Out of gas - what happens next?

[Steve_C]

In my defense please note that I am not actually touching the lobster.

Is that lobster looking bigger due to perspective or is that one of those really big one we see on the NC offshore ledges?

 

[Storker]

So you dive 85 degree water in a dry suit and lots of weight?

I don't dive 85 degree water, that'd cook me.

 

[leadduck]

As I mentioned in the other thread,in the only time I have ever been near an OOA situation, the OOA diver calmly reached for her buddy's alternate, took it, and they surfaced together. I then surveyed the other instructors in my shop for their experiences, and all reported events similar to that.

This is certainly one of those things that gets passed on without any real substantiation. In thousands of dives I can't recall a true OOA but several "dude, you're really low on air" situations. Regardless, I'll stick with the donatable primary and necklaced back up.

I think it works the following way: if the OOA diver is just low on air, everything is calm and easy and any configuration works. But if he totally forgot his SPG and suddenly went out of air he may have swallowed a little water already; then if he isn't really close to his buddy but took time to swim there, maybe from behind, takes some more time to signal ... he's not yet in full panic but will rather grab a regulator than wait for two more seconds until the buddy gets what's going on and donates it. In that case it's good if the buddy has a usual octopus alternative that the OOA diver sees and can just grab.

Approaching a diver from the side or from below to grab a second stage doesn't work well with a long hose setup. He'll either get a very short hose, or worse take the unsuspecting buddy's primary. Some OW long hose apologists couldn't accept that disadvantage and as a defense invented the myth that OOA divers would most likely grab the primary anyway, which is nonsense.

 

[uncfnp]

Is that lobster looking bigger due to perspective or is that one of those really big one we see on the NC offshore ledges?

Hey Steve. He was that large. The photo is from our recent Bonaire trip. That bug is big and bold because he is in the Marine Park.

 

[george_austin]

I still don't get why a thread about OOA turned into a hose length debate What, again does having the donating hose wrapped around your head have to do with being OOA on a typical rec dive in a no overhead environment?
For the record - - the video of those two trainees in doubles doing an OOA drill with those incredibly long hoses looks really sloppy (IMHO) Maybe doing it in a crowded cavern system where everyone transiting in single file - it'd look better.

 

[Steve_C]

I still don't get why a thread about OOA turned into a hose length debate

Religous fanatics from the church of right diving, and my way is the way good divers do things.

 

[Neilwood]

I still don't get why a thread about OOA turned into a hose length debate What, again does having the donating hose wrapped around your head have to do with being OOA on a typical rec dive in a no overhead environment?
For the record - - the video of those two trainees in doubles doing an OOA drill with those incredibly long hoses looks really sloppy (IMHO) Maybe doing it in a crowded cavern system where everyone transiting in single file - it'd look better.

Agreed- for the vast majority of divers, the standard hose set are perfectly adequate and actually having a long hose might confuse the issue to someone that isn't used to the idea of it. The old adage of train the way you fight comes to mind. If you have trained one way and someone presents another, it can create confusion just when it isn't needed.

Long hose definitely has its place in tech diving (and I can understand tech divers doing rec stuff keeping the same gear set) but it doesn't suit all divers. I can think of some that might actually strangle themselves on the long hose!

Religous fanatics from the church of right diving, and my way is the way good divers do things.

I prefer the way of the as opposed to DIR - I dive my way to have fun. So long as my buddy and I have agreed the plan, we are good. So for me I have standard length hoses, BP&W, and I decide on fins depending on my outfit!

 

[boulderjohn]

I still don't get why a thread about OOA turned into a hose length debate

Good question. I would like to suggest an answer.

Take a look at the Opening Post:

In another thread, we were discussing strategies for donating gas, and the question came up of what happens in real out of gas situations. I have frequently heard that an OOG diver will grab another diver's primary reg, but other instructors have said that they have experienced divers more calmly taking an octo (invited or not).

Does anyone have any actual experience with this situation? What do real OOG divers actually do?

I think the reason the thread has drifted is because not many people have any real experience with OOA situations. I know I certainly haven't, and I don't know many people who have.

This certainly suggests that these incidents are not nearly as widespread as some would have you believe. There was once a frequent SB poster who was both an instructor and dive guide at a resort location in the Pacific, and he/she (not clear which) wrote as if it happened on pretty much every dive, including instructional dives, and some people suggested that either he/she was the worst instructor in history, or he/she was a pathological liar.

 

[george_austin]

Religous fanatics from the church of right diving, and my way is the way good divers do things.

A solution in search of a problem

 

[Steve_C]

If I see an OOA person coming toward me my left hand goes over in front of my reg. My right hand hands them the bright yellow spare. I always have air. They have what they need right in front of them and my full focus is on them and not me switching regs. I dive a seacure mouthpiece and am missing a couple of teeth and it is a custom fit. They would have trouble getting my reg out without removing some teeth. They would have some trouble getting it into their mouth if in a hurry. I am all for KISS.