Out of Air

[radio flyer]

One thing you could do to reduce the chances of this happeneing again (except monitor your SPG more frequently

is to always perform a bubble check either on the surface or as you descend. We do these on every dive without exception (even if it's a 30 foot dive)

basically take your buddy, turn them away from you and submerge them just enough so that their tank valve, first stage and second stages are under (also any drysuit valves). Check for bubbles leaking from any hose, reg (1st, 2nd) deco bottle, argon bottle.

if bubbles exist, you have to make a choice about how serious they are compared to the dive at hand and be prepared to call it.

also make sureto check your octo/backup 2nd stage works and can be deployed/is clipped off etc.

Great advice. Thanks

 

[limeyx]

Great advice. Thanks

Welcome. It's caught a number of issues on our dives.

 

[Diver Dennis]

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[Knight]

Consider yourself a step above yourself and now you have advanced yourself, alot of people get in this situation and end up in body bags because they can't keep "cool, calm and collective" you are good to go for sure keep up the good diving.

Always descending,
c.h.

 

[tstormdiver]

Great advice. Thanks

Something to keep in mind though, about checking your buddy's hoses & regualtors for bubbles coming from them. It is an excellent idea, but keep in mind that there may be some exceptions to this rule. I have a Sherwood Oasis regulator & there is a small bleed valve on the first stage that trickles a small stream of bubbles at all times. This is normal & correct for Sherwood regulators, as it helps to maintain first stage pressure stability. The amount of air lost through this bleed valve is negligable and should just be a very small trickle. I have been examined by several buddies for this time and again before I finally figured out what they were doing.:11doh: After explaining that a small amount of bubbles coming from the first stage regulator was normal for Sherwoods, then things were fine. If the air coming from this bleed valve is more than a trickle on a Sherwood, then the dive should be aborted & the regulator checked out.

 

[Arizona]

Isn't 30M the maximum PADI recreational limit? Could the equipment failed for going beyond its recommended limits? I bet it is rated for deeper depths, but just something to consider. As said earlier it is easy to 2nd guess after the fact, but what about the PADI recommendation of a second air supply and weights at the saftety stop. A pony/seperate reg would be a good idea. Staying close to your buddy is essential. For me air consumption precludes my desire to go too deep.

 

[stevetim]

Being able to remember training at all when in that situation especially when you are diving with an unfamiliar buddy, operation, and dive site, is pretty incredible. A lot of variables that could have distracted your mind from what action to take in that situation didn't prohibit your mind from saving your ***.

 

[stevetim]

Isn't 30M the maximum PADI recreational limit? Could the equipment failed for going beyond its recommended limits? I bet it is rated for deeper depths, but just something to consider. As said earlier it is easy to 2nd guess after the fact, but what about the PADI recommendation of a second air supply and weights at the saftety stop. A pony/seperate reg would be a good idea. Staying close to your buddy is essential. For me air consumption precludes my desire to go too deep.

130 ft. "It's" recommended limits is referring to the SPG? Regulator? I don't think too many scuba mfrs. are going to set their equipments' limits to a PADI recreational limit.
PADI I think, considers your dive buddy as a "second" air source. Also, he was on vacation, and most rentals don't have an option for a pony/reg setup.

 

[Arizona]

I am just pointing out when exceeding 30M you need to be extra careful. I realize SPG's are not set to PADI limits, but extra caution is warranted at deeper depths. It is easy to 2nd guess as stated previously, but it seems diving below 30M was accepted as routine. Going to 35M (115ft) is not routine for most recreational divers. If you plan on diving "deep" and exceed the recreational limits special precautions should be considered. Having a pony/reg set up is a good idea besides your buddy's octo. I believe PADI recommends this in there deep diving literature. But what about the depth?

 

[scubarealtor]

noob question: what does "shot my bag " mean?