panic

[bcsean]

I agree with Rick and everyone else here. You need to determine exactly what happened and why. Once you know the solution to the problem, it's not a big deal anymore. I'm a fairly new diver and haven't really practiced many of my basic skills since OW class a couple summers ago. I talked to my buddies I dive with and they were into working on them regularily with me.

Really important to be prepared for situations like this so that possible problems can be avoided before they start.

 

[detroit diver]

Drysuits are by their nature a pain in the butt, but a necessary evil. It takes a lot of practice to iron out all the issues. I concur w/ the others that a pool session would be very helpful. One of the skills I would practice is a runaway inflator. Have a buddy come up from behind you and hold in your inflator button. Practice removing the inflator hose to stop the flow as fast as you can.

I'm not sure what your actual issue was, but find out what caused it, and practice the fix for it.

Dive safe.

 

[tjack511]

When something happens, you resort back to your training. So what I think would help you is what others have already said. Get back in the water in a controlled enviroment and practice what you need to do to until it becomes second nature to handle the situation should it ever happen again. You will get to the point to where you want have to think about what to do, it will just become second nature. I like to tell my students that it's like when a car pulls out in front of you, you don't think "Hey I need to take my foot off the gas, put on the brake, turn the wheel etc., you just do it. So take your time practice and enjoy

 

[fgray1]

yeah, Im not crazy-paranoid now... Im just a little bit afraid to go without my boyfriend (hes a military diver and a DM) but Im going to be going on vacation very soon and I will want to go diving. I think Im just going to have to make sure to find someone whos either a DM or an instructor to go with me- just for my peace of mind.
thanks!!!

Do you know what caused the problem? Don't rely on someone else to save your life. Even if it's a DM or Instuctor.
Fred

 

[Robert Phillips]

Do you know what caused the problem? Don't rely on someone else to save your life. Even if it's a DM or Instuctor.
Fred

And DON'T use your drysuit as a B.C.!!!!

 

[dani_p]

thanks for all of your responces everyone!!! Im glad to hear back. I went again and had a good experience. my DM boyfriend helped me practice disconnecting my hose and righting myself when Im upside down- a boring dive for him Im sure but Im feeling much better now.
thanks so much!!!!

 

[dtdiver]

And DON'T use your drysuit as a B.C.!!!!

well. the DIR philosophy states your drysuit IS a backup bc.

a dual bladder is disparaged as dangerous.

i really do not want to incite the wrath of the DIR horde but if you use your drysuit as buoyancy you need to...

1)practice with it as such
2)be sure you can dump air really fast.that undergarment better not plug the dumper. or you'll be a rocket

dt

 

[Rick Murchison]

well. the DIR philosophy states your drysuit IS a backup bc.
a dual bladder is disparaged as dangerous.

I ain't the DIR crowd so you'll get no wrath - but - using equipment for purposes other than its primary function in an emergency or as a backup is perfectly acceptable. A drysuit or a lift bag or even a SMB are all perfectly wonderful backups as lift devices (often referred to as "backup BCs") to help get a diver back to the surface in the event of a complete BC failure.
And while I don't consider a dual bladder "dangerous" I do consider it a collection of unnecessary failure points when I already have a backup to my BC in my drysuit or lift bag. Your preference.
Rick

 

[dtdiver]

I ain't the DIR crowd so you'll get no wrath - but - using equipment for purposes other than its primary function in an emergency or as a backup is perfectly acceptable.
Rick

agreed,
in an emergency anything is better than nothing.
i only wanted to bring the point up that there is a learning curve to using the dry suit as a lift device.
if you use a dry suit as a bouyancy device, especially from depth , it could result in an uncontrolled ascent due to limited ability to dump air.

it's an event i'd rather not visit again.

i'd rather learn from others' mistake, than make them myself.


dt

 

[kmdiver17]

Hi - I'm a new diver and had similar concerns after returning home from a week of diving - just certified. There was a posting last week, or week before from someone who said they dived in extremely cold water...had a lot of questions and some anxiety about returning to diving... someone replied with some excellent advise about why our body reacts the way it does to panic or anxiety...if I'm remembering correctly. If I can find it I'll copy it to you, but you can look too. It was a GREAT help to me!!