Near miss with an experienced diver

[Pedro Burrito]

80 degree Fahrenheit or warmer
80 feet or less depth
80 feet or better visibility

 

[JackD342]

Yikes, that does seem like a recipe for disaster. I'll definitely keep watch for that. I don't think I want someone messing with my valve.

That can cut both ways. I have been on a LOT of boats where I know they routinely check for open valves just before the giant stride entry, whether the diver realizes or not that is happening behind their head. I would be curious just how many times they do wind up opening a closed valve in any given trip/day/week. Probably more often than we would think/hope.

So the question there might be which is more likely to occur - that a boat hand gets confused and turns the valve the wrong way, even though they open those valves hundreds of time per week? Or that I might forget to turn my own air on before heading off the back? Personally, I think I am more likely to forget to turn on my own air, than I am to turn the valve the wrong way. You get distracted, you find an issue you have to turn the air off to correct and forget to turn it on a second time, whatever. I can tell you from teaching OW classes, that some new divers take FOREVER to internalize which direction to turn the valve handle, and that is one reason why boat crews double check. Of course, if we all did our complete pre-dive safety check with our buddy before each and every dive, then we might not be so concerned about who touched the valve last, and/or who is most likely to make a rookie mistake.

 

[lv2dive]

As others have indicated, it’s some variation of:

• Less than 80’
• 80’ or more of visibility
• Using an 80 cubic foot tank
• 80 degrees or warmer Fahrenheit

Take your pick of any three of the above options

What's "80/80/80 diving"?

 

[RayfromTX]

and 80 year olds on the boat