DiverDownD3
Contributor
Regardless if you check before you leave the dock, I think the lesson is that you check just before you splash
Near miss with an experienced diver
- Thread starter SapphireMind
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Regardless if you check before you leave the dock, I think the lesson is that you check just before you splash
I am not said experienced diver!I was going on a boat dive to try and do my deep diving cert dives. I hadn't slept well and didn't eat enough for breakfast, and on my first dive, it was like I had never dived before. My buoyancy was terrible and I had to start ascent at 10 min down because I was just a mess. Got back on the boat, started eating and decided to scrap my second dive - I was scared at how absent my brain felt and that I was just not "on" and I figured discretion was the better part of valor.
So that brings us to the near miss. Another diver on the boat, a very experienced one and an instructor, gets in the water for the 2nd dive, has some comments about his regulator not breathing well. Doesn't immediately get out of the water. He surface swims a little and has more issues and gets back on the boat. The captain checks his tank - nearly completely empty! We check his other tank to see if he didn't change tanks - nope, that one is also low, as it would be after a dive. He didn't check his pressure gauge and do test breathing on his reg when he switched tanks.
My wife and I never get in the water without looking at our SPG while breathing.
It was very eye opening, because obviously this was someone who had a lot of experience and knowledge, but missing basic steps could have been life-threatening if he had done an immediate descent!
Augustus
Contributor
one problem can be with buddy checks. You turn on your air and your "buddy" ends up turning it off not realizing its already on. Crank back half a turn and your spg reads full tank. Give away is you look at your pressure gauge as you breath and it swings back and forth. Seen this a number of times with different divers.
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- # of dives
- 200 - 499
Sooner or later we all come to the realization that we are the only ones truly responsible for our own safety.
You got the message early in your dive career. Press on, but carefully and safely.
In my OW classes, I really harp on the need to continue to use all of the checklists (pre-dive safety check, 5 point descent, 5 point ascent) that we cover in the course, regardless of how experienced and comfortable you get down the road. I also include a few personal examples of misses that would have been addressed by adhering the checklists learned. All from before I became an instructor, of course....
mi000ke
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When my daughter was doing the second of two OW cert dives, which I accompanied her on, the instructor gave her the out of air sign halfway through the dive. I thought he was just testing her. Turns out he was actually OOA. He hadn't checked his tank pressure, and assumed that the topside DM had switched over tanks for him between dives. And as my daughter has an incredibly small SAC rate, they were able to finish the entire dive off of her tank. I accused him of just looking for an excuse to swim a bit closer to her.
Kensei
Master Fin Sharpener
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SapphireMind
Contributor
It wasn't the dive charter at all - we all brought our own tanks. The mistake on the cylinder was likely the diver's to begin with. But just one of those near misses to share and remind me and everyone that it doesn't matter with who, or how experienced you are, if you get complacent, it could be potentially deadly.
On the happy front, since I decided to sit out my second dive, there happened to be a spare, full steel tank (which is what he was diving with) that was not going to be used so he was able to switch it out and continue diving. Definitely made me feel even better about sitting out my second dive, knowing my air could help someone else
I admit it is just terrifying to me to think of trying to breathe on a reg and not being able to get anything out. I wonder if there is any value to practicing in a pool or even on land to know what that feels like and have had that sensation before so if it ever does happen, there is less panic?
On the happy front, since I decided to sit out my second dive, there happened to be a spare, full steel tank (which is what he was diving with) that was not going to be used so he was able to switch it out and continue diving. Definitely made me feel even better about sitting out my second dive, knowing my air could help someone else
I admit it is just terrifying to me to think of trying to breathe on a reg and not being able to get anything out. I wonder if there is any value to practicing in a pool or even on land to know what that feels like and have had that sensation before so if it ever does happen, there is less panic?
I’ve done it in a pool on a tank about to be tested, as I don’t like running tanks empty.
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