Ran out of air today...

[Thalassamania]

...

Regarding reaching the tank valve: I think a lot of folks with single-tank rigs have difficulty reaching the tank valve. Sometimes it is restricted shoulder mobility, but often it is just that the tank rides too low to reach the valve.

It is a very good thing to check (to see if you can can reach the valve) in a non-emergency situation, both on the surface and underwater. If you can't reach it "normally", most folks find they can reach it by getting horizontal, and loosening the waist strap / cummerbund or whatever setup your particular rig has. Once loosened, you should be able to pull UP on the shoulder straps and slide the tank up your back, then reach the valve. It is good to practice this so that you know you can get to the valve quickly if needed.

With single-tank rig we teach left hand under and lift, right hand up and over to the valve.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

With single-tank rig we teach left hand under and lift, right hand up and over to the valve.

Thanks for mentioning that, Thal. That's exactly what I was taught too, and it works great with most BC's of the non-crotch strap flavor...

I started using a BP/W with crotch strap about a year ago, so I do need to release the waist strap first.... I may just take the crotch strap off since the HOG harness & backplate feels pretty darned secure for the type of dives I do (and if for no other reason to stop my teenage kids from teasing me every time I use the word "crotch strap" ).

Best wishes.

 

[mdb]

My primary instructors: Lou Fead and Bill Costello always taught to have the tank valve high enough on your back to roll it back on. On one training dive Bill took off my mask and turned off my tank valve. A good lesson learned.

 

[Ayisha]

...I want my tank valve full-open or full-closed. Nothing in between. When I do a buddy check, I check for a "hard stop" on their valve to ensure full-open position, and have them do the same with mine. This way the valve is either fully open or, if lightning struck and I forgot "Righty Tighty - Lefty Loosey", the valve is fully closed.

Then I take a few breaths on the reg before entering the water. If the valve is closed, I'll know it instantly without looking at the gauge, and will "fix" it before entering the water...

I was keeping my valve fully open for a while, until I read this post by Rick Murchison 3 years ago in the thread "Half Turned Valve" as well as some other influential posts. Apparently, having a valve fully on can still be an issue with modern regs. I also saw too many buddies and DM's confused by the hard stop and rotating the knob the wrong way (towards off) simply without thinking.

...the most recent instance of the jammed on/stripped valve I saw was one of the "modern" ones that's not supposed to let that happen. Having seen it, I know better, & always make sure it's off the stop a quarter to half turn.

I don't know which way is best, but until the industry standard and teaching changes internationally, people will continue to get confused and do things without thinking and in a hurry, and that seems to be a danger in itself.

 

[diver 85]

Good to hear all turned out fine. Now toss that DIR ZONE gauge and get a good air intergrated computer.

As I always say---"Do It Rong".....

 

[InTheDrink]

I was keeping my valve fully open for a while, until I read this post by Rick Murchison 3 years ago in the thread "Half Turned Valve" as well as some other influential posts. Apparently, having a valve fully on can still be an issue with modern regs. I also saw too many buddies and DM's confused by the hard stop and rotating the knob the wrong way (towards off) simply without thinking.



I don't know which way is best, but until the industry standard and teaching changes internationally, people will continue to get confused and do things without thinking and in a hurry, and that seems to be a danger in itself.

This surely is the key point - don't know which way is best.

In OW I was taught that having the knob twisted 1/4 on meant that other 'responsibles' would know it was not 'Off' and in their diligence try to help you out and turn it fully 'On' (in fact turning it off). So having it 3/4 meant that everyone knew your gas was not 'Off'.

So the proposed solution now seems confusing with multiple 'standards' - a recipe for getting things wrong.

I don't have the answer - valves full on or intermediate: and all have their risks. What is the best solution to this minutest of problems? It would be great to get agreement on the best practises and probably got a lot of the best people around on this board to contribute. But some concrete standards with this kind of thing would be very useful.

J

 

[FritzCat66]

...we need a fool proof buddy close by.

I find my pony to be more fool proof than buddies, and it would also have worked wonderfully in this situation. But I know solo isn't for everyone.

As a former IT consultant turned dive instructor, I have this inbuilt paranoia about anything computer-related... so it's all analogue backups for me!

I agree with you on this Crowley.

I couldn't disagree more.

Working in the medical imaging industry (where we now have AI systems pre-interpreting and reconstructing medical images) and being a former electronics tech in the industrial control business (where we digitally metered everything from robotics and process controls to hydroelectic plants), I have completely the opposite attitude: Give me a CPU-controlled digital measuring system over a non-self-monitored analog system anyday.

Even simple computers do a zero-test on their pressure sensor upon power-on self-check - which would have caught errors like this - and depending on the sensor used, some can even detect a failure during operation. Not all failures, of course, and even a digital gauge can get off calibration, or just plain break, but at least you have SOME cross-checking and system monitoring going on, where with analog you have zilch.

I see this attitude commonly on this board, but I think it is bass-ackwards and Luddite in thinking that analog is somehow superior to digital. Digital isn't perfect, but generally speaking even a halfway-decently-programmed digital gauge is better than analog, if nothing else just for having some basic level of built-in testing.

And BTW every hospital I've converted to digital imaging has happily thrown away the film processor and never looked back, and I can't imagine what those power plants would do if they tried to put an analog gauge back on everything due to some digital paranoia or Amish faith in ancient technology...

Good to hear all turned out fine. Now toss that DIR ZONE gauge and get a good air integrated computer.

Hear, hear!

Thanks for sharing and glad it worked out for you, Laurens, because I would like to dive with you again some day, and I'll bet El Zee would appreciate that, too.

>*< Fritz

 

[TSandM]

I would respectfully offer the observation that hospitals don't expect their electronics to work while immersed in salt water . . .

 

[FritzCat66]

I would respectfully offer the observation that hospitals don't expect their electronics to work while immersed in salt water . . .

Unless they're in New Orleans.

True, however a break in the seal keeping the saltwater out of the housing will mess up both a digital and an analog gauge, so there's nothing about that leading towards either side. Both equally depend on adequate seals.

Saltwater is indeed a tough environment on all equipment, though. That industrial systems company I was working for at the time had a couple contracts for digital instrumentation systems for desalination plants as well and I remember all the tests the sensors had to undergo.

Tough stuff, that salt... but I presume the sensors in contemporary digital SPG's undergo similar qualification testing.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

I reckon y'all might find the instrumentation used on an offshore oil and / or gas rig pretty interesting - the brine from the well is saltier than the seawater surrounding the rig - check out the articles on the brine seep at the Flower Gardens NMS as one example.