panic under water - I had serious problem

[mania]

PF the only regulator that doesn't do this is Poseidon. All other given upside down will provide water.
BTw guys i did pass the exam and I'm now ADv. Nitrox but I know I have to work on this particular part of my bahevior uw.
Mania

 

[pilot fish]

Not just "octo's" do this. Most regs will breathe wet when upside down. They still deliver breathing gas, just mixed with water. They are still breathable, you just have to be aware of it and use "airway control" to breathe slowly to get the gas past the water. That would be pretty difficult to do if you're already panicing, as mania was :11:

And mania - Diver0001 is right, you're not an idiot for panicing. You are smart for realizing you have a lot of work to do before being comfortable doing the dives you're training to do!

As I said to Mania, this is a very important piece of info. Glad I now know this. Knowing this fact, that upside down regs and octo's deliver water, could stop a person from thinking he just got a bad reg or octo and flying into a further panic. Now, if it should ever happen, I know to take a corrective step and reinsert reg or octo rightside up. Thanks

 

[pilot fish]

PF the only regulator that doesn't do this is Poseidon. All other given upside down will provide water.
BTw guys i did pass the exam and I'm now ADv. Nitrox but I know I have to work on this particular part of my bahevior uw.
Mania

Very useful fact and I apprecaite learning this reading the board, rather than during an real emergency event. Thanks.

 

[mwpowell]

... I took the regulator out of the stage, took one breath and then opened the stage bottle (as the procedure says). ...

The procedure doesn't make sense to me. Why not turn on the stage reg first, then deploy the hose and breathe off of it? The way that you described it, you're beathing off a reg that you know is turned off which doesn't make sense to me.


It's important to always be thinking about your options for handling failure scenarios, especially during gas switches. In retrospect, I'm sure you realize that you have could simply returned to your back gas, and then sorted out the stage failure. Lesson learned.

Take care,

Mike

 

[fmw625]

My safe second looks just like my primary, just yellow instead of black. A quick look and you know if it's upside down or not. I try to hang my holder so that if I grab my second for a hand off it comes out right side up.

 

[ianr33]

The procedure doesn't make sense to me. Why not turn on the stage reg first, then deploy the hose and breathe off of it? The way that you described it, you're beathing off a reg that you know is turned off which doesn't make sense to me.


Take care,

Mike

This is actually a pretty common method of doing a gas switch. the rationale is that you watch the spg drop as you take the first breath,that way you know you are breathing from the tank you are about to turn on. Not a big deal with one deco tank,much more important if you have two. Breathing from the wrong tank will spoil your day.

Having said that ,I am not comfortable with it either so I have started to press the purge while watching the spg to verify that I have the correct tank. Then I open the valve ALL the way,then I switch regs

 

[ianr33]

[[[3. My partner gave me his regulator up side down – and this was the reason why it was providing water not gas]]]]]]]mania

This is interesting because I never knew that breathing off somone's octo upside down would cause water to flow, not breathing gas? This is an importanat thing to know since it is probably easy to grab an octo and place it in your mouth upside down? I just learned something. This is helpful info. Thanks

.

An upside down reg should work,may well be wetter but should still work. I always donate a reg mouthpiece facing down so the air in it does not bubble out,that way if the diver receiving it forgets to purge it they should still breathe air. Easy to do when practicing,probably much harder if its the real thing.

Mania,I remember the first day of my Advanced Nitrox. Swimming to my instructor with no mask or reg and asking for air was probably the most stressed I have ever been diving

 

[pilot fish]

[[[[[[[that way if the diver receiving it forgets to purge it they should still breathe air.]]]]ianr33

Why would the diver need to purge it? Would't you just start to breath off it right away?

 

[Diver0001]

This is actually a pretty common method of doing a gas switch. the rationale is that you watch the spg drop as you take the first breath,that way you know you are breathing from the tank you are about to turn on. Not a big deal with one deco tank,much more important if you have two. Breathing from the wrong tank will spoil your day.

Having said that ,I am not comfortable with it either so I have started to press the purge while watching the spg to verify that I have the correct tank. Then I open the valve ALL the way,then I switch regs

I don't think the IANTD protocol is standardized. I took my adv-eanx here in Holland where the water can get close to freezing and we were taught, for obvious reasons, not to purge the reg to check it's functioning. I think Mania's instructor may have been on that page too.

Personally, with one stage I just set it wide open and make the switch with my primary handy. That's probably a bad habit but we'll see when we get that far.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

[[[[[[[that way if the diver receiving it forgets to purge it they should still breathe air.]]]]ianr33

Why would the diver need to purge it? Would't you just start to breath off it right away?

Pilot fish,

You seem to be digging for what to do with this.

In any situation where you exchange regs you should clear it before inhaling. Full stop.

You can do that by exhaling or by pressing the purge release. In either case (any case) you should form the habit of taking your first breath after that with your tongue touching the roof of your mouth. That works like the fender of a bicycle to keep any drops of water in the reg (or in the event of an upside-down reg potentially quite a bit of water) from shooting into the back of your throat. In addition you should make your first breath a little tentatively if you can. Gasping your first breath (any breath) greatly increases the chances of blowing drops of water to the back of your throat, which will make you start to cough.

Also, when receiving a regulator from your buddy it's the *receiver's* responsibility (in most systems) to acquire the reg and verify that the reg is in the correct orientation. It may not have seemed obvious at the time but it's taught like this from OW onwards.

R..