How to safely ascend with Spare Air

[StSomewhere]

Thanks for the clarification. So if your buddy does not have an octopus, it is preferable to do an emergency controlled ascend. But if your buddy has an octo, then to use it and both will go up at the safe rate....

I am really learning alot from you guys. Thanks .....

I will have to start reading more.

I wouldn't dive with someone who didn't have a octo for me. :11: YMMV.

 

[StSomewhere]

So, I am very anxious about diving with a buddy. Unfortunately my wife says that she will not take scuba until hell freezes over... So that's why I find spare air and pony an interesting safety net...

Heh heh heh. My wife says I can dive as long as she doesn't have to.

The good news for you is once you find a dive buddy you've also found alternate air source.

 

[lamont]

Thanks for the comment about practicing buddy skill. I remembered one of you posted how you have to interview 2 or 3 divers before you can find a suitable buddy.

I had 2 bad buddy experiences, and they were both on night dives. One was a night dive with my PADI advanced class. The kid was about 18, and was assigned to me by the instructor. He did not know where I was most of the time. He wanted to hang around the large water exhaust at Electric beach in Oahu. The vacumn next to the exhaust blew me far from shore and onto the surface. The second time my buddies were 2 fellow physicians. They assurred me that they know how to night dive. I went out on his boat for lobster hunting. The two of them shared one dive light. I loaned them one of my 3 lights. It was a night mare. We were supposed to be in 20 ft of water or less, and we were actually anchored in 60 plus feet. The boat drifted away..... I didn't have prescription goggles then.... Couldn't see the boat when we surfaced.....

So, I am very anxious about diving with a buddy. Unfortunately my wife says that she will not take scuba until hell freezes over... So that's why I find spare air and pony an interesting safety net...

it sounds like in lieu of a good buddy what you want is to get an aluminum 19 cu ft pony bottle and sling it like a stage. you also need good air management skills. if you're idea of air management is to turn the dive at 500 psi, you need to do a bit more studying (the kind of questions to answer are: "if you're at 2500 psi at 100 fsw, how long do you have before you need to turn the dive and still know that you'll be able to ascend and do all your stops even if your buddy blows a burst disk and OOAs you?" -- do a search for 'rock bottom'). you should also take a rescue course. also, if you take more courses you might find some decent buddies.

 

[fisherdvm]

I have thought of a cute idea. You know how little they make little timer for cooking and stuff. Well, if they make one tiny enough and connected to a little LED light, and set it to blink once every 3 minutes - you can have a cute scuba safety thingimagic...

You would glue it on the outside of your mask, and when it blinks, you check your pressure.

You know how us inexperienced divers are. We simply forgets.... So if the blinky light go on, we would check our pressure, depth and time....

If they can give out electronic toy with a happy meal, it wouldn't cost much for some poor little kids to put these things together in some third world country!!

Hey, if someone patent this, you could make some money...... Or maybe they have something already???

 

[ShakaZulu]

I have thought of a cute idea. You know how little they make little timer for cooking and stuff. Well, if they make one tiny enough and connected to a little LED light, and set it to blink once every 3 minutes - you can have a cute scuba for some poor little kids to put these things together in some third world country!!

Hey, if someone patent this, you could make some money...... Or maybe they have something already???

Don't worry, the first time you run out of air at 100 ft, and your buddy doesn't have enough air for the two of you to do the extended safety stop, due to the fact you ran over your NDL limits, and you end up in the chamber, as a result of the CESA, you will remember to check your gauges and plan your dive........led thingy on not.

 

[Viscya]

No one should run OOA!!!!!!!!

Get it through you head!!!!!
If you run OOA, you are not planning your dive, and diving your plan.
Trite but true.

Now for the real problem: regulaor failure. There is no "keep the reg in your mouth and breath" the reg is gone. Free flow, seaze up .. it's gone, now what?

I want to breath off ShakaZulu's stage. The lips are nicer!

 

[derwoodwithasherwood]

I did major in engineering and did get an award in physics in college

As a person who has earned basic life support, advanced cardiac life support, and advanced trauma life support in the medical corp of the army

I do hold both a DVM and an MD

Actually I am not a real doctor, I just play one on TV. Don't you understand sarcasm once in a while?

It would appear that you stem from a plethora of experience: engineer, physicist, corpsman, medic, paramedic, veterinarian, physician and finally actor. Although you later cast some doubt on your earliest assertions, I'm sure the last is accurate. Your command of English appears stilted, or at least awkward. Do I detect an accent? Nigerian perhaps? It seems reminiscent of some letters I've received from abroad.

I would not presume to instruct anyone here on the subject of scuba, yet here you are, reliant upon "Scuba Diving and Snorkling for Dummies", holding court with statements like:

you are safe to hold your breath as long as your lips are pursed around a regulator

I still strongly believe that a conscious person with a regulator in his mouth can not have a closed upper airway.

the swallowing reflex closes the vocal cords, closes the epiglottis, and deviates the trachea downward - this shuts down your airway. The food and liquid will just glide pass the watertight epiglottis. Yes, your lips are opened.

I am still not convinced that air embolism resulting from a closed air way can occur in a conscious diver with a regulator in his mouth.

the greatest threat of an out of air situation is air embolism.

So the only issue here is that you don't have to give a hoot about DCS if you obey the tables or the dive computer.

The goal in preventing decompression sickness is to have the nitrogen diffuses across slowly - that is why we have the "no faster than 30 ft per minute" rule.

As most of us can swim to the surface in 3 to 5 seconds

But if you did overshoot, you can just descend and shrink those little bubbles (an instant decompression chamber).

The only variable is the partial pressure outside of the tank.

You have disparaged those that disagree as rude. You have dismissed their "number of dives or your certificates" as irrelevant. I humbly ask you then: Why? What is the point of this thread?

 

[Viscya]

I agree, rather than contemplate how to make SA work, just get a spare that works!

 

[bwerb]

You know how us inexperienced divers are. We simply forgets.... So if the blinky light go on, we would check our pressure, depth and time....
Or maybe they have something already???

Well if your attitude is one of being forgetful about your gas supply, I'll exercise option 1.

And yes they do have something already...it resides between your ears.

Would you like to clarify the number of dives you've done without an instructor...my count for you...best case scenario is 4 or 5.

And I've never heard of a doctor who was too cheap to buy anything...typically they can't wait to drop coin on the latest and greatest.

This thead has been a beautiful troll...I'll admit it...I took the bait...touche!

 

[OneBrightGator]

Me too Brian.

Although I opt. #1-ed it when I read the title