New gear and emergencies

[Storker]

I had a minor epiphany last weekend.

We - that's my son/buddy and I - did a simple dive at the club's training site this Saturday. I had three reasons to get in the water: Firstly, it was a couple of weeks since our last dive, so it was about time to get wet again. Secondly, I was given an older, but perfectly functional back-inflate BCD this summer and have only had one dive with it yet, so I wanted to check if I had tweaked the setup the right way or the wrong way. Finally, the large number of diving fatalities in Norway this summer made me want to drill airsharing and securing positive buoyancy for buddy - including ditching weights on the surface - on a more regular basis than I've been doing it until now.

So, we're at 10m depth, and my buddy turns to me and gives the "drill" sign (right-hand index finger "drilling" into left-hand palm), and I reply "drill" "ok". He then signals OOA, and I grab for my octo. It's not there. I grab again, and it persists in not being there. However, I know my octo is still around somewhere, so I think "OK, screw it!", take a good breath of air, donate my primary and make sure that he's breathing from it. This gives me time to fumble around to find the d*mned octo. With my buddy's air supply secured I fumble around my right shoulder, locate my secondary fairly easily, put it in my mouth, clear it and give the "ok" sign.

Now, what had happened? I had gone from a (standard jacket-type) BCD with the octo hose bent double and stuffed into my right shoulder D-ring, to a (back-inflate) BCD with the octo hanging in a holder from the right shoulder D-ring since the D-rings on the "new" BCD were too small to stuff a bent hose through. That small, seemingly insignificant change in my gear configuration made quickly grabbing the octo rather difficult :shocked2:

I'm going to do quite a few more emergency drills before I feel really comfortable in my new old BCD...

 

[Searcaigh]

When I use an octopus I always have it on a necklace and there is never any doubt as to where it is.

 

[Storker]

But then your primary is on a long hose, right?

 

[johnatabc]

I was trained that, if your buddy is functional enough to give the OOA signal, you move both arms back and out of the way so that they can access your spare air (which they can see)

 

[tanksforthememories]

Good thing you practice these situations. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Searcaigh]

But then your primary is on a long hose, right?

Usually ......

However I use various configurations, when I am diving doubles both regs are basically on standard hoses, and I may or may not have a pony side slung too, it really depends on the dive I am doing

When I am diving with my daughter I am in a different zone completely, different responsibility from a normal buddy, I am sure anyone diving with their kids irrespective of how old they are feels the same (she is 21 and been diving since she was 10 yrs old).

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I see a lot of alternate air sources dangling because the item securing them is not very good or not used correctly. The best ones are like square rubber bands on a clip that clips to a d ring or other place on the bc and cost about $2.50. By the way, I applaud the op for a cool head and the wisdom to practice skills.
DivemasterDennis

 

[T-Wrecks]

I'm glad you and your son came away unscathed, and have a new understanding of the importance of air-sharing drills. Knowing your gear like the back of your hand is very important. Equally important is that your buddy knows your gear configuration for emergencies just such as this.

 

[doctormike]

But then your primary is on a long hose, right?

Necklace is the way to go, long primary hose or short. Either way, it's much more streamlined and reliable. It seems that whatever jury rigging is done to secure an octo to a BC it's either constantly coming loose or (less commonly) difficult to deploy in an emergency.

Yes, I know that there are lots of divers here with thousands of dives who love to clip off their octo and have never had a problem. But the necklace is a better solution, IMHO. The one thing that you have to remember is that in an emergency, you keep the octo and donate the primary. That might seem odd at first, but in a real emergency, an air-starved diver will go for your primary anyway, might as well let them have it, huh? And if you do use a long hose, then it works even better!

 

[Storker]

T-Wrecks, I really appreciate your concern, but this wasn't an emergency. It was a planned drill that we both agreed on:

So, we're at 10m depth, and my buddy turns to me and gives the "drill" sign (right-hand index finger "drilling" into left-hand palm), and I reply "drill" "ok". He then signals OOA, and I grab for my octo.

but the outcome was a real eye-opener for me, and that's why I posted my story.

Knowing your gear like the back of your hand is very important. Equally important is that your buddy knows your gear configuration for emergencies just such as this.

I couldn't agree more!