Question How to behave after uncontrolled ascent

[Fishdip]

On a normal wing, there’s only one dump at the bottom left hand side so you’d need to invert. However, you need two hands to disconnect the LP inflator hose from the K-valve and your left hand is now occupied with dumping from your left-hand waist.

Of course it’s more subtle as it’s unlikely to be a full-on free flow, more of a slow leak which will probably take a few minutes to diagnose.

Not true at all a lot of BCDs now come with the pull dump on the inflator hose…

 

[mdwalter]

I think I would just grab the LP hose and bend it/kink it to stop airflow then fiddle with the disconnect. I dive with thick gloves though so undoing an inflator hose might he easier said than done. Kinking it though would be right away.

Good luck kinking a LP hose to stop the air flow... This is not a garden hose we're talking about.

 

[Wibble]

I experimented with runaway inflator tactics at one point, the fastest way to handle it with the shortest unintentional ascent was to tilt head down and swim downward while dumping air from the rear valve on the wing/bcd until under control, then disconnect the inflator hose. Not always easy in winter gear. Of course a in freeflowing drysuit you wouldn't pitch down but up for the shoulder dump.

How do you disconnect the inflator hose when your left arm is busy dumping the wing? You need two hands to disconnect the BCD/wing inflate.

 

[Wibble]

Not true at all a lot of BCDs now come with the pull dump on the inflator hose…

Not true.

Some recreational BCDs come with "tug on the inflator hose" dumps. And then there's the useless and dangerous non-standard i3.

No technical wings will ever come with them as they bring too many other problems.

 

[SlugLife]

Hypothetical mechanical question. If your inflator is stuck open and filling your wing, I think my first instinct would have been to pull on my dump valve and hold it open. Just keeping it real, that was the first thing that popped into my mind. The second thing was to detach the coupling to cut off the air. So here's my question... if the inflator is stuck open and a person was to pull on the dump valve, would there be any steady state change in the wing volume? In other words, can the dump valve dump air faster than the inflator can supply air, or would that be a futile effort?

The answer is "it depends"

* Different wings and dump-valves will dump at different rates, trap air, or "squeeze" under pressure differently.
* The more pressure in your BCD, the faster it'll dump.
* Depending on the location of your dump, and your current trim, you may dump faster or slower.

In short, I think you'd probably reach an "equilibrium" at some pressure and volume of air, but that'll be radically different based on equipment and trim in the water.

 

[SlugLife]

I think I would just grab the LP hose and bend it/kink it to stop airflow then fiddle with the disconnect. I dive with thick gloves though so undoing an inflator hose might he easier said than done. Kinking it though would be right away.

Have you ever tried kinking an LP hose? Without pressure, a rubber hose would likely be difficult. With pressure, we're dealing with 140psi. I would think manually kinking a hose would be very difficult, but I've never tried it myself.

 

[SlugLife]

How do you disconnect the inflator hose when your left arm is busy dumping the wing? You need two hands to disconnect the BCD/wing inflate.

Disconnecting with one-hand is possible and easy, with the right equipment. From earlier in the thread: (see below). I'm a huge fan of these, as they make equipment setup a lot easier. They even allow me to connect a BCD-hose to an inflator while under-pressure, without difficulty.

It's one hand disconnect, because you only have to pull the collar, and the pressure will "kick" out the inflator.

• OTG Dive
• EZ-ON Adapter: Turns LP Reg Hose into BC/Drysuit Inflator Hose

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.


View attachment 748328
View attachment 748329

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.

 

[RobPNW]

Is there such a thing as a slower flow inflator hose for BCs or drysuits that would mitigate how fast the devices inflate in this situation? Is there a time, other than at the surface, when you want fast air flow?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Is there such a thing as a slower flow inflator hose for BCs or drysuits that would mitigate how fast the devices inflate in this situation? Is there a time, other than at the surface, when you want fast air flow?

I hope not.

 

[Wibble]

Is there such a thing as a slower flow inflator hose for BCs or drysuits that would mitigate how fast the devices inflate in this situation? Is there a time, other than at the surface, when you want fast air flow?

The Schroeder valve hoses are lower flow than a 5/16" regulator hose.

Disconnecting with one-hand is possible and easy, with the right equipment. From earlier in the thread: (see below). I'm a huge fan of these, as they make equipment setup a lot easier. They even allow me to connect a BCD-hose to an inflator while under-pressure, without difficulty.

It's one hand disconnect, because you only have to pull the collar, and the pressure will "kick" out the inflator.

Not always. Those connectors can be difficult to disconnect and connect, frequently requiring two hands, even on a drysuit inflate.

The plastic "hose hat" can slide off the ferrule when it sticks.