No air at 40' at night

[Adam Grose]

Bill...

I had something similar happen to me during my OW checkout dive (the fourth and final one). I went to inhale, and was getting water seeping in to the regulator. At first, i could "breath around it". I tried clearing the reg, but it made no difference. The seepage got so bad that I was getting mostly water. I switched to the secondary, and made a normal ascent. Thankfully, my instructor had taught me how to safely switch regs. (Although being able to stay calm under pressure helps too).

Adam

 

[billt4sf]

Remember that, if you bungie your backup reg, that means you're going to donate the primary. That requires a longer hose on the primary regulator than the 24" that comes standard, because sharing gas on a 24" hose is kind of precarious. An octo length hose will work, although if you're diving in kelp, that creates a big loop of hose for the kelp to grab. You can also use a 40" (deco reg length) hose with a right-angle adapter, to let the reg sit comfortably in your mouth. None of these parts is expensive or hard to find.

That has me thinking that maybe I should not bungee my secondary reg. I am using rental equipment, that would mean I have to have a spare hose to splice in there every time I dive. Maybe a better option is do do the practice drills that various people have mentioned, to develop my muscle memory.

A question related to this: what is the frequency of air access problems for BOTH regs? Assuming that I don't actually run OOA, how frequent is it that both regs will have a problem on the same dive? I guess that's where buddy-breathing comes in (a skill what was not taught in OQ class but which I learned many years ago when I took my first certification class back in college (there were other skills and tests performed as well).

As far as practicing your skills goes, it is my strong opinion that the last thing on earth you need is to sit in the bottom of a pool and do them. All that will teach you is that you need a bottom to sit on to do your skills; in a lot of places, there is no place to sit. You are much better off picking a time in the shallows, like on your safety stop, to practice the skills in the water column. You should be able to clear a mask without losing buoyancy control, or losing your buddy, and the same with a regulator swap, or an air-share. If you have access to a pool in which to practice these things, that's great -- but don't do it sitting on the bottom.

Great suggestion. However I have to say that I have gone on quite a few dives where I promised myself that I would practice my skills and I have hardly ever done it. Time to get serious!

A lot of people diving in Northern California use strong, focused lights to stay in contact, and that helps a lot if you are trying to thread your way through the kelp.

Does anyone by chance have a light they like that is "strong"?. I am new enough to equipment that I have a really hard time deciding what works well for a given purpose. A link to a specific LP light would be great. Also we have a tough enough time managing the equipment we already have to deal with; adding a light might be a problem.

... You also learned that there is no true emergency but a loss of gas, and that emergency CAN BE MANAGED by a team that has the ability to share gas, and enough gas to share.
.

Yes that is exactly it! Thanks to all for the great comments and suggestions.

- Bill

 

[fisheater]

Bill:

Us NorCal divers prefer canister lights, either HID or LED. I use a Hollis 16 watt LED (actually made by Light Monkey).

The VERY BEST way to get the local angle on suitable gear is to come out diving with us.

We're diving at Ft. Ross tomorrow (Saturday) and on the Mendocino coast during the North Coast Party later in the month.

Check us out at www.northcoastdivers.com


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[billt4sf]

Thanks for the invite but we're still trying to get our arms around Monterey. We go on guided dives there until we're OK to go just as buddies. Then we'll be after you with all kinds of questions!

- Bill

 

[fisheater]

Understood.

Feel free to PM me with local questions, especially gear related. I don't sell gear, so I don't have any financial incentives when I pontificate. ;-)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Mike]

A question related to this: what is the frequency of air access problems for BOTH regs? Assuming that I don't actually run OOA, how frequent is it that both regs will have a problem on the same dive?

about zero.

Does anyone by chance have a light they like that is "strong"?. I am new enough to equipment that I have a really hard time deciding what works well for a given purpose. A link to a specific LP light would be great. Also we have a tough enough time managing the equipment we already have to deal with; adding a light might be a problem.

Any of the high quality LED lights are going to be bright as hell. A canister light is beyond my requirements. The LED light I have like the one picture is actually sometimes too bright, and scares marine life, but it has two settings so you can dim it down a bit also. On tropical destination dives, these LED lights are so bright, I almost always without fail have by far the brightest light of anyone including the dive masters on night dives.

I carry a light light the above on night dives and always carry a small light like the one below on every dive. And on a night dive I always have 2 lights.

 

[DandyDon]

Bungeeing your secondary, donating your primary, diving a long hose - a worthy approach for some, but not for rental gear. I always dive my own regs, but have my own reason for not going that way, but then I do carry a pony too.

Any of the high quality LED lights are going to be bright as hell. A canister light is beyond my requirements. The LED light I have like the one picture is actually sometimes too bright, and scares marine life, but it has two settings so you can dim it down a bit also. On tropical destination dives, these LED lights are so bright, I almost always without fail have by far the brightest light of anyone including the dive masters on night dives.

I carry a light light the above on night dives and always carry a small light like the one below on every dive. And on a night dive I always have 2 lights.

Those big lights are nice for some murky sites and caverns, but I really like my night dives to be night dives, besides them being so damned big. For clear water night dives and a handy light to carry on day dives, I really like an LED light that uses 4 C batteries. I'll carry 2 of those, or one with a 4 AA LED for backup.

 

[CT-Rich]

I don't know if I would say the zip ties are unreliable. I have had the my mouth piece attached like with one for more than 10 years and it is rock solid. If the mouthpiece was not correctly seated or the zip tie wasn'y snugged tight, it will eventually fatique or work loose. Another factor is how the gear is treated. that would also explain why this seems to happen to rental gear. if regs are having belts and tanks dumped on them, they are more likely to fail. The problem is not to spend your life micro checking specifics on your gear but by becoming aware of it and its quirks. I check my primary and secondary once when set it up, again when I gear up and again in the water. avoiding gear problems is part of situational awareness. Noticing fatigue or a bad seating is part of suiting up and using care in the storage of gear also important. all materials fatique eventually, more fin strap snap occassionally from cracking. You always need to be aware of the gear you are using, especially rentals. I have gotten leaking BCs and free flowing regs from the rental counter.

Humorously, two days after this post I got in the water and my reg was breathing wet. I had specifically checked the zip tie because of this thread before getting in the water. The zip tie remained rock solid but the mouth piece just about it had ripped 1/2 around. I think this thread jinxed me... or I just had a crap old mouth piece... one or the other.

 

[fisheater]

Humorously, two days after this post I got in the water and my reg was breathing wet. I had specifically checked the zip tie because of this thread before getting in the water. The zip tie remained rock solid but the mouth piece just about it had ripped 1/2 around. I think this thread jinxed me... or I just had a crap old mouth piece... one or the other.

Already beyond the time to buy your own reg.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[CT-Rich]

Already beyond the time to buy your own reg.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

This was my own reg. I haven't rented in 20 years.