Missing Zip-Tie = drowning?

[Steve in Seattle]

I had a strange incident today involving a missing zip tie.

I was practising a "simple" octo assisted ascent with a buddy.

Murphy's Law was in full effect today. As soon as I pressurized my reg I heard a hiss coming from the yolk-valve interface... and found the o-ring was fine. Once I pulled the reg set up I didn't see anything unusual and thought it best to swap for a different reg set up just to be safe.

Double checked my gear, no leaks, reg and octo purge fine and plenty of air in the tank. I watched by partner do the same and we talked about practising an out of air signal and passing an octo for assent practise. We did a surface run to make sure air was flowing and we could locate eachother's octo.. no problems.

He breathed off my tank with no issues, then I tried swapping for his octo:

1) First try I signaled and accepted the octo. As I purged the secondary I also blew through it to clear and promptly PULLED water in fast.

So after coughing and spitting up for a few seconds on the surface, I looked at the octo and it seemed fine. I KNOW it had air... I purged it myself and pumped a full breath thorugh it to clear. I figured I didn't have a full bite on the mouthpiece and water came in somehow. Very strange, but it happened so fast in a blaze of puge bubbles that it seemed it must have been operator error. :blush:

After assuring everyone I was fine, just missed a bite or something, we tried a second time.

2) So we drop a few feet, swap the octo, and this time the purge and blow works like a charm. So we start a short surface swim (to sim an ascent since we tried this one just below the surface). We didn't go 3 kick cycles before I felt a small "pop" and proceeded to pull a lung full of water and shot up to surface.

The mouthpiece was still in my mouth... the octo about 5 feet away.


Apparently, by buddy's octo mouthpiece was either:
a) missing... held onto the reg by friction alone.
or b) very loose... allowing the silicone to pull away and allow water in during a bite (but look flush/fine when held in your hand).

We never found a zip tie.

I now have a small bushel of bright RED zip ties for securing my mouthpieces.

Lesson:
Don't JUST check a reg/octo has air and will purge... check that the mouthpiece is zip-tie'd on TIGHT! :warning:

 

[DA Aquamaster]

You may wan to start including a vaccum check in your pre-dive gear checks. With the reg hooked up, but pior to opening the tank valve, try to inhale through each second stage. You should be able to inhale hard without getting any air or hearing any leaks.

That particular test will disclose leaky diaphragms, folded or stuck open exhaust valves, leaking case o-rings, cracked cases, holes/cracks in the mouthpiece and mouthieces that leak due to missing zip ties.

 

[Steve in Seattle]

Good idea. That would have definitely caught this one... especially since my buddy was renting the reg/octo set up this happened on.

 

[miketsp]

..snip..

1) First try I signaled and accepted the octo. As I purged the secondary I also blew through it to clear and promptly PULLED water in fast.

So after coughing and spitting up for a few seconds on the surface, ..snip..

We didn't go 3 kick cycles before I felt a small "pop" and proceeded to pull a lung full of water and shot up to surface.

The mouthpiece was still in my mouth... the octo about 5 feet away.

..snip..

If you feel a need to shoot to the surface under these circumstances, the best cure for this is get more snorkelling practice - with a conventional type snorkel - no valves.

Regular snorkelling in choppy conditions helps you develop an automatic reaction to this type of event and I automatically stop the inhale cycle before more than a few drops of water enter my mouth.

So on the various occasions that I've started a descent with my snorkel in my mouth instead of my regulator or the couple of times that I've swapped to a leaking reg they are just non-incidents and you stay calm.

 

[Steve in Seattle]

Just to clarify, I didn't "shoot to the surface"... I was only a foot or two under it.

This was more than any snorkle water... I was biting a mouthpiece completely in the water... no snorkling breath control is ever going to make air find its way to a loose mouthpiece under water.

I admit I have a "switch like" mentality when it comes to breath control on a snorkle then through a reg... I expect the reg to have a small amount of water on the first breath, but like l said, the major "inhale" of water was after several clean breaths on the octo.

I instinctively expect to use breath control on the first inhale, but popping off after 2 good breaths was completely unexpected. No breath control saves that situation...

The importance of getting a firm hold on the LP line/octo is also helpful. I had my left hand on the BC inflater, and right hand on my buddy once the bite was good. Bad idea in hindsight (even though that's what's usually taught). HAd I been holding the LP hose or reg I could have spit out the mouthpiece and sucked from the reg directly I guess.

It's true that once I get a reg breathing fine, the idea of breath control on every inhale isn't normal... two different mind sets between snorkling and scuba.

Just the same... I'll be checking zip-ties and the vacume seal in future.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Good idea. That would have definitely caught this one... especially since my buddy was renting the reg/octo set up this happened on.

Many shops will have a tank in the rental section so you can test the reg before you accept it. That is always worth doing. Alternatively, hook the reg to your tank or the rental tank and do the pre-dive tests. That also provides a quick check of tank pressure, to ensure you got a full tank.

 

[Doubler]

Had the same thing happen to me in Hawaii, except I was at 60 feet and it was my primary (no octopus on the rig). The 17 year old "technician" forgot to zip tie the mouth piece on the rental gear. Did a very "enjoyable" CESA. My gear was at the shop being serviced and this was a loaner. When I got my gear back, sure enough no zip tie on the mouth piece. I always check now. Lesson learned

 

[fairybasslet]

Same exact thing happened to me. Ripped out of my mouth on a surface entry in Bonaire. Someone posted a video of that young diver who's mouthpiece came off at depth a while ago.

 

[charlesml3]

Did a very "enjoyable" CESA.

Why? I know for a fact you can put your lips around the reg without a mouthpiece and breathe off of it. Obviously you have to hold it there since there's no mouthpiece but that sure sounds better than doing a CESA.

-Charles

 

[TSandM]

I know you were just a couple of feet underwater, and probably surfacing was your best option when this happened, but the description of how it happened disturbs me. One of the most important things you can learn about diving is to stifle the urge to bolt for the surface. There are times when the surface IS the best idea, but the decision should be a conscious, measured one, and not a reflex. Inhaling water is distressing and initiates a powerful cough reflex, but remember, you had two regulators of your own that were readily available to you, and you could have put one in your mouth almost instantly.

I remember reading somebody a long time back, saying that one's instinctive reactions underwater are almost always wrong . . . A lot of dive training is to interrupt the unthinking reaction chain that the "reptile brain" comes up with when it realizes that you are underwater and you can't breathe there.