How do YOU hold your 2nd stage?

[Meister481]

I'm no troll, no child and sober as can be. I'm asking questions. How about you?

 

[Dive-aholic]

It's actually not the first time buddy-breathing has been mentioned on this thread - but regardless of that I do think it too bad it's "gone the way of the dodo bird".

It is the first time you mentioned buddy breathing in this thread.

Small example.

Last year, while doing a check-out dive in our 200,000 gal Giant Ocean Tank with a new co-op (a marine bio college student that spends 6 months working at the aquarium) we had completed the check-out portion of the dive and were just touring around.

I looked back at her and saw something floating by her head - it was her reg sans mouthpiece, which she was showing me in her hand. I reached down and put her octo in her mouth and she signaled "OK". At this point I finished the dive and we were about to head to the platform when I look over at her again and she is handing me something. I had to do a double-take as it was her mouthpiece (again), with her octo floating up by her head. Granted we were only 23 feet deep, but she was in a new environment with a bunch of sharks and eels and 700 other critters and no reg - so I commence buddy breathing with her as we began a controlled ascent surface.

She was spot on, no panic, and has since become one of our best co-ops. She had also never been taught buddy-breathing, so she and I had gone over the procedure before the dive and again (of course) in the tank.

Guess how I handed her my reg? She had no air left in her lungs as she had just exhaled when her (2nd) mouthpiece popped off and needed to hit that purge button asap (and yes, there is also the "swish" purge method, but she didn't know it).

John

I don't understand why you decided to buddy breathe...unless you didn't have another reg you could share air with. Okay, so let's say that's the case, the only 2nd stage you had was the one in your mouth, then why didn't your buddy just replace the mouthpiece or breathe from her own reg without the mouthpiece? I had a similar incident once. My reg fell out of my mouthpiece. I didn't even realize it until my buddy handed me my reg (I breathe really slow). The mouthpiece was still in my mouth. I took the reg, took a breath from it, and reattached the mouthpiece. The dive continued with further incident.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Whats taught is actually to have air in the bcd, one hand on the back of your head to cover it from the tank/valve/whatever and the other hand holding your regulator IN YOUR MOUTH and the mask on your face..
The question was also infact "how do your hold your 2nd stage" not specifying when..
[/offtopic]

Hand on back of your head? I've never heard of that and I've never had my tank/valve/1st stage hit me in the back of my head.

 

[JeffG]

No, my day's excellent. I greatly appreciate your thoughts and concern.

Gee...I wish I saw the none edited version. LOL

 

[Cacia]

did I miss something?

 

[joe rock]

did I miss something?

I went away for Thanksgiving dinner and missed a whole bunch

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

did I miss something?

Yes, you missed that Wildcard needs to redo his BOW...while he knows how to hold a snorkel he does not know how to hold a 2nd stage

 

[neil]

I would not enter off a pier with a regulator in my mouth. There have been several embolisms that way.

I've heard of that, but have NEVER seen any proof. Got some? I mean seriously, inquiring minds want to know. I would never, so far, jump into the water in full scuba without a reg in my mouth.

 

[Thalassamania]

I've heard of that, but have NEVER seen any proof. Got some? I mean seriously, inquiring minds want to know. I would never, so far, jump into the water in full scuba without a reg in my mouth.

Eventually I maybe able to give you some but for the time being you'll have to take my word for it.

I spent almost ten years as an analyst for the National Underwater Accident Center (funded by the Coast Guard, NOAA, OSHA and NIOSH). I remeber that these cases occured (but since we were funded to study fatalities they usually just got filed, there may have been a small non-fatal section in the reports, I don't recall). The NUADC files were sent to Duke at the close of the project and there is not currently any funding to do anything but store them.

Cleaning up our storage area for our upcoming move to HI I just came across some 9-track tapes (that I think have the NUADC data on them) and a coding book, both of which I'm sending down to Duke soon. I think that there was a file on the tape with data from non-fatals. When I get an extra half day I'll be headed over to the computer center to see if there is still a 9-track drive kicking about so that we can read the tapes. If we can read them I'll get you the details that you are looking for.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

LOL

However, my point is that you should try to be consistent so that when confronted with a stressful situation you don't have to consciously think about your actions - they just happen.

John

Well if the idea is a process that works under duress, then your analysis is flawed.
The hand naturally finds the mouth. When replacing your regulator, if you grasp it by the case, the mouthpiece will be oriented correctly so that your hand will naturally push it in your mouth. And if you need to use the purge button, then the button is right under your palm. All you have to do is squeeze or push.
On the other hand, if you are grasping the 2nd stage by the hose, the mouthpiece might be turned up, or turned down. You'll have to pause to look at it, and possible use your other hand to rotate the 2nd stage to orient the mouthpiece. Otherwise it could take 2 or 3 attempts to get the mouthpiece in your mouth.
On the other hand, when donating a 2nd stage, you do want to hold it by the hose so the recipient can grasp the case and do the above.
If you are the recipient of an air sharing procedure and you have been trained to always grasp a 2nd stage by the hose, and the donor is already holding it by the hose, then you have to stop and think before you grasp the 2nd stage, elsewhere.
On the surface, it sounds logical to just say: Always grasp the 2nd stage by the hose, whether you're putting it in your mouth or someone else's. But when you really analyse the actions required, it doesn't hold up to scruteny.