mrjimboalaska
Contributor
did I read right? the Instructor was taking pictures???????
Out of Air on Final Open Water Cert. Dive
- Thread starter harleyxx
- Start date
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theatis
Contributor
Great advice above but i also wanted to highlight another aspect.
I'm going through rescue training and your situation reinforces the dictum that we learn that diving accidents tend to start from small, easily correctable incidents that build up when compounded through a series of mistakes. Good for you that you DID NOT allow that to happen! As a hypothetical example, someone in the same situation could have panicked when they realized that they only had 500 PSI left; after all, we are supposed to finish the dive with a 500 reserve, right? Compounded by the fact that they are buddy-less and that their instructor seems to be otherwise occupied (!) they bolt to the surface and an easily correctable incident turns into an accident. You can add any number of variables such as holding one's breath etc.
Again, kudos to you for doing none of the above and remaining in control of the situation.
I'm going through rescue training and your situation reinforces the dictum that we learn that diving accidents tend to start from small, easily correctable incidents that build up when compounded through a series of mistakes. Good for you that you DID NOT allow that to happen! As a hypothetical example, someone in the same situation could have panicked when they realized that they only had 500 PSI left; after all, we are supposed to finish the dive with a 500 reserve, right? Compounded by the fact that they are buddy-less and that their instructor seems to be otherwise occupied (!) they bolt to the surface and an easily correctable incident turns into an accident. You can add any number of variables such as holding one's breath etc.
Again, kudos to you for doing none of the above and remaining in control of the situation.
OP
harleyxx
Contributor
With regard to buddies, I did have a buddy, Our instructor had told us to keep the same buddy we had on the previous dives. But she was about 15'-0 ahead of me as we were drift diving back to the swimming area. His instructions for me to follow up in the rear of the group however meant that no one else would have known if I was in trouble unless they looked back at me.
The Instructor was keeping an eye on everyone though, in fact he had already swam back to me when I switched to my snorkle. It was his training than helped me to stay calm, and adapt to my circumstances. PLus the water where we were drift diving was not that deep maybe 10 to 15'-0 at the most.
It finally dawned on me that allowing my air to run out prevented me from being any help to anyone else if they had an out of air problem. It would have been bad if my buddy swam up to me expecting help & I was out of air or low on air.
Our instructor had taught us to let him know what our air supply was when he pointed to his SPG. 1 finger for 1000 lbs 2 fingers for 2,000...ect. Is there a standard sign for 500lbs? like half a finger? or maybe just a low air sign? just curious
The Instructor was keeping an eye on everyone though, in fact he had already swam back to me when I switched to my snorkle. It was his training than helped me to stay calm, and adapt to my circumstances. PLus the water where we were drift diving was not that deep maybe 10 to 15'-0 at the most.
It finally dawned on me that allowing my air to run out prevented me from being any help to anyone else if they had an out of air problem. It would have been bad if my buddy swam up to me expecting help & I was out of air or low on air.
Our instructor had taught us to let him know what our air supply was when he pointed to his SPG. 1 finger for 1000 lbs 2 fingers for 2,000...ect. Is there a standard sign for 500lbs? like half a finger? or maybe just a low air sign? just curious
500 psi indication depends on who I'm diving with. If it's me and my instructor I indicate 500 by getting his attention and tapping my guage. We have about 100 dives together so he knows what it means. (Means we still have 10-15 mins of dive time at 25 ft or so and we'll surface with 200 -250 lbs still left.)
.If it's with an unknown buddy 500 gets the up signal regardless of depth. If I'm solo then I check my pony and make a nice slow leisurely ascent
. Seriously though with students and buddies I don't know well 750-1000 is time to start up and I indicate that by getting their attention, tap my spg and signal up.
.If it's with an unknown buddy 500 gets the up signal regardless of depth. If I'm solo then I check my pony and make a nice slow leisurely ascent . Seriously though with students and buddies I don't know well 750-1000 is time to start up and I indicate that by getting their attention, tap my spg and signal up.
OP
harleyxx
Contributor
mrjimboalaska:
When we got down to 60'-0 in the spring there is a sign that tells OW divers not to go any further. He took a few pictures of the students by the sign. At that point he could see everyone we were all within 10'-0 of each other.
Congratulations on handling and learning from a challenging situation....
I believe you have been offered some good advice. I don't recall which certifiying agency you were diving with. I am fairly certain that PADI frowns heavily upon Instructors doing anything but instructing while in confined or OW training.
We all have learned from our mistakes and thankfully no one is hurt.
Is the sugical tube under the chin a DIR technic and/or something others have adopted through discussions like this?
I believe you have been offered some good advice. I don't recall which certifiying agency you were diving with. I am fairly certain that PADI frowns heavily upon Instructors doing anything but instructing while in confined or OW training.
We all have learned from our mistakes and thankfully no one is hurt.
Is the sugical tube under the chin a DIR technic and/or something others have adopted through discussions like this?
Harley, congrats on calmly reacting to your low-air situation during a OW cert dive. You're one cool customer for an OW studentharleyxx:
. Sure, you could have done a couple of things better (as pointed out by others), but you definitely handled it well for a student diver.Regarding hand signal to indicate remaining air pressure, my buddies and I use the following system: flashing 1 finger for every 100psi. E.g. all 10 fingers, quickly followed by 5 and 3 (using both hands each time) to indicate 1,800psi; all 5 fingers from one hand to indicate 500psi. Alternately, we sometimes use one hand and use a series of quick flashes with each finger indicating 100psi (5, 5, then 4 fingers from same hand in succession to indicate 1,400psi).
Johnoly
Contributor
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I thought that Blue Springs state park makes you surrender your actual C-Card at the front entrance of the park. It is usually clipped to your signed waiver and a copy of your paid receipt and then you pick it up on your way out.
Did you already have your C-Card, and already completed the course before entering the park or did the instructor leave temporary cards filled out with the gate office? Sounds like you handled the air situation pretty well! Congrats!
Did you already have your C-Card, and already completed the course before entering the park or did the instructor leave temporary cards filled out with the gate office? Sounds like you handled the air situation pretty well! Congrats!
OP
harleyxx
Contributor
Johnoly:
I'm not sure what the C-card is. We had already completed the written test, the confined dives, 4 or 5 open water dives the day before at Deleon Springs. This dive at Blue Springs was to be our final Dive for our Open Water Certification. At Blue Springs all of us students signed a waiver and paid $10.65
After the dive the instructor gave us a Padi Open Water Certificate and told us our Cards (C-cards?) would come in the mail in about two weeks. He said we could pick up a temp card at the Dive shop.
lamont
Contributor
yeah, ditto on the suggestions to switch to a long hose. that way your backup is right under your neck and you'll notice any bubbles from it very easily -- one of the reasons why it is configured that way.
and draining your backgas immediately limits your options. if you're running low and you don't need to do a stop you should get on the surface before you pull your tank dry, and if you're at a stop and running low you should throw an OOA on your buddy before you pull the tank dry at depth. once you've drained your tank dry, you've lost the ability to breathe underwater and that's no small capability to just throw away...
and draining your backgas immediately limits your options. if you're running low and you don't need to do a stop you should get on the surface before you pull your tank dry, and if you're at a stop and running low you should throw an OOA on your buddy before you pull the tank dry at depth. once you've drained your tank dry, you've lost the ability to breathe underwater and that's no small capability to just throw away...
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