Originally posted by Uncle Pug
Hobbs you got to keep yourself from getting into the situation in the first place.
On any dive where it would really matter there just isn't going to be any panic stricken diver grabbing me.
On any dive where there is a chance of a panic stricken diver grabbing me it won't matter but I still will keep it from happening if at all possible.
I don't dive in clusters where *someone* can sneak up on me from behind and go berserk.
I am not argueing over the fact that its better to forsee and to nip danger in the bud so to speak., ie to fix things before they break. that is ofcourse the way we want it to work. but sorry to say, it doesnt always do that.
but i would like to ask you where you dive since you have such great conditions that you can speak this way.
here we have maximum 2-5 meters the last couple of dives i have made (wich atleast i consider pretty good conditions)
and saturday we dove 14 persons on one place, and on sunday we where 5 on another place. well the worst part of the dive we had 0,3 meters visibility.
with the conditions i must say that someone can sneak up behind me without me noticing until they touch me !
how long does it take to swim 4 meters ? not long !
would he/she know where to look for me, no not realy, but that is beside the point.
since you do dekompression dives, what would happen if you drifted of just 3-4 meters in depth missing valuable deco time at that stop ? due to the fact someone is struggeling with you.
someone is coming up from a 40 meter dive with problems sees you and hogs you from below while you are comunicating with your buddy. isnt that at all a possible scenario ?
we train and think for the not so probable to happen to keep the grim reaper away when it does. train think train think ...
every dive i come to think of something totally new i have to think about and make a precautions plan for, if this happens then what do i do.
I think you pug should start thinking about someone less experienced coming and grabbing your stuff. and dont think it can not happen to you just couse you are experienced and trains. that is the worst mistake you can do, under estimate death !
that has cost alot of lives ! not onlu those who are unexperienced. both you and i know of exp divers who just basically slipped up.
we dont want to loose you ! even though you are a pain in the *** some times
you give valuable advice and keep ppl thinking!
I still stand in my point that a diver should be kept in close to you (if you are rec diving) in tec diving its a totally different matter!
in tec you cannot bolt and expect to survive!
in rec you can, aslong as you keep the ascent speed down as much as possible.
There is a difference in rec and tec. dont do the mistake of treating them as the same !
ppl tend to forget that they can breath in their BCDs. (normally the hose would allow for it) and it is not teached as a way of saving onces live, but atleast i train for it (and yes it was a bit** in the beggining, but soon i came around and it was no biggie.
if you do that right then an OOA situation comes to the point where you atleast have some air.
I have 23 litres as a maximum in my bcd = 2,3 bar on my gear
normally i would have around 7-8 litres (estimated) in the bcd depending on deapth and so on. and I can breath that air. is it good ? no but it still beats breathing water! just remember that the hose makes the co2 levels rise quickly (dead space) and to not hold the breath ! always keep open airways.
take care
dive safe !
