I f*** up and I am ashamed

[ginti]

I dive with a big knife on the inside of my right calf and a small knife on the side of my bcd. I did not think about banging on my tank.

FYI, you can even scream underwater. It's less effective than banging a knife on a tank but quicker. And, for sure, it is more effective than not calling attention at all

 

[chillyinCanada]

Dody, this is the first line from johndiver999's post much earlier in this thread:

"So you scared the crap out of yourself and survived. You are making progress toward being a real diver"

I just wanted to re-emphasize this ^^^

Don't let the comments in here make you think that similar situations haven't happened to each one of us at some point or another.

It's how you deal with those situations in the moment that can make the difference.

 

[Dody]

Why were you 10 meters away from your buddy? Would you be able to catch up that distance in an out of air emergency when you buddy is still swimming away from you?

This is my dear wife. She loves diving and having fun diving. It is virtually impossible to stay very close when we dive. She will play mermaid or stop when she sees a critter or a fish. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one having this issue while diving with his/ her spouse. There is a big difference between theory and real life. If we experience OOA, I will have to make some noise.

 

[Centrals]

This is my dear wife. She loves diving and having fun diving. It is virtually impossible to stay very close when we dive. She will play mermaid or stop when she sees a critter or a fish. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one having this issue while diving with his/ her spouse. There is a big difference between theory and real life. If we experience OOA, I will have to make some noise.

You have to be her chaperone/guardian angle.
Let her lead the dive and stay close with her.
I am afraid you have to make some scarify.
There is under water signaling device.

10 Best Underwater Signaling Devices In 2021 | Tested and Reviewed by Divers

Off topic:
How many safety equipment both of you carried?

 

[Dody]

As I wade through this chaos, I would like to ask a couple of questions.

1. Was this a cave? Briefly and incompletely stated....

a. A cavern is an overhead environment with natural light still usable usable and the entrance is clearly visible at all times. The diver will return exit through the entry point.
b. A cave is roughly the same thing, but there is no available natural light, and the entrance is not visible during the dive.
c. A swim-through is a formation in which the diver enters at one point and exits at another. There is usually natural light available throughout. Usually (not always) the exit point is visible from the point of entry. These are commonly done on recreational dives throughout the world.
​

2. How did the wife do? It seems to me that she did just fine on the dive. She never felt she was in danger. Did she return to the entry point or exit at another point?

Based on your definitions, it was a cavern not a cave.
My wife did fine. She stayed with the DM all along and she only freaked out when she realized that I was no longer with her.

 

[Dody]

You have to be her chaperone/guardian angle.
Let her lead the dive and stay close with her.
I am afraid you have to make some scarify.
There is under water signaling device.

10 Best Underwater Signaling Devices In 2021 | Tested and Reviewed by Divers

Off topic:
How many safety equipment both of you carried?

We both have the very same equipment. Two knives each, one DMSB each, mirror, power whistle. I plan to buy two Garmin Mk2i with the satellite subscription. That's about it.

 

[ginti]

Dody, this is the first line from johndiver999's post much earlier in this thread:

"So you scared the crap out of yourself and survived. You are making progress toward being a real diver"

I just wanted to re-emphasize this ^^^

Don't let the comments in here make you think that similar situations haven't happened to each one of us at some point or another.

It's how you deal with those situations in the moment that can make the difference.

Nothing... I just felt to emphasize this again

 

[Dody]

Do you know whether your BCD has not been vented completely at 2 m depth?

I used to have a BCD that trapped some residual air, which I won’t be able to vent it off completely at shallow depth, unless I was completely in vertical position or if I wasn’t in vertical position, I had to tilt my left shoulder up.

With that BCD, 3mm wetsuit, AL80 tank at 500 psi (34 bar) I had to have 6 kg weight. This problem was fixed with my new BCD. I just need 5 kg weight at the same condition. My guess is that I have been compensating the trapped air in the old BCD with 1 kg weight.

It had completely vented. No air left in the BCD.

 

[Dody]

Determining weighting isn't intended to be at the safety stop or with 500 psi. If someone is determining their weighting requirements at 15 or 20 feet or with 500 psi, they may well be underweighted.

That's why it's at the last stop at 10' and with a "nearly empty" tank.

For example, after doing a dive, I've almost finished off a tank (to about 100 psi) in very shallow water doing skills, which is a great way to test out if you're correctly weighted.

If the OP didn't get pinned to the ceiling toward the end of the dive, he would have had a runaway ascent, and likely did ascend rapidly after exiting the cavern. That's assuming the BCD was actually empty in the cavern and was vented properly.

I guess that ended up being a very convincing weighting test.

The reason why I was pinned to the ceiling is that I could not see my DC. I entered the cavern at probably 8 meters depth and because of the poor vis, I probably ended up at 3 or 4. At this point, I had no more control because I was underweighted.
There's been a thread recently about weight check and most of the people were saying that it must be done at the end of the dive and not at the beginning. I did it and decided that I needed no more than 4 kg. It was a mistake.

 

[chillyinCanada]

It had completely vented. No air left in the BCD.

How do you know for sure?

Because you couldn't get anymore air to come out when you were venting?

Were you using your corrugated inflator hose to dump the air or were you using your butt dump? Did you try all of your dump valves? Remember that the air remaining in your bcd will be at the highest point.

So, you were stuck to the top of the overhang and looking towards the back instead of out into the light zone and freaking yourself out more. As you were dumping air, what position was your body in? Were you vertical? Feet down, head up? Or feet up, head down?