Mouthpiece detached - video clip

[Scared Silly]

I have seen this happen a couple of times in person. Both times it was rental gear. And both times I saw the reg come out before the person knew it. The last time the diver realized something was a miss and was going for his octo as his wife and I were swimming towards him. His octo also had a problem so he took his wife's octo. We all then surfaced.

This gal panicked, if you notice her octo is basically in front of her. She did not even try to go for it yet she was trying to figure out something. She probably sucked in a little water which caused the panic attack and as such went for the first known work reg. Not surprising. I guess the interesting part is the person behind the camera did nothing proactive.

 

[Ron G.]

It looks to me like she grabs his octo, not his primary. If you keep watching, there's a flash of what looks like someone (i.e., her) using an octo.

Clearly, she panicked, but her reaction wasn't crazy....she didn't understand what had happened to her regulator and that her octo (or, for that matter, her mouthpiece-less regulator) would still be working....so she grabbed for his octo.

Ron

 

[lowviz]

Shock followed by hand going to mouth. Amazing how predictable that particular sequence is. Had a backup reg been bungied at her neck the next step would be "problem solved". -Her hand would have already been on top of the solution.

 

[mruseless]

Definitely a new diver (lots of hand action and not-so-great buoyancy control), as others have said, but all things considered she did OK. Yes, reaching for her own octo would have been better, but maybe she thought she was OOA? Who knows.

 

[InTheDrink]

Had a backup reg been bungied at her neck the next step would be "problem solved". -Her hand would have already been on top of the solution.

This is why I LOVE having my backup bungied under my chin... and it's SO easy just to pop that reg that's sitting right under your chin into your mouth.

This sounds like a good idea to me - be very interested to learn best way to have octopus bungied up around neck as I'd be keen to use similar config but don't want to screw it up. Lowviz/TSandM - can you describe your setup? Or better still - do you have a picture/diagram of this set up?

Thanks,
John

 

[Digger54]

The thing that disturbs me most about this it that she appears to ascend several feet and appears to hold her breath. Am I wrong? I notice that the hose and the body of the reg are also right there between her right arm and body and could have easily been swept up into her mouth.

I wonder how many new divers erroneously think that if the mouthpiece comes loose the reg is no good as an air source?

Practice, practice, practice, think, think, think and learn from your own and other's mistakes.

 

[robertarak]

Though I am neither lowviz or TSand M ( who would do a FAR better job then I describing the set up) I will give it a shot.

The bungied (around the neck) back-up is part of a long hose configuration. To allow the system to work, you need a long hose for your primary (the reg. you regularly breathe from), a bungie necklace for your backup reg., AND TRAINING/PRACTICE. The bungied back-up is for your use should you need a back up. Since that is now attached to you by means of a necklace, now you need to think about how to donate gas to an OOG diver. Your primary reg., that you know is working because you are using it, is the perfect answer. For open water, shallow dives you just need a primary hose long enough to safely donate it to an paniced, OOG diver without being mask-to-mask. Other types of diving require things like a 7 foot long hose. A long hose allows you to donate a good, working reg. very quickly and get your bungied back-up in to your mouth with very little effort or wasted time. With all this said, it is very importand to practice with whatever setup you have, and to find someone to help you and guide you in the correct setup and use. Just reading about it, or looking at pictures or seeing other people with that setup is not enough. Find someone (tech/DIR/GUE or similar) to help you out.

Hve fun and be safe.

 

[Splitlip]

I am not sure if this is real, but come on.
If it is real, don't expect all divers sucking sea water to overcome the panic and calmly go through the correct drills.

EDIT:
Robert: not meant as a reply to your post. Sorry

 

[mikerault]

I think it is the camera man with the octo, notice she reaches to the camera man's right instead of directly at the camera (which is where his primary would have been, directly below the camera. I think the camera man pulled his primary out and offered it after putting his octo in his mouth, notice she looks over at him, shakes her head yes then comes over and grabs.

Mike

 

[lowviz]

Though I am neither lowviz or TSand M ( who would do a FAR better job then I describing the set up) I will give it a shot.

The bungied (around the neck) back-up is part of a long hose configuration. To allow the system to work, you need a long hose for your primary (the reg. you regularly breathe from), a bungie necklace for your backup reg., AND TRAINING/PRACTICE. The bungied back-up is for your use should you need a back up. Since that is now attached to you by means of a necklace, now you need to think about how to donate gas to an OOG diver. Your primary reg., that you know is working because you are using it, is the perfect answer. For open water, shallow dives you just need a primary hose long enough to safely donate it to an paniced, OOG diver without being mask-to-mask. Other types of diving require things like a 7 foot long hose. A long hose allows you to donate a good, working reg. very quickly and get your bungied back-up in to your mouth with very little effort or wasted time. With all this said, it is very importand to practice with whatever setup you have, and to find someone to help you and guide you in the correct setup and use. Just reading about it, or looking at pictures or seeing other people with that setup is not enough. Find someone (tech/DIR/GUE or similar) to help you out.

Hve fun and be safe.

Nice job with your description. First, I don't consider myself tech and I know that I'm not DIR or GUE. I'm rec that borrows good ideas from anyone. The long hose primary makes sense to me due to ease of donating -as long as you never actually DONATE the reg (or you may find yourself 7' below someone sprinting for the surface). Never let go of the reg you are donating. If you have the backup bungied correctly you can just drop your head and grab it by mouth without using either hand. There are a lot of good threads on this sort of configuration so I won't repeat a long explanation. And yes, practice is everything for any configuration. From what I can tell, the distressed diver's rig was fine, practice was lacking.