Reaching valves

[large_diver]

In a perfect world, none of these "emergency" skills would be needed......

But of course we dive in the real world where buddies, gear, DMs, boat crews, the environment, marine life, weather, and our own physical and mental abilities are not always 100% reliable.....

 

[Rob Meddes]

Lets end this thing shall we.
As i said i don't think that practicing this skill is wrong.
Wetman even has one (the only one) example where i admit it would come in handy but his problem could've been solved by his buddy or by ascending.
My problem was the "Its for when you jump in after forgetting to turn your air on" & not forgetting the "someone might come up behind you & turn it off" attitudes. This was where i had a double take.
All the problems given could be solved by other methods & admittedly by being able to reach your own valve (something i would never be able to do because of my single setup) you may be able to solve them on your own. But people were arguing that it's useful for when you forget to turn it on??? YOU DON'T FORGET YOUR CHECKS Was my point.
I do carry out my checks via memory & i never go in without my air on. I'm not a pilot however i'm a Airframe technician on fast jet fighters in the RAF & have been for 15 years so i have some idea of checklists, procedures & flight characteristics. I also have a lot of experience of the "if it can go wrong, then it will go wrong" Murphys' Law. Generally a spin won't occur unless you go beyond the flight envelope for your type, or beyond airframe aerodynamic or fatigue limits. If you have done this then your doing the same as jumping in without your checks carried out. But yes there is a chance of a freak occurance that can turn your world upside down. You don't however tell people to "If you do this thing that you've been taught not to do & get into a spin then you can Pull the stick here & push the rudder pedal there".
I accept that there may be a time when this skill comes in handy (not essential though) but i don't accept it as a fix because your not doing other things right.
Cheers & good diving
Rob

Two fish in a tank,
one turns to his mate & says,
"How the hell do we drive this"??
;¬}

 

[Uncle Pug]

Rob Meddes once bubbled...
My problem was the "Its for when you jump in after forgetting to turn your air on"


"If you do this thing that you've been taught not to do & get into a spin then you can Pull the stick here & push the rudder pedal there".

Rob the statement you make in bold above is not a quote from anyone... it is a miss-characterization by you of my question in response to your question Just wonering why you need to reach your valve on your single?? ~ Ever forget to turn your tank on before dropping in?. And while I am sincerely glad that this can never happen to you because of you punctilious checks this has happened to others... some have been saved by others, some have been save by themselves as they were able to reach their valve and others have not survived this oversight. (not to mention dropping the weightbelt )

And you can be excused for making the natural assumption that you Pull the stick but that unfortunately is another instance where your instincts are wrong.

BTW.... good use of the ....proud of ya

 

[Rob Meddes]

Pulling the stick would increase the angle of attack & so increase the stall angle of the aircraft & reduce airspeed intensifying the problem.
Pushing the stick will push the nose down, reducing the angle of attack & increasing the airspeed thus allowing the control surfaces to operate more effectively with the inreased airflow enabling the pilot to counter the spin. (just has to pull out of the dive now)
It wasn't meant to be accurate
:boxing: :drown:

 

[Uncle Pug]

Rob Meddes once bubbled...
It wasn't meant to be accurate

I'll make a note of that for future reference....


{note: Rob's posts may contain inaccuracies...}


I see you have the smilie thing working now... good job... now go to bed... it's late (there.)

 

[Aquamaniac]

Two people in this thread have highlighted that they have seen or had a DM "accidently" turn off a valve.

I am struggling to come to terms with a statement such as that...

 

[Aquamaniac]

.

 

[Uncle Pug]

righty tighty ~ lefty loosy


Unless of course you're dyslexic... then it would be a crap shoot.

Say don't you south of the equator folks have a special problem... you know where the coriolis effect does strange things

 

[scubafanatic]

........at the risk of starting a controversy......heaven forbid! ......would the Brits have their tank 'controls' reversed.........remember, they drive on the *wrong* side of the road over there too........so might it be "righty loosy" and "lefty tighty" instead ? (of course, this assumes the tank has a right-handed valve knob)

.........what if you're a left handed diver, and have fitted your tank with a left-handed valve.......then it would be 'lefty tighty' and 'righty loosy' in the US.......but 'righty tighty' and 'lefty loosy' in Britain?

..........then dive on air to maybe 150 ft deep, where nitrogen narcosis kicks in big time......and factor in Uncle Pug's "equatorial hemispheric coriolis effect"........


..........I think I just talked myself out of diving anymore...maybe stick to doin' somethin' simpler...like operatin' an atomic power plant....but wait....****!...there's DIALS in the control room...DAMN........more decisions........

 

[kwesler]

I cannot understand it either, but it happened to me. I do all the customary pre dive checks, although if there is a ripping current we do not put any air in our BCs. My reg is balanced, and I do not get needle bounce at the surface with the air partly on, although the DM is question did it just as I did my stride, so it was after I checked my regs/SPG.

I guess everyone can have a moment of "now which way is that?"

Also, if I start straw sippin, checking the valve is just part of the "'now what the heck is going on" procedure that I do...

Ken