00wabbit
Contributor
I live in the midwest and I don't let the cold stop me from diving. Because the water temps are regularly in the low 40's this winter I have been concerned about free-flows due to the cold. I also don't have a steady regular buddy so I really want be as self reliant as possible. Because of this I decided to add a AL40 slung pony bottle to my gear in case of emergency.
On my first time out with the stage we were doing a fun dive in the local quarry. I was fortunate to be diving with some very experienced divers that I have been with before and trusted them. I let them know that at the end of the dive during the safety stop I wanted to practice switching to my stage this way they wouldn't think I was actually out of air if they looked over and saw me on the bottle.
So at the end of the dive once we reach 15ft I signal to my buddy, a cave diver on a rebreather, that I am ready to switch. She is floating directly in front of me facing me within 3-4ft or so.
I pull my stage reg out to begin the switch with my left hand, then I pull my primary out of my mouth with my right hand and it immediately starts free-flowing. I hastily shove the stage reg in my mouth and suck - WATER. I try again- water and again- water all the while my primary is in my right hand free flowing a wall of bubbles in front of me. I start to panic. I remember thinking just go up, then I thought that's a bad idea. Eventually I got my wits back and remembered that I was still holding a working air source in my right hand so I quickly jammed it back in my mouth and coughed and breathed and coughed some more.
After surfacing I told them what happened and we checked out my stage reg to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning I was sure I didn't put it in upside down because I specifically remembered to check that.
It was a rough experience. The closest I have felt to drowning, but it was a good experience too because I saw panic and I dealt with it.
On the next dive of the day I was very nervous about using my stage again. This time I went down with the same buddy while she watched me. We went to a platform at about 15 ft and I got down on my knees and pulled out my stage reg again. It took me a good 5 breaths or so before I was able to remove my primary and try to breathe off of this one again. I did it without an issues and then practiced switching back and forth about 5 more times before we went off and continued our dive.
On the drive home from the quarry I went over and over in my head what happened and this is what I figured out. When I pulled my primary out of my mouth I turned it mouth piece up, this caused the free-flow. Then I jammed the stage in my mouth and forgot to purge because of the free flow. I had also been in the habit of purging my regs by blowing through them rather than using the purge button but in this situation I didn't have a breath to purge with so I kept sucking water.
The next week I went to the pool and practiced switching back and forth and started using the purge button every time to purge my reg. I want to be in the habit of purging manually in case I am in a situation again and need air quickly. I also will practice more often switching to my stage so it becomes a more natural movement if I ever need it.
Moral of the story. Purge with the purge button, Practice with new equipment, don't just strap on a pony and think you're safe (Make sure you know how to use it and you are practiced at it.) There are probably some more morals to this story and I am sure scubaboard will point them out to me
On my first time out with the stage we were doing a fun dive in the local quarry. I was fortunate to be diving with some very experienced divers that I have been with before and trusted them. I let them know that at the end of the dive during the safety stop I wanted to practice switching to my stage this way they wouldn't think I was actually out of air if they looked over and saw me on the bottle.
So at the end of the dive once we reach 15ft I signal to my buddy, a cave diver on a rebreather, that I am ready to switch. She is floating directly in front of me facing me within 3-4ft or so.
I pull my stage reg out to begin the switch with my left hand, then I pull my primary out of my mouth with my right hand and it immediately starts free-flowing. I hastily shove the stage reg in my mouth and suck - WATER. I try again- water and again- water all the while my primary is in my right hand free flowing a wall of bubbles in front of me. I start to panic. I remember thinking just go up, then I thought that's a bad idea. Eventually I got my wits back and remembered that I was still holding a working air source in my right hand so I quickly jammed it back in my mouth and coughed and breathed and coughed some more.
After surfacing I told them what happened and we checked out my stage reg to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning I was sure I didn't put it in upside down because I specifically remembered to check that.
It was a rough experience. The closest I have felt to drowning, but it was a good experience too because I saw panic and I dealt with it.
On the next dive of the day I was very nervous about using my stage again. This time I went down with the same buddy while she watched me. We went to a platform at about 15 ft and I got down on my knees and pulled out my stage reg again. It took me a good 5 breaths or so before I was able to remove my primary and try to breathe off of this one again. I did it without an issues and then practiced switching back and forth about 5 more times before we went off and continued our dive.
On the drive home from the quarry I went over and over in my head what happened and this is what I figured out. When I pulled my primary out of my mouth I turned it mouth piece up, this caused the free-flow. Then I jammed the stage in my mouth and forgot to purge because of the free flow. I had also been in the habit of purging my regs by blowing through them rather than using the purge button but in this situation I didn't have a breath to purge with so I kept sucking water.
The next week I went to the pool and practiced switching back and forth and started using the purge button every time to purge my reg. I want to be in the habit of purging manually in case I am in a situation again and need air quickly. I also will practice more often switching to my stage so it becomes a more natural movement if I ever need it.
Moral of the story. Purge with the purge button, Practice with new equipment, don't just strap on a pony and think you're safe (Make sure you know how to use it and you are practiced at it.) There are probably some more morals to this story and I am sure scubaboard will point them out to me
