No air left. Unable to do controlled ascent!

[AfterDark]

Wookie, No sorry requried my friend I just wanted to clear up what my intent was with the wiseguy octp. dig. Her instructor is how do I put this......full of what makes the grass go green and that was another thing that he told her that was of such stuff:shocked2:and since nobody else picked up on it I thought I would
I guess at heart I'm just a vintage diver, I don't much care for ocpt.,PDC,reef sticks,or another manner of new and improved. I'd rather buddy breathe with someone, you can hold their arm, look them right in the eyes and see if they are about to panic and maybe give'mand a:kiss2:to calm em down.:cool2:

How'd I do?:mooner:

 

[Jim Lapenta]

You're welcome. I purposely posted it because I am not afraid of or shy away from being critiqued. I made my post for that reason. And while I am receptive to the constructive feedback, I am also glad to hear all of the positive comments as well.

Having read thru the whole thread I'm going to make some guesses as to your OW training.
1. You did all skills kneeling in the pool and on checkouts
2. The extent of gas management covered in your course was be back at the surface/on the boat with 500psi
3. When in the pool you were told about the buddy system but not required to maintain a constant distance from your buddy (if you had one assigned) no matter what was going on. I require students to maintain buddy distance of no more than an arm's length at all times unless I specifically tell them otherwise
4. On checkout dives you may have had a buddy assigned but most of the time you were not really paying attention to them and when swimming you ended up in single file formation
5. On your ascents and descents you were not in position at all times to look in your buddy's eyes to see how they were doing, nor did you communicate with them.

There are other items I could surmise but that;s enough for now. If these are correct you were very lucky that you did not get hurt and you absolutely handled the situation the correct way. Also as others have said it's time to get a new instructor. What kind of orientation to the suit did you get from the manufacturers rep or did they leave it up to wonder boy to describe how the suit works?

I said this in another thread but I'll repeat it here. PADI and other agencies as well seem to think that controlling two buoyancy devices is too much task loading when first trying a drysuit. And to be honest with the dumbing down of training and shortened courses it is easy to see how this could be said. However if one has had good training to begin with and can already control their buoyancy with two sources (remember those things called lungs?) adding a drysuit inflator and dump valve is not an issue for someone of reasonable intelligence. All it takes is a willingness to learn on the part of the student and an instructor who knows what he/she is talking about. Yours does not.

 

[Wookie]

Wookie, No sorry requried my friend I just wanted to clear up what my intent was with the wiseguy octp. dig. Her instructor is how do I put this......full of what makes the grass go green and that was another thing that he told her that was of such stuff:shocked2:and since nobody else picked up on it I thought I would
I guess at heart I'm just a vintage diver, I don't much care for ocpt.,PDC,reef sticks,or another manner of new and improved. I'd rather buddy breathe with someone, you can hold their arm, look them right in the eyes and see if they are about to panic and maybe give'mand a:kiss2:to calm em down.:cool2:

How'd I do?:mooner:

Nice!:mooner:

 

[Splitlip]

Sorry. I read troll.

 

[AfterDark]

Sorry. I read troll.

Hey Tim, I really like your signature! :cool2: There is/was an outfit out of I think NJ that used the name Gorilla Divers. I had their T-Shirt for years. It had a picture Magilla Gorilla with a mask and a reg holding up a porthole. That was my "official" diving T-shirt for years.

 

[Splitlip]

Hey Tim, I really like your signature! :cool2: There is/was an outfit out of I think NJ that used the name Gorilla Divers. I had their T-Shirt for years. It had a picture Magilla Gorilla with a mask and a reg holding up a porthole. That was my "official" diving T-shirt for years.

Thanks!

I cannot take credit.
Dan Volker, a forum member, wrote the story.
DEEP DIVE
Frank Hammet was my instructor in 1973.

Guerrilla, however.

 

[ae3753]

Besides from purchasing a pony bottle or 3cft spare tank, are there other skills or what could I have done when I had absolutely no air left in my lungs to exhale to make an ascent quicker than my buddy was ascending?? Very, very unsettling.

Welcome to ScubaBoard, it's great to have you here even under a stressful and dangerous situation.

There is absolutely no need or benefit of a pony bottle or a spare air system.

My list of skills:
1. Gas Management. Bob's gas management article, Brian's rock bottom discussion, and Lamont's gas management and rock bottom for recreational divers article are all great resources. Learning the whys and hows of proper gas management will reduce the likelihood of running out of air.

2. Buddy skills. Learn proper positioning and communication and be an active buddy. Swim at the same horizontal level and communicate with each other during the dive. If there is an issue underwater, then getting to your buddy for assistance will less effort.

3. S-Drills or OOA drills. Practice a safety-drill or out-of-air drill with your buddies. Be comfortable donating and receiving and doing ascents. So if there is a real OOA situation, then you know it can easily be management.

 

[Wookie]

Dan Volker, a forum member, wrote the story.
DEEP DIVE

Awesome story. How would it be to run a charter boat with divers like that now?

 

[Splitlip]

Not so many do them now.

Emerald does I believe.

 

[AfterDark]

They called themselves Guerrilla Divers.
Composed of elite divers with Macho mentalities, back when men were men, and FEAR was a lispy companion of the common Man. It was a time before insurance liabilities, lawsuits or beauracratic regulation of the "sport". Guerrilla divers didn't need "Buoyancy Compensator Vests". In fact, "Anyone who needs a BC deserves to drown" was a popular adage. Exploration and the Hunt came first, excitement and fun followed. Safety was the stepchild of fitness, good reflexes and a cool head.
This was a time of great Adventure

It describes to a tee the era in which I started diving and the guys I used to dive with. Before BCD's,SPG's,and PDC's. We started out a little positive fought our way down to a depth that we weren't and coped with it when we became negitive. I was the 1st to dare wear a UDT horsecollar with an oral inflator! What a rasing I took, but after seeing how effortly I swam along and seeing how much my gas I wasn't using. I miss those days,some of diving is better today and some isn't.