Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

CptTightPants21

Contributor
Messages
1,203
Reaction score
771
Location
NY/NC/FL
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi,

A friend of mine was recently certified, he did his confined water up in New England and his checkout dives in Key Largo. Both shops were PADI and had a very good reputations locally and online.

For the free flow exercises, both shops instructed him to take the free flowing regulator out of his mouth and "sip" the air (which he had some trouble with and kept getting water).

After the confined water, I told him the correct procedure was to keep the reg in his mouth, grab his pressure gauge, and begin to ascend with his buddy breathing normally; or signal his buddy, go on his buddy's reg and begin to ascend. (I didn't cover the other options such as turning tank valve off, etc. Just very basic, dives over, ascend with buddy)

But then the checkout dives instructor had him do the same exact thing, sipping air.

Is this a PADI standard of some kind?

He says one instructor said he shouldn't keep the reg in his mouth because it could cause an embolism, I told him as long as he was breathing normally, not closing his throat, and ascending at a steady but not out of control pace he would be fine.

I chalked the first time up to a quirk with the instructor, similar to donating secondary regulator instead of primary (which he was also taught), but two teaching the sipping method?

Do any other agencies/instructors actively teach this? How is it better/safer than keeping the reg in your mouth?
 
Yes other instructors (at least, I had it taught in OW as well) teach that stupid method. It's rubbish and should not be done imo. Your method is correct.
 
That is the way it is written in the PADI course materials - sipping from the free flow (or at least it was last year when I was certified).
 
SDI also teaches you to remove one side of your mouth piece and tilt your head to the side and sip from the reg. I had zero issues doing this.
 
I too was taught to remove one side and sip from the reg by a PADI instructor. Zero issues with this in the pool or during my open water.
 
ice pellet projectiles will have you attempting sipping.....

Can you elaborate a little one this one?

SDI also teaches you to remove one side of your mouth piece and tilt your head to the side and sip from the reg. I had zero issues doing this.

See I don't understand this. They had a higher degree of task loading and difficulty during an already stressful situation.

Do you agree with SDI's method or mine?
 
A better method is that with right hand- grip mouthpiece around index finger and take completely out of mouth and to put your mouth around thumb and 2nd finger and breather free-flowing reg.- creates a air pocket where diver breathes norminally for 1 min. as required by Padi.
 
It's not about issues doing it, there's nothing complicated to it if you've ever had to drink straight off the tap.

It's just that it's very complicated for no benefits, it works when sitting on the ground if you're doing it for the sake of certification. A real life ascent like that is gonna be a pain in the ass.
 
Is it just the method that PADI/SDI is teaching or is it an ABSOLUTE class standard? That they MUST sip from a free flowing reg?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom