Kona Agressor, Out of Air

[b1gcountry]

Tech divers will put their primary on one which gave me the idea. If someone is coming to me in a out of air situation they will most likely focus on my primary but hopefully will see the octo just below it. If they do grab my primary my octo is only 6 inches below my mouth.

Not quite, most folks I dive with put their backup on a necklace around their necks, and breathe from their primary, which is on a long hose. The backup around your neck is usually on a pretty short hose, which makes it very hard to share air on. What you do is pretty much a standard octo setup, you are just holding the octo on a necklace instead of a skumball, or whatever. The only downside I can see to this is if someone like me came up to you and needed air, I would see the octo on a necklace, and grab the reg in your mouth because I would assume the necklaced reg was on a short hose.

Back on the OT, I agree-your gas supply is solely your responsibility, no matter who else was supposed to do anything.

Tom

 

[RonFrank]

Sounds like you handled this well, and I'm glad you are safe.

However how did you go 5~10 minutes into a dive without ever looking at your air! :doh2:

Pre dive checkout is important, even if it's just checking all your connections, and your AIR!

 

[fdog]

Not quite the same problem, but:

About 3 years ago we enjoyed a charter on the Kona Aggressor.

You know how the crew reaches up to give your valve a little twist before you hop off the platform? It's their last little bit of safety to double check the client. Nominally I don't like anyone messing with my gear, but the Aggressors are a quality operation so I usually just let it slide.

However, I always put a couple of hard breaths into the reg before entering the water. I mean always, it's part of my routine. So I wait until they twiddle the valve, then pull off a couple of deep breaths while watching the gauge.

Amazingly, on one dive the crew member seemed to be twisting a bit more than usual; sure enough, as I breathed the reg, the needle dropped. He'd turned the gas off!

I reached over my shoulder and turned my gas back on, at the same time glaring at the crew member. He had a look that translated to "BFD" and actually said "so what".

The issue was easy to solve; when I returned to the boat I had a chat with the Captain, and from that point, nobody touched my gas.

(the crew member in question was a short timer and left the boat in a couple weeks)


All the best, James

 

[BabyDuck]

oh, said 'so what?'!! i'da shown him what!

mistakes happen. they shouldn't, but they do, and that's what checks and double checks are for. but to not care that he just shut off your air - EEHHH!!

 

[bleeb]

Amazingly, on one dive the crew member seemed to be twisting a bit more than usual; sure enough, as I breathed the reg, the needle dropped. He'd turned the gas off!

I reached over my shoulder and turned my gas back on, at the same time glaring at the crew member. He had a look that translated to "BFD" and actually said "so what".

The issue was easy to solve; when I returned to the boat I had a chat with the Captain, and from that point, nobody touched my gas.

I don't like spreading rumors, so let me try to word this carefully. A while back, there was a suggestion that every year there were a few casualties resulting from crew accidentally turning tanks off as people were about to step off the boat. Does anyone have any information about how true this might be, or whether it's a bit of an urban legend? As has been often mentioned on SB, a significant number of accidents don't necessarily make the news or get into any formal statistics.

Personally, I want to be able to reach my own tank valve(s) in case of a problem like this, although any one of the several good diving practices others have mentioned would break the accident cycle, such a last minute test breath (like fdog), jumping in with an inflated BC, a buddy close at hand or dropping weights. However, I can see how an infrequent diver (on vacation in a warm spot?) might forget all of those and then panic in such a situation.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I tip my hat to you for solving this - discomforting at the very least, it sounds - problem at night under water.

 

[divekraz]

That's what I thought you meant by "holder". I see you are referring to a necklaced bungee.

But I think you have some of the details confused.

The primary is not on the necklace, it's in the diver's mouth. If you have to donate, the wisdom is the OOA diver will grab this working regulator and you can transfer to the octo that is secured around your neck with the bungee. This is also where the long hose comes into play.

You never want to be pulling the octo off of the necklace.

I see your point about the rest but as you said it's your own responsibility to verify before you splash.

And yeah, it sucks to be rushed. Most of the dumb stuff I have done has been when I was hurrying. Glad it all turned out well.

The divers we were with had their primary on a necklace in their mouth. They said if it came out they could put the primary back in without using their hands. I don't know why I would never want someone to pull the octo off the necklace, that's why it's there as an alternate air source to resolve some type of problem. I was able to get a air source from my buddy without disrputing her breathing and without any hesitation or help needed from her. I do not want a diver grabbing my reg out of my mouth when the octo is right in front of them. Everyone has an opinion for why they do something and it doesn't make it right or wrong and you can agree or disagree.

 

[Teamcasa]

My wife and I were on the Kona Agressor over the 2008 Chritmas week. ... I checked my guage before each dive and always had over 3000psi..... after 5-10 minutes ran out of air.....
My mistake was I got complacent with the procedure and didn't bother looking at my guage.....
I understand my mistake. Lesson learned, NEVER trust anyone else to make sure your equipment is good to go and always do a full pre dive check yourself.

This is a great lesson for all of us, check your air. No one else will or should.

 

[IceBergSlim]

The divers we were with had their primary on a necklace in their mouth. They said if it came out they could put the primary back in without using their hands. I don't know why I would never want someone to pull the octo off the necklace, that's why it's there as an alternate air source to resolve some type of problem. I was able to get a air source from my buddy without disrputing her breathing and without any hesitation or help needed from her. I do not want a diver grabbing my reg out of my mouth when the octo is right in front of them. Everyone has an opinion for why they do something and it doesn't make it right or wrong and you can agree or disagree.

You are of course welcome to believe what you like as correct and dive any way you desire.

 

[TheMadDane]

Good lesson, thanks for the info.