Oregon woman dies in Washington diving accident

[lamont]

One thing about the discussion of this accident is that most posters aren't really going far enough back in the accident chain. If you are still with your buddy and your buddy has managed their gas and has enough for both of you and you can share gas then in the event that you have a gas loss event, you don't need to worry anywhere near as much about oral inflation and dropping weights if you just have enough gas between the two of you. Once a diver has lost access to gas *then* all the options get very compressed and they must be able to immediately get to the surface and establish positive buoyancy. On the other hand you can float there on the surface with a deflated BC/Wing breathing off your buddies gas while you gather your wits and establish positive buoyancy at your leisure. Being able to breathe underwater improves your chances of survival by orders of magnitude -- losing that ability suddenly turns little annoyances into life-threatening crises.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This is one thing I like about Zeagle's rip cord design. Put the weight in the pocket, and it will drop with a simple tug. The entire bottom of the pocket just opens up. Not so good if one drops weight at depth, but I just don't see a scenario where that needs to happen.

I've not seen a weight integrated pocket that allows one to put more weight in than designed. Generally if you overfill the pocket, you can not shove it into the opening. Maybe some idiots have forced it to the point where it will. At that point consider it non-ditch able weight.

The young man who I referred to earlier was wearing a Zeagle Ranger. He'd managed to stuff way more weight into the pockets than they were designed to hold (and those are HUGE pockets) ... and the people who recovered his body could not get them out.

These divers must have been over weighted for sure. With an empty tank, one would assume some positive buoyancy there, unless they were diving steel. If diving steel, it's only a couple of lbs negative. I have no issue holding a surface stop at the end of the dive with NO air in my drysuit, or BC, and just a light kick.

Overweighting is common here among not just new divers, but also casual divers. The main reason people do this is because they never developed a proper skill for descending in heavy wetsuits, or drysuits with bulky undergarments. And so they compensate for that lack of skill with more weight than they really need.

When properly weighted, even a cold-water diver can easily maintain surface buoyancy. But one who is overweighted may have serious issues doing so. I've seen divers here sporting 60-lb weightbelts ... which is probably about 24 lbs more than they really needed.

Anyone have a clue as to the experience of these divers?

I read elsewhere that they were experienced divers. There was no clue as to what "experienced" meant, however. FWIW - I know people who've been diving for twice as many years as I have who I wouldn't consider "experienced" ... because they haven't progressed their skills beyond what they learned in OW.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[edm81363]

These comments are not helpful to this discussion. Let's keep this thread focused on the accident at hand. Start a thread on these topics if they are so interesting to you.

 

[PerroneFord]

These comments are not helpful to this discussion.

Says who? I find them very helpful. Honestly, I am VERY curious why these silly accidents keep claiming lives. And these folks are pointing out reason after reason. Some I had not even considered, like integrated weights getting trapped.

VERY helpful to me.

 

[Rick Murchison]

These comments are not helpful to this discussion. Let's keep this thread focused on the accident at hand. Start a thread on these topics if they are so interesting to you.

There are quite a few comments in this thread. Without reference to which you consider "not helpful," your target is ill defined... and your comment isn't helpful
Rick

 

[tridacna]

I wish the woman's family my sincerest condolences. I hope we will all be mindful of the fact that she lost her life, and that her family may be on this board and not flood this thread with rhetoric.

Please observe the thread rules:

(4) No "condolences to the family" here

And no complaining about the discussion either. This is where people learn from other's unfortunate mistakes.

 

[PerroneFord]

This is where people learn from other's unfortunate mistakes.

Or not.

 

[Shasta_man]

Wow, people are talking about checking their gauges 4 to 5 times in a dive?! I'm checking about every couple minutes. I'm gauging what I have, how fast it's going and how long I have.

 

[tridacna]

I wish the woman's family my sincerest condolences. I hope we will all be mindful of the fact that she lost her life, and that her family may be on this board and not flood this thread with rhetoric.

Please observe the thread rules:

(4) No "condolences to the family" here

And no complaining about the discussion either. This is where people learn from other's unfortunate mistakes.

 

[RonFrank]

I don't check my SPG much. I generally know my air consumption. I also have an AI computer, so I see my PSI often when I check depth, but I'm checking depth, time, and NDL more than really looking at my PSI.

If I have an air leak, or if I get over exerted (rare) I then check my air. Another reason to start monitoring air more often is if I am doing a deep dive with longer BT's than I normally due. Once I get to 1500psi or less, I start paying a lot more attention to my air if I am still deep. I would also start an ascent before planned depth while deep if I have used a lot more air than I had planned.

If diving colder water then normal, I also check air more frequently as my SAC rate tends to increase in very cold water. In 40F water, my SAC rate is likely 1/3 greater than when diving 60F water.

Missing an NDL target and going into deco, or something similar is not all that crucial IMO. One can always do a deco stop. Running low on air IS crucial. I'd rather get bent than OOA. I've never done either, but IMO air is the single most importing thing to monitor on a dive. It's difficult to survive on a dive without it!