Imaginary Accident/Incident Scenario; What Would You Do?

[lanta]

You are diving solo or have become separated from your buddy. You're diving double steel 98s in cold water and slinging two AL40s. Your back gas is air. You have EAN50 and O2 in the slings. Each sling bottle has a reg and an SPG on it. You have a dry suit with dry suit gloves, latex wrist seals and neck seal. You have no lift bag. You have a small SMB with 2 pounds of lift attached with a 100' spool. You have a safety reel with 120' of cave line. You have a compass, a bottom timer and a computer. Your computer says you've racked up 5 minutes of deco. You're cold, almost to the point of shivering. There is no down line or wall to climb up. (Your only path to the surface is straight up.) You have a spare mask, a slate, a cutter, a primary and a backup light. You have no other equipment.

Your right post is connected to your primary reg and primary inflation (wing). Your left post is connected to your backup reg, backup inflation (drysuit) and SPG. You're 90' down, one foot off the bottom.

You have a catastrophic failure of your isolator/manifold. You cannot isolate your tanks. You were not low on any of the three gases but you're manifold failure is so severe that you lose all your back gas within a minute. During that minute you did not have the presence of mind to inflate your drysuit. There is no one to help you and no chance that anyone will assist you. What would you do?

 

[Superlyte27]

Why are you breathing air at 90' but have 50% and 100%. Seems dumb, but okay.

Take a deep breath of 50% while you're heading to the surface. You'll be fine on 50% at 90' for a few minutes. Orally inflate your wing. At 70' your now okay to breathe the 50%.


-Edit...
I'd also like to add, that I assume you were neutrally buoyant at 90'. So you should be able to swim up without issue. For every foot that you move up the water column you now have more gas in your wing and your drysuit, so you're going to have to vent both of those as you work toward the surface. So this answer is even simpler.

Swim to 70' while you are grabbing your 50% reg. Once at 70' it should be a no brainer.

 

[PfcAJ]

You drown because you're a moron.

 

[lanta]

I like both your answers Superlyte27.

Let's change the scenario a little bit. Assume that whatever catastrophe led to the loss of your back gas also put a large gash in your wing. No air can be retained in it at any angle. You are now negative and cannot swim your doubles up. Your only remaining sources of buoyancy are your drysuit and the two pounds of lift in your SMB. You rule out using the SMB.

I love thinking through scenarios like this, even if they're very unlikely to occur. Better to think them through while sitting in a cozy arm chair than while shivering at 90'.

Why are you breathing air at 90' but have 50% and 100%. Seems dumb, but okay.

Take a deep breath of 50% while you're heading to the surface. You'll be fine on 50% at 90' for a few minutes. Orally inflate your wing. At 70' your now okay to breathe the 50%.


-Edit...
I'd also like to add, that I assume you were neutrally buoyant at 90'. So you should be able to swim up without issue. For every foot that you move up the water column you now have more gas in your wing and your drysuit, so you're going to have to vent both of those as you work toward the surface. So this answer is even simpler.

Swim to 70' while you are grabbing your 50% reg. Once at 70' it should be a no brainer.

 

[Superlyte27]

Every bottle I have has a whip on it for quick disconnect. I plug my 50% into my drysuit and inflate.

Pfc, you're awefully grumpy today man. What's up?

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Nothing unusual about being at 90' on air with 50%/100%...aside from it being about 100' shallower than when I'd feel like the deco reduction is worth the hassle of two bottles.

The answer isn't hard, though, regardless of whether you have a functioning wing or not. You calmly start removing the rig while slowly exhaling your last breath of air, after making sure your 50% reg is on. Hopefully you can get the rig dismounted before you have to switch, but regardless the pO2 of 50% at 90' is 1.86, so you switch to the 50% when you need to -- it's not going to kill you.

After you've gotten the tanks and wing off the rig, you re-don the harness and plate, and unclip the 100%. Tag your abandoned gear with your useless 2lb SMB. Then you swim up on the 50%, doing whatever adjusted stops you need to as best you can, while being thankful you don't have to contend with the exacting deco profile requirements of He.

I assume you were neutrally buoyant at 90'. So you should be able to swim up without issue.

I've always wondered whether a pair of steel tanks with a catastrophic manifold failure would in fact flood, losing all inherent buoyancy and becoming a 100lb anchor.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

this is a BS question.

 

[rhwestfall]

need to throw in a great white and a down current....

and, you left out a valuable piece of information: do I have split fins?

 

[lanta]

need to throw in a great white and a down current....

and, you left out a valuable piece of information: do I have split fins?

No real need to be sarcastic. I'm sure someone somewhere learned something.

 

[Superlyte27]

Don't get too wrapped up. He was just making a joke. I chuckled a bit.