"Out-of-air" and "share air" signals

[LiteHedded]

just did all my padi pool work
only did the out of air thing once.
I tried to peek at my air gauge and the instructor turned it away from me
I wanted to see it going down.
didn't have to breath from an alternate tho. he just turned it right back on

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

With SSI the OOA drill is a little different.

Instructor asks if you are OK to have Air turned off, You signal OK, instructor then turns off your air. You make a BIG OOA signal, drop your weights, and make an Emergency Buoyany Ascent (EBA), you are to blow bubble the whole way up, and towards the top, flare your body to slow your ascent (not much help though). Once on top, you orally inflate BC. Now, on the way up the instructor turns on your air again, so if you panic you really have air.
All the share air drills were simulated, so you always had air.

 

[jonnythan]

With SSI the OOA drill is a little different.

Instructor asks if you are OK to have Air turned off, You signal OK, instructor then turns off your air. You make a BIG OOA signal, drop your weights, and make an Emergency Buoyany Ascent (EBA), you are to blow bubble the whole way up, and towards the top, flare your body to slow your ascent (not much help though). Once on top, you orally inflate BC. Now, on the way up the instructor turns on your air again, so if you panic you really have air.
All the share air drills were simulated, so you always had air.

My SSI class didn't go anything like that. Air only got turned off once for a demonstration.. no drills were done with the student's air off. Doing so seems like an awfully bad idea to me.

 

[jonnythan]

Oh, and we didn't do an EBA.. we did do ESA's, however.

 

[LiteHedded]

My SSI class didn't go anything like that. Air only got turned off once for a demonstration.. no drills were done with the student's air off. Doing so seems like an awfully bad idea to me.

me either
he did say I didn't make the ooa signal big enough though.

 

[miketsp]

I've tried it, and it sucks, but it gets the job done.

Have you ever tried cutting your HP hose apart and sucking air out of it?

Yes, well actually I didn't have to cut it for the training, it was already cut, I just turned the air on and it started bubbling. I just held the end with my thumb against my palm and cupped my fingers across my top lip to form an air pocket and then just breathed steadily.
Easier than breathing from a bottle which is the subsequent exercise. That sucks because you have to maneuvre the bottle.

 

[crpntr133]

Interesting points made about the signal and I do have to agree that the redundant signal is pretty much worthless.
With the reintroduction of the double hosed, regs donating is going to be really simple. They either take your back up or they are going to drown.

 

[knotical]

just did all my padi pool work
only did the out of air thing once.
I tried to peek at my air gauge and the instructor turned it away from me
I wanted to see it going down.
didn't have to breath from an alternate tho. he just turned it right back on

What you describe is from Confined Water Dive Two.

From my latest copy of PADI’s Open Water Diver Course Instructor Guide, Confined Water Dive Three, Performance Requirements:
“5. Respond to air depletion by signaling out of air, then securing and breathing from an alternate air source supplied by a buddy for at least one minute while swimming underwater.”

And from Recommended Training Sequence:
“10. Air depletion/alternate air source combined exercise — In water too deep to stand up in, close the “out-of- air” student’s valve. When student feels air loss (should not watch SPG), student signals out-of-air and secures buddy’s alternate air source and begins breathing. Reopen the valve as student secures the buddy’s alternate so the regulator is available for use. Donor and receiver swim together with receiver using alternate air source for at least one minute. Switch roles so all divers act as donors and receivers.”

You might want to politely bring this to your instructor’s attention. We instructors are human (really!) and sometimes accidentally skip a step.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

 

[ScubaTwo]

Our Instructor had us try each way, donating the primary and the alternate on seperate occasions. He also had us buddy breath even tho the padi book now says that is up to the instructor to teach it or not. I think we were lucky he was able to spend so much time with us and teach us different ways. I myslef felt more comfy giving my primary to my buddy.

 

[LiteHedded]

I did all the dives in two days and that's the only out of air thing we did.
I think the idea was for us to just understand what it feels like. don't know what doing it on several occaisions would accomplish. we did tons of buddy breathing and breathing from alternates. just not with the tanks off.