Out of gas - what happens next?

[EricTheDood]

I have been the OOG diver....

Short story: I took the primary.

Long story: I was assisting the LDS in the role of "victim" for the rescue course. I had been laying on the bottom face down waiting to be "rescued". The diver finally found me and in the process of "rescuing" me he did two things wrong. First, he rolled me over and in the process of doing so he got his arm in the way of the hose and popped the regulator out of my mouth without noticing. Secondly, entirely contrary to protocol he slung me over his back for the lift in such a way that my arms were over his shoulders.

During the ascent my regulator was out of my mouth. At that time (1985) even if you HAD an octopus it wasn't common to secure it at all, let alone where it was easy to get at it. So BOTH of my regulators were behind my back and BOTH of my arms were being held tight. I tried to get an arm free but the more I struggled the tighter he held on. Apparently he thought that this was part of the exercise....

Now... most rescue divers get to the surface very quickly so I assumed I could just hold on and in 30 seconds it would be over but aside from all the other mistakes this diver made he took his bloody time during the ascent. 1/2 way to the surface I started to realize that I wasn't going to make it! I tried to get an arm free but the more I protested the tighter he held on...

I DESPERATELY needed to have an arm free so I let my entre body go limp. As soon as I felt his grip start to loosen I RIPPED one arm free. He turned around to face me with a "WTF" look in his eyes and before I even signed anything I tore the regulator out of his mouth and put it in mine.

At that time buddy breathing was part of the OW course. My taking the primary lead immediately to buddy breathing and we continued to buddy breathe for the duration of the ascent.

R..

Did he survive? The ensuing violence I mean?

 

[Storker]

If you are sharing air you don't need to swim single file.

No, of course not. And that's not what I said either.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Sorry. I guess I was confused by your statement.

unless you're diving caves and need to share gas while swimming single file, I see no reason for using a 7'/210cm long hose

 

[Diver0001]

Did he survive? The ensuing violence I mean?

As a matter of fact I was pretty calm about it. On the surface I just said, "you are going to need to do that again".

R..

 

[Pkishino]

hmm, I always dive my 210cm long-hose, both on doubles and singles, same style.. if I don't have a cannister light I stuff the excess under my waistband on the right side in loop, so -|-_-|- roughly. that way I can easily adjust the tension across my chest and around my neck by pulling a bit tighter or loosening it. Easy and convenient. I tried with a 150 hose but didnt give the same adjustability..

 

[leadduck]

I have been the OOG diver....

Short story: I took the primary.

Long story: I was assisting the LDS in the role of "victim" for the rescue course. ...

Seems a frequent problem also the other way round. I know of three rescue courses where the "victim" acting as a panicking OOG diver overdid it, grabbed the student's primary and clinged to the student, causing real panic and fights and almost drown both had the instructors not intervened quickly.

 

[george_austin]

Hi,

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?

In diving actively with experienced, novice and students alike for 46 years - I have NEVER had an encounter with someone who ran out of air.

 

[george_austin]

I'm still a green horn. But aside from a catastrophic equipment failure I just don't understand how people run out of air so nonchalantly. I mean do people seriously not check their gauges? You are freaking underwater and rely on the tank on your back(or side or whatever) for your LIFE. I personally am a creature of habit. Was the in the military blah blah etc. You train like you fight. And as others have mentioned you ultimately fall back on training when the crap hits the fan. If you had poor training then that's a different problem. But my point is, Does the average instructor just not incorporate checking your gas?? Personally I have tried to aim myself to check my gas about every 30 seconds or so. It's my life support duh. I will admit this task has become easier since I got ai and started keeping my hands out in front of me interlocked. But even before that I frequently checked my spg. Still do actually as I keep my prior console as a backup. I just don't understand how people go ooa, except like aforementioned an equipment failure that is so bad you can't even breathe off a free flow. My personal opinion is that if you can't check your gas then you can't (shouldn't) dive. I would do what I could for the ooa diver, but wouldn't ever dive with them again If could help it. But then you run into problems when you are solo and instabuddied on a charter. But that's a whole different tangent for a different thread.

Certain personality types are people you really need to stay away from while diving - especially at vacation resorts that cater to dive hobbyists and not necessarily very dependable, well trained experienced divers.
A good diver is aware of his tank pressure not just by the SPG but by his buoyancy swing as well.
If you're properly weighted at the beginning of a dive with a full tank, you're going to be conscious of and expecting the buoyancy swing when you get to say - a half tank. Naturally, you're going to notice the 1-3 lb offset.

 

[halocline]

Well, that's one thing I don't understand. Why are you using different configurations?

It's basically the same configuration, the only difference is that the 7ft hose routs under the canister light, while the 5 ft hose just goes under the right arm and across the chest. They both rout over the left shoulder and behind the head. I find that the 5ft hose is more comfortable and less cumbersome without the canister light, and 7ft is only necessary in situations requiring single file exits while sharing air. (i.e. cave diving in restricted passages)

Getting back to the general point of this thread, there are examples of OOA divers taking the primary out the donor's mouth, and there are examples of OOA divers asking for the octo. To me it doesn't really matter in terms of deciding what kind of set up to use, because the long hose is simply more comfortable and streamlined while diving. If I never had to share air I would still far prefer it.

 

[Kevo88]

You know, just when I thought I was set to not spend any money on scuba gear next week, you guys start talking about all this long hose stuff. Now I'm going to be stuck buying and fiddling with a bunch of rubber. I hope you're all happy about this.