Pull Dumps — lose them

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Today I witnessed a diver almost drown on the surface moments after entering the water for a dive on the Spiegel Grove in Key Largo, Fl

The diver was for some reason negatively buoyant on the surface and was struggling. I yelled at him to inflate his bcd (duh). He was on the edge of panic, he started inflating his back mounted Zeagle bcd (which inflates EXCRUCIATINGLY slow). At the same time he was pulling on the inflator and all the while the pull dump was dumping ALL the gas.



Replace those pull dumps with elbows.

The ocean was relatively calm when this happened.

 

[txgoose]

Even as a pretty calm person, as a newbie this kind of thing gives me a bit of pause. I don't know what might startle me sometime in the future. The whole, experience comes with experience thing.

To deflate for a descent using an elbow, do you just go face down and use the butt dump(s)?

 

[diversteve]

Replace those pull dumps with elbows.

Or just learn to properly use your gear...He must've been yanking on it pretty hard to do that also,,,

I have no complaints about the inflation rate on my Ranger..but it's the previous model.I did add the BX inflator which is standard on their new models now - it allows you to flush the bladder with a garden hose.

The new model LTD's also have a right shoulder pull should you want to replace the inflator dump but on mine it's the only upper dump so I don;t think I'll be taking your advice..

 

[fmerkel]

With that level of competence he shouldn't have been on the dive.

 

[Johnoly]

...Replace those pull dumps with elbows.

Agree,,,It's a solution looking for a problem. I don't believe in Air2 type devices either. Seen too many problems and confusion by divers pushing the wrong buttons. Just keep it simple.

 

[KevinNM]

Or just learn to properly use your gear...He must've been yanking on it pretty hard to do that also,,,

You don’t want to pull on the inflator ever. If it the connection between the inflator and bladder fails you are in a world of trouble.

 

[boulderjohn]

I would bet a lot of divers with pull dumps on their BCDs do not even know they are there and would never use them for a legitimate purpose.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

With that level of competence he shouldn't have been on the dive.

He is an open water scuba instructor, and has made a few dives on the Spiegel Grove, Duane and Vandenburg.

 

[kelemvor]

He is an open water scuba instructor.

This just goes from bad to worse. You should consider filing a complaint with his agency, perhaps they will pull his card.

 

[RyanT]

Related to this, a friend of mine has a story where he saw another diver go catatonic and she began to sink rapidly. Because she was sinking so fast, the first thing he was able to grab was her inflator hose that was trailing above her. He grabbed it and hit the inflator button. As he did, the tension from her weight opened the dump valve and was dumping all the gas he was adding. Fortunately, he resolved the situation quickly and everything turned out fine. But, it was just something that made the situation unnecessarily more difficult.