Is this a message or what!!!!!

[Web Monkey]

These are all things that should have been taught in OW class:

I grab my reg, put it into my mouth and NOTHING.......NOTHING!!!!
When the hell did I turn the air off?
. . .
I make my way out to where I can get my fine unstrapped from my BC and out them on, the whole time fighting the surf

1. Your tank should be on before entry
2. Verifying that your tank is actually on and you can breathe should be the very last thing before entering the water
3. You should be able to reach your tank valve in case you mess up both #1 and #2
4. You can keep your fins on your arm(s) during entry. Strapping them anywhere except your feet is just looking for trouble.
5. You had no buddy. You either need a good buddy or need to be self-reliant and not mess up.

I know I turned it on because I was thinking how generous Force-E dive shop was with the air...I had 3500 psi or more...my guage is old school and stops at 3500. So I know I turned it on.

You could also have had "0" since the next indicator on a 3500 PSI gauge is 0. Or the overfill could have jammed the pointer.


Terry

 

[DiverBizz]

Hmmmm, well I think DivingPrincessE, who must know you, is telling you, I TOLD YOU SO! Dude, I hope your number of dives have not been updated or is a mistake. A new diver attempting a rough beach entry solo is just dangerous. If you are diving solo you need to have a reduntant or pony bottle. I am glad you are unharmed but please think about it...you had several warnings. A lost fin is much better than a "lost" diver.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Hmmmm, well I think DivingPrincessE, who must know you, is telling you, I TOLD YOU SO! Dude, I hope your number of dives have not been updated or is a mistake. A new diver attempting a rough beach entry solo is just dangerous. If you are diving solo you need to have a reduntant or pony bottle. I am glad you are unharmed but please think about it...you had several warnings. A lost fin is much better than a "lost" diver.

Yeah that was basically what I was saying. I don't "know him/her" just basically said what you said in this thread

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/264393-safe-practice-2.html (Start at post 43...the rest doesn't really apply)

This part of my post to him seems especially good now

Do you know about typical currents and boat traffic? Are you prepared to deal with a gear malfunction?

 

[Hank49]

Sounds like you should have gone home and got your surfboard. The vis on a day like you're describing must have been about 5 feet max, even 200 yards offshore.

 

[mksmith713]

It's humbling to know, as careful as I think I am, I can get sidetracked and make a bonehead mistake like that.

 

[Unibrook]

Perhaps this is a good reason not to have a snorkel attached when you scuba dive. Better to have reg in, than try to save some air.

 

[crispix]

This is a great post. One of my fears is becoming so complacent about diving that I forget something as basic as checking my air before getting wet. Like the pilot who forgets to lower the landing gear. Or the skydiver who forgets to put on his chute (has that ever happened?!). Do the checklist, every time: that's a lesson learned.

 

[aascubagirl]

I have to admit, I have made the same mistake as mksmith once. After doing one dive, I swapped out my gear onto a new tank but somehow, in the course of gabbing away, I did not turn it on (or some mysterious scuba imp came along and turned it off - that is my other theory). My bcd is still pretty much inflated from the first dive so as I walk into the water I still don't notice. Pop my reg into my mouth and deflate my bcd and of course then realize what's going on as I'm down about 5-8 feet. Luckily for me I was a) pretty shallow and b) had a nice dive buddy who was watching me and came right over to help me fix the problem.

My lessons:
1) I was too complacent and need to pay more attention!!!
3) SOOOO glad I had a dive buddy - always dive with a buddy

What can you take away from all of this? You got several "messages" that day to abort the dive but ignored them for various reasons. In retrospect, those reasons seem kind of silly compared to the fact that you could have been injured or lost your life, don't they? In addition, while I know there are divers out there who are cool with diving solo and I'm not going to knock that...it sounds like you yourself are not quite ready for that. I would definitely find a good dive buddy to help remind you about the common pre-dive safety checks and to also watch your back and have you watch his/hers. That way, you can come back here and post better stories

 

[Gombessa]

I had a pretty damned embarrassing episode earlier last year that gave me the same message, thankfully without the apparent risk you were in.

I met my buddy in the morning, we drove one and a half hours to the dive site. On getting there, I realized that I forgot my drysuit at home. We end up driving home, pick up the suit, and drive back to the site. We figure we have time to do one dive instead of two. We get geared up, head into the water, kick out on the surface for 15 minutes, and just as we're about to descend, his mask breaks. So we swim 15 minutes back to shore and consider our options. We could jerry-rig a fix, borrow a mask, or he could buy a new one. We both agreed that given the circumstances, someone or something was giving us a strong hint that we should not dive that day. We got the picture. So we got out of our gear, returned his rental tanks, and drove home.

To this day, the guy at the dive shop asks me if I remembered to bring my drysuit. Grrr....

 

[orange_diver]

a tip for reaching your tank valve -- if you are at the surface it's a lot harder vertical than horizontal. as you reach back and lean back you are actually moving the valve away from you.

so get horizontal face down in the water, hike your BC up if you need to and it should be a lot easier, especially if you are in a wetsuit. if you graze the side of your head as you reach back you'll find the valve.