Long Hose in public

[StSomewhere]

Your buddy can indeed be an enormous liability, as a friend of mine can attest to when he was nearly killed by his on a 100' "easy" dive when the buddy panicked and pulled his primary right out of his mouth while he was inhaling. The buddy had enough training, dives, etc. so that you'd not expect this from him. This was their first dive together.

My only question is how is it his buddy is low or out of gas and neither of them know it? If gas is the team's resource, the team needs to be monitoring it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding...

 

[Snowbear]

Hasn't been an issue for me. It is rare indeed that I get to dive with another GUE trained or even DIR wannabe diver. When I'm diving with a new buddy and going over gear, I just tell them, "If you need air, you get the reg I'm breathing from." No need to explain the routing of the long hose as most of them don't care. Shoot, most of them (new or experienced) don't even notice at first that the hose is 7' long! Every once in a great while someone will ask... then I explain as best I can (though I'm not as good at explaining stuff as many people here ) or better yet, do a demonstration once we're in the water.

In the highly unlikely event that I'm the one needing a gas donation, I'll know to grab the one that's trailing along behind

 

[Derek S]

I am willing to help out newer divers that have a very sincere interest to learn. I am not willing to spend a few thousand dollars to get to a dive destination and have dives blown and made unsafe by diving with a random buddy.

What he said.

 

[nitroxbabe]

I wasn't under with them. Doo-doo happens. I'm not pointing fingers here.

Yep, it's a good idea to check on your buddy's gas situation. But each diver is responsible for themselves. You can't count on someone else being able or even willing to help you out if you have a problem.

My only question is how is it his buddy is low or out of gas and neither of them know it? If gas is the team's resource, the team needs to be monitoring it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding...

 

[StSomewhere]

Yep, it's a good idea to check on your buddy's gas situation. But each diver is responsible for themselves. You can't count on someone else being able or even willing to help you out if you have a problem.

Um, no.

Since this is the DIR forum (double checks to be certain), you are most certainly responsible for yourself *and* to the team, and vice versa. Its more than "buddy diving". That is the difference and is 100% of the reason why DIR appeals to me (though I haven't been able to schedule my DIR-F class yet, whatever that says about me).

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Well, I'll find out mid-week next week, but if anyone has a problem with it, they can go roast a marshmallow for all I care. I'll dive how I think is safest, and a long hose is that.

 

[limeyx]

You folks that dive with a long primary. Lets suppose that you are on vacation w/o any of your normal dive buddies. You setup your kit and whip out the long hose. Have you had a "random buddy" take issue. Any demand a new buddy because you "broke" the standard? Just courios how it is accepted by the non-dir dive community.

Thanks

I have it on (reliable?) evidence that it's not length, but girth that matters the most

hmmm, OK, to answer the question, no, no one usually comments too much except to say "ooooh, you must be a tech diver" which is so far from the truth it's almost funny.
I did get a few giggles though when I tried to explain to people how they should get air from me if they needed it -- evidently they weren't too concerned about drowning.

 

[pt40fathoms]

So if I have this right, a few of you who claim to be either DIR trained or “follow” DIR diving protocols, are refusing to dive with non DIR divers in recreational dive settings because of the following:

A) They may unexpectently run out of air and pose a danger to you.

B) They don’t know how your gear works.

C) You feel that you can not count on anyone else being able or even willing to help you out if you have a problem.

Well, lets look at A first shall we; If you are a good buddy, you should be checking not only your air, but your buddies, at regular intervals. This is especially true if you are diving with a new buddy, as it will help you gauge your allowable bottom time for this and any future dives with this person. You do check your buddies air don’t you? If you do this, then a surprise OOA will not happen unless a failure of some piece of equipment occurs.

On to B; Being familiar with every aspect of your gear is not needed. Only how to release your weights if needed, and where is the alternate air source. If you are not doing a pre-dive buddy check, which would cover these points easily, then I suggest you start doing so.

Now for C; By this statement, you are saying that all divers are bad, dangerous, and unreliable, and only DIR trained divers are worthy of your gracing them with your presence under water. Sheesh, with feelings like that about other divers, it’s no wonder people have a stand off attitude towards some of you. Count yourself in the minority of DIR divers out their, and not the good ones either.

 

[pt40fathoms]

Well, I'll find out mid-week next week, but if anyone has a problem with it, they can go roast a marshmallow for all I care. I'll dive how I think is safest, and a long hose is that.

If someone complains about your gear setup, they are merely showing ignorance or bias. Neither of which you'll be able to change without some diplomacy. Just last weekend I had a diver come up to me and point out that I am confusing the AOW students nearby with my twins/long hose setup. The funny thing about it was that the students he was refering to were mine, and the dive I was doing was after I had finished with them, signed their temp cards and log books, and answered their questions about what I was doing with all this neat looking gear. I took this guy off to the side out of ear shot of the students and gave him an earfull. What I was doing with my buddy was looking for a ledge at the bottom of this seldom used lake that dropped from 150 to 225 feet, for next months trimix dives. My students were interested, and I explained to them what it takes in way of experience and training to dive this profile.

So what you may come across is not unique, and not only related to DIR divers. On the up note however, my students all noticed the level of ignorance displayed by this diver and some got all fired up to get to a point where they too can do the "really deep" dives.

 

[Grajan]

PT,
I know it is early in the morning and I've just woken up but I have re-read the whole thread and cannot find ANYTHING that supports your conjecture below. All some of us have been saying is that it is important (to us) to know our buddy and understand their capabilities and limitations. I cannot find a single reference to 'refusing to dive' with any one or to 'non-DIR divers'. Are we in the same thread???? Can you please help me by quoting the paragraphs that support your statement below?

So if I have this right, a few of you who claim to be either DIR trained or “follow” DIR diving protocols, are refusing to dive with non DIR divers in recreational dive settings because of the following:...........