My Reg incident

[scubamax]

About the bubble test: You are not checking for absence of bubbles in all cases. I dove with a guy whose rig gave off small bubbles the entire dive. According to him and the shop tech that particular brand/model of reg is supposed to give off bubbles. I don't remember which brand/model it was.

That would be a Sherwood reg. They give a very small stream of bubbles out of the first stage, which in part makes them more robust for dirty and cold conditions. They are however used extensively as rental rigs and as such a lot of people will think their reg (or their buddys) is not working properly...of course bubbles could be coming from another part of the reg which would be a situation which would need to be addressed.

Scubamax

 

[String]

Checking equipment is vital ESPECIALLY when you have it back from service or otherwise. Check it, check connections AND test it in shallow or confined water.
Not detecting a loose connector in a hose on a bit of kit back from services is imho unforgivable

 

[nymbus]

That would be a Sherwood reg. They give a very small stream of bubbles out of the first stage, which in part makes them more robust for dirty and cold conditions. They are however used extensively as rental rigs and as such a lot of people will think their reg (or their buddys) is not working properly...of course bubbles could be coming from another part of the reg which would be a situation which would need to be addressed.

Scubamax

Yep-
Sherwood Brut.

 

[Dash]

cjust, Ive been reading about your experience with great interest.

So far in this thread no one has spoken about your reaction or those of the buddies you had at the time of hte incident.

Looking back, is there anything you now see that you could have done differently, or that you wish your buddies had done differently? You looked quite calm in your video and I assume that calmness must have been in part due to the variety and closeness of your diving buddies.

The video looks as if a very fast ascent was initiated but then arrested and slowed. Is this what happened?

Thanks

 

[cjust]

Dash,
Yeah you pretty much nailed it. I was pretty confused by the whole situation at first. Like I mentioned previously, an incident like this had never crossed my mind before. I actually remember thinking at the time that I wished I had thought through something like this happening so I could've had a more prethought out plan for what to do. But, since I was still breathing and had numerous buddies nearby, it made it pretty easy to stay calm. You are also right about the initial rapid ascent. My instinct was to get to others as fast as possible because I didn't know how long my air would last. I really wasn't paying attention to the speed.

Looking back, I could've done a lot differently. Starting with checking all my connections before the dive. Also, I have learned that I could have crimped the hose to halt the loss of air. Once my buddy was able to grab the hose for me, I actually did try to crimp it, but I guess I didn't squeeze hard enough. I have been assured that it is possible, but it will need to be replaced after that.

 

[two.crows]

Just curious: exactly what would the hose crimping accomplish? Would one continue breathing from the secondary, while holding the hose closed? Or use the inflator? But how, when both hands hold the hose? Or is it to save some gas to be able to breath it from the hose in an emergency? Remember, crimping a hose is a two-hand manouver. It seems to me that the problem at hand is not to stop the loss of gas - the gas is gone, forget it. The problem is to secure gas for your ascent. Go see your buddy and don't dally with the hose. Then just shut down the first stage at leisure. You can't open it again anyway because effectively there is a hole in the first stage. On doubles, the right-post shutdown would have a higher priority because you would save the gas in your left tank. But on singles Or am I missing an important point?

 

[MichiganDiver]

Just curious: exactly what would the hose crimping accomplish? Would one continue breathing from the secondary, while holding the hose closed? Or use the inflator? But how, when both hands hold the hose? Or is it to save some gas to be able to breath it from the hose in an emergency? Remember, crimping a hose is a two-hand manouver. It seems to me that the problem at hand is not to stop the loss of gas - the gas is gone, forget it. The problem is to secure gas for your ascent. Go see your buddy and don't dally with the hose. Then just shut down the first stage at leisure. You can't open it again anyway because effectively there is a hole in the first stage. On doubles, the right-post shutdown would have a higher priority because you would save the gas in your left tank. But on singles Or am I missing an important point?

I think you could hold the secondary hose crimped with one hand, thereby preserving air to be breathed through the secondary. You have to be able to put a real kink in the hose to shut off the flow, but I think you'd be able to hold it with one hand once it's kinked. (I guess.)

 

[two.crows]

I think you could hold the secondary hose crimped with one hand, thereby preserving air to be breathed through the secondary. [...]

Yes, but the crimping itself will take two hands. And then, assuming you can hold it with one hand, that hand would not be available for anything else. And does that mean you would not shut down the tank

 

[MichiganDiver]

Yes, but the crimping itself will take two hands. And then, assuming you can hold it with one hand, that hand would not be available for anything else. And does that mean you would not shut down the tank

I think the thought is that you can breathe off the secondary. You stop (or greatly slow) the freeflow, and you can make an ascent on your own air.

 

[two.crows]

I too think that's what the thought is. I think that this puts it into the same category of folklore that a large knife for shark defense would fall into . I don't see where this would have a place in a rational incident procedure. I even think teaching this puts students at risk, because it interferes with their understanding of the correct priorities which should be (1) share air, (2) once everything is under control, shut down the tank to remove the distraction (3) initiate controlled ascent. In my thinking "crimping the hose" would only have a place while solo-diving in an overhead situation on a single tank . But that's just what I think .