of the valve. Nor does it change the way the valve turns; still counterclockwise to open, clockwise to close. If someone else is turning it, the only difference is that they'd be on the other side facing it. If you try it, you'll soon find that it's just not that big a challenge to turn the valve on....

 

[lamont]

Me too, why do you need to get to the valve in a single tank open water dive? I understand in caves and with doubles with isolation manifolds but with a single?

Someone on a boat turned my valve entirely off + 1/4 turn on one time. I could breathe off the regs at the surface and inflate my wing, but at 60 fsw they regs had basically quit on me. I OOA'd my buddy, but had I been a little m ore experienced and done a few more valve drills I could have simply fixed the issue and continued with the dive...

 

[*Floater*]

Someone on a boat turned my valve entirely off + 1/4 turn on one time. I could breathe off the regs at the surface and inflate my wing, but at 60 fsw they regs had basically quit on me. I OOA'd my buddy, but had I been a little m ore experienced and done a few more valve drills I could have simply fixed the issue and continued with the dive...

A good buddy check routine should eliminate problems like that.

But I'm curious now about the BP/W setup with no quick releases and no ditchable weights, which seems to be fairly standard: Can you get out of that rig quick enough if you experience a catastrophic equipment failure, or what's the procedure that DIR divers use in those situations?

 

[djanni]

Do you recall anything else about that story? For instance:

1. Was he grossly overweighted and sinking like rock?
2. Why didn't he drop weights swim to the surface?
3. He must have been observed trying to get to his valve so what prevented the observer from assisting him?

I recall reading a story of a man who jumped in the water with his air turned off. He couldn't get to his valve and he drowned.


How's that for a good reason?

 

[GreenDiverDown]

A good buddy check routine should eliminate problems like that.

But I'm curious now about the BP/W setup with no quick releases and no ditchable weights, which seems to be fairly standard: Can you get out of that rig quick enough if you experience a catastrophic equipment failure, or what's the procedure that DIR divers use in those situations?

What "catastrophic equipment failure" could you imagine that would require getting out of your rig?

BTW, a BP/wing/hog harness can be very quickly taken off...I'd say as quick if not quicker than a BC...just unfasten waist belt, slip off crotch strap, then reach back over your head and grab the reg/valve. Then, just flip it over your head. Done.

 

[*Floater*]

What "catastrophic equipment failure" could you imagine that would require getting out of your rig?

BTW, a BP/wing/hog harness can be very quickly taken off...I'd say as quick if not quicker than a BC...just unfasten waist belt, slip off crotch strap, then reach back over your head and grab the reg/valve. Then, just flip it over your head. Done.

I was imagining some situation in which the diver attampts to add gas into his wing to stop a descent, but instead the reg jams up beyond repair and he keeps falling with no bottom in sight - or something like that. To complicate matters, suppose that this happens close to his MOD, he has no easily ditachable weights, and his buddy is some distance away - so may not get there right away. I suppose in such a situation I'd try to ditch my rig and swim over to the buddy for gas.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

You may have heard some of us talk about diving with a "balanced rig". Part of the equation is weighting such that the diver can swim up their rig at the beginning of the dive with a full cylinder and with no air in the wing...thus...no need to remove gear.

 

[*Floater*]

You may have heard some of us talk about diving with a "balanced rig". Part of the equation is weighting such that the diver can swim up their rig at the beginning of the dive with a full cylinder and with no air in the wing...thus...no need to remove gear.

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess you'd have to be carrying way too much weight not be able to swim up with it.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

I can't think of any emergency where one would want to take off their rig underwater.

OTOH, being able to reach your valve could definitely come in handy. I've got caught several times jumping in with my air turned off. I'm glad that now, with my valve within reach, it's a simple quick fix.