Question How to behave after uncontrolled ascent
- Thread starter Herliyo
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
johndiver999
Contributor
The very FIRST thing you need to train yourself to do in a situation like that is to SCREAM!
Well you don't actually have to scream, but an immediate and complete exhalation is the fastest way to dump buoyancy. If you don't inhale for a few seconds while you sort it out, this will help you maintain buoyancy or at least ameliorate the situation. Then press the dump button and pull down if you have a pull dump or hold it up high and practice the disconnect from that position.
It takes two hands, so what are you gonna do with a camera or other gear? Wait to clip it off, drop it on the bottom or try to hold it AND use both hands to work the inflator??? It is not necessarily that easy of a skill to do in a few seconds, especially if you have thick gloves or a crusty inflator hose collar. I keep my inflator hose collar pretty nice with WD-40 when using a standard inflator.
In practice, if you exhale quick, grab the deflate super fast and start venting, then the emergency is over, you should start sinking, and then you can figure out how exactly you want to juggle all your sheet, before you actually do the disconnect. Stopping the immediate ascent and dumping is obviously extremely time sensitive, the rest not so much.
Theory says that with the "standard" K-inflator, holding it up with the deflate button depressed should dump all the gas being injected. You should be able to disconnect the hose with the other hand.
Yeah, theory eh!
Yeah, theory eh!
When I was cavern diving in Florida years ago (I forget the place), I suddenly became buoyant. My hands were empty, so it was easy in the warm water to disconnect my LPI hose with both hands and then dump gas. I'd have to practice with one hand in cold water. When I carry one, my camera is tethered to me, so dropping that wouldn't be a problem. Anyway, this was back when I was traveling with an Xdeep Ghost so I was probably pretty close to properly rated. I still ent up about 20' (about 80-sh to about 60'ish). The group was wondering what I was doing, but then the guide figured it out when I pointed to my disconnected LPI hose.
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
The Gas Bag Blues.
I’m reading all this and realizing just how run-away (pun intended) the BC has become in it’s own little world of drama.
They are contraptions, unfortunately a necessary evil.
Prior to BC’s none of this even existed.
I’m reading all this and realizing just how run-away (pun intended) the BC has become in it’s own little world of drama.
They are contraptions, unfortunately a necessary evil.
Prior to BC’s none of this even existed.
So not dragged to the surface by a runaway horse collar?
SlugLife
Contributor
Either of these products works fairly well, and I have both (or an equivelant).
I have a different brand of the first one, although I don't remember where I bought it from. So I'm just linking the first one I found. It's basically a rubbery "boot" that goes over the inflator-hose, and gives you extra grip, and is super-cheap.
The second example, attaches to a standard LP regulator hose and converts it into an inflator hose, also giving you a larger grip to disconnect.
DGX sells this hose: EZ-On Drysuit Inflation Hose that I find quite handy for my dry suit. I don't think I'd put one on my LPI however. But I can always drop whatever is in my hands to disconnect if need be.
Alaskan Scuba Dude
Banned
A verbal contract to dive is considered a contract. Pay up! Next question: diving can be stressful at times. How long since you last dived and how much dive experience you had before this misadventure has not been provided. Count yourself fortunate you did not hold your breath on ascent.
That is normal behavior for many diving centers.
For example, I donated a regulator to a diver on my first dive on the wreck of the Yukon off San Diego when the shop gave him empty tanks. On my second attempt to see the wreck, I donated a regulator to another diver who was having problems breathing with their rental regulator. Twice in one day. The shop didn't care that both my dives lasted only a few minutes because I had to donate gas because of their rental gear.
You'll have dive centers that want to make it right for customers and dive shops that always think they are right. When you find the good ones, reward them with your return customer dollars.
If you rent equipment, practice air/gas sharing, popping off BCD hoses, etc., because you never know what you're going to get.
Similar threads
