Incident at Dutch Springs 21 May

[SnorkelLA]

Looks like the dive was somewhat normal up until the OOA situation... was just a matter of establishing buoyancy.

It's accidents that occur from stuff this simple and basic that are the worst because they could have been so easily avoided.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I don't wear weight. So I have nothing to ditch. Does that piss you off?

Depends on your rig. When I dive in warm water with little exposure protection and a big steel tank, I wear no lead at all myself. To be honest, after many hundreds of dives like that, many well below recreational depths, I still feel "better" with some more wetsuit and some ditchable lead, but if the water is too warm, I'm not going to wear too much wetsuit.

It pisses me off when I hear people tell others to dive a steel tank, a steel backplate and maybe some fixed weight in cold water with no ditchable lead. It is unnecessarily dangerous, particularly for the novice (in my opinion).

It also pisses me off when people say pony bottles are not a viable option for novice divers. If the kid had a reg around his neck, he probably could have stuffed that in his mouth and would be flirting with girls in math class this week. It's freaking ridiculous..

 

[Garth]

Your right dumpsterdiver. Sad situation here and although some don't think it had to do with the drysuit I tend to disagree. We often think about a rapid feet up ascent when we consider drysuit emergencies but what we don't always think about is weighting concerns. The fact is we use much more weight with a drysuit than with a wetsuit. If we are rushed through the weighting process at the beginning like some have suggested occurred on this day, it definitely could have made things worse in the event of an OOA situation.
Wonder if the father would tell his side of the story here? I realize this is not likely and the emotional aspect of all of this is probably to much to take but it seems to me it would help the discussion.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Your right dumpsterdiver. Sad situation here and although some don't think it had to do with the drysuit I tend to disagree. We often think about a rapid feet up ascent when we consider drysuit emergencies but what we don't always think about is weighting concerns. The fact is we use much more weight with a drysuit than with a wetsuit. If we are rushed through the weighting process at the beginning like some have suggested occurred on this day, it definitely could have made things worse in the event of an OOA situation.
Wonder if the father would tell his side of the story here? I realize this is not likely and the emotional aspect of all of this is probably to much to take but it seems to me it would help the discussion.

Not everyone uses more weight with a drysuit than they do with a wetsuit. Some use less, I know I do.

 

[herbdb]

This incident really spooked me. I dive with my sons, both are adults and good divers. I purchased 6 cuft bail out bottles this week, had them equipped with hoses and pressure guages. The tec divers have a lot of distain for the smaller bottles. In my view they are small enough to take along easily and big enough to give you plenty of time for you and your buddy to organize a nice relaxed ascent.

I never want to be in that fathers position.

 

[Dack]

I don't wear weight. So I have nothing to ditch. Does that piss you off?

The purpose of ditchable weight is so that you have the ability to achieve neutral or positive buoyancy IF you are unable to do so with air. It matters in situations when (1) you are significantly overweighted, out of air, and can not ascend and (2) you are at the surface and can not maintain head above water.

In a standard BC in fresh water with no exposure suit I'm a sinker, exactly like you. But outside of the 90 degree practice pool any diving I do is with an exposure suit, so that necessitates weights. Some are on the backplate, some is ditchable.

So you and your equipment are negatively buoyant. Does that mean you should be wearing both floats AND weights? Damn good question, and not one I've seen discussed before.

But one thing is for sure: What you do under water I could care less about, but I wouldn't want to be the guy who rescues you and tries to keep you buoyant at the surface. So yes, you're pissing me off.

Just kidding of course...

- Dack

 

[DandyDon]

This incident really spooked me. I dive with my sons, both are adults and good divers. I purchased 6 cuft bail out bottles this week, had them equipped with hoses and pressure guages. The tec divers have a lot of distain for the smaller bottles. In my view they are small enough to take along easily and big enough to give you plenty of time for you and your buddy to organize a nice relaxed ascent.

I never want to be in that fathers position.

If the ponies are new, you might consider exchanging them for 13 or 19 cf bottles as they're not that much larger, heavier, or pricier. I carry my 19 on all trips in spite of all the hassle of annual servicing, transporting, etc.

However, I don't know that a bailout bottle would have saved this one, since he seems to have failed to orally inflate or ditch weights.

 

[herbdb]

I considered the larger sizes, but decided against going bigger although the cost difference is minimal.

My reasoning was that my sons and I are more likely to use a smaller less obtrusive tank. Although smaller, it is for emergency use only, not part of gas planning. I don't ever intend to get into Tec diving and will always dive with a buddy within recreational limits. So using it for solo diving self rescue is unlikeky.

Some would say it is overkill and unnecessary for a well trained disciplined diver. They may be right, but I decided not to take the chance. I really feel bad for the father of this young man.

 

[Garth]

Hey dack your reasoning is wack so put your weight in a sac and put it on your back. . Jk
I dive double steel 120's and it makes no sense for me to dive with weight. I try to have a few forms of buoyancy and check my gauges frequently.

 

[Garth]

Herby: don't be skimpy on your gas unless you plan to be skimpy on your depth or time.