Reg recovery?

[time2sail]

PADI has no objection to using a long(er) hose and a necklace for the backup. The standards are worded such that the instructor is able to teach any regulator configuration they want provided the student has 2 second stages on their gear.

Thank you for clarifying! I was not aware that the instructors had that much leeway in gear configuration. Especially since it would mean donating your primary.

 

[rhwestfall]

@rhwestfall with single hose regs I will always switch to my secondary immediately. It's around my neck and is more of a reflex. Better to have the reg in your mouth with the ability to control buoyancy and not have to worry about how long the retrieval may take. Your secondary also gets a little love which is never a bad thing

true, but also with the long hose "wrap", it is right there....

 

[Diver0001]

Thank you for clarifying! I was not aware that the instructors had that much leeway in gear configuration. Especially since it would mean donating your primary.

That's true. Some configurations require donating the primary. The standards allow for this. The choice of which protocol to teach falls to the instructor.

R..

 

[JackD342]

That's true. Some configurations require donating the primary. The standards allow for this. The choice of which protocol to teach falls to the instructor.

R..

Yep, several options left to the instructor. So I choose what is most appropriate for adequately preparing my students, not my personal preference.

With the vast majority if my students headed for tropical resorts, and at least initially if not permanently relying on rental gear at those resorts, I teach with the "standard" primary/alternate configuration.

For the same reasons, I still use weight belts in the pool even though I have the integrated weight option, so the diver is prepared for what they are more likely to encounter in rental gear. Even if they do find integrated weights at their resort, it is far easier to quickly learn those after having learned weight belt, than to do the opposite. If they finish with me at the quarry, then we move to integrated weights.

 

[Diver0001]

Yep, several options left to the instructor. So I choose what is most appropriate for adequately preparing my students, not my personal preference.

I did something similar but for other reasons, namely that the rental stock of the shop I was working for left me with no alternative.

I should also say that after years of teaching the "traditional" short hose configuration that I don't find it to be nearly as problematic in an air sharing situation as some of the rhetoric online seems to make it sound. To me it's pretty much a non-issue with one really fundamental key point, which is that your octopus must always be where you expect and it must come away with a pull.

Some methods of securing the octopus do not lend themselves well to staying put and other methods don't lend themselves well to coming loose when you need it. Strangely, the best octopus holders I have ever found have been the bungee type hair bands made for holding a pony-tail. I happened across this discovery when teaching in a pool were I would often find them on the bottom. I picked up a few and made a paradigm changing discovery.

For the same reasons, I still use weight belts in the pool even though I have the integrated weight option, so the diver is prepared for what they are more likely to encounter in rental gear. Even if they do find integrated weights at their resort, it is far easier to quickly learn those after having learned weight belt, than to do the opposite. If they finish with me at the quarry, then we move to integrated weights.

I never worried too much about this. Few students have great problems with either of them. To me a weight belt is just somewhere to put your weights and a weight pocket is just somewhere else to put weights. Each has a list of pros and cons that you can go through in a couple of minutes.

Teaching everything they ever need to know about weight belts/pockets takes only a few minutes. That said, in the pool I generally didn't use weights at all unless they were necessary and then it was on a weight belt. In the open water sessions we used both in order to distribute the weight around so it was comfortable.

R..

 

[Fin Finder]

voted for three of them

You're the guy?
So it wasn't fake news after all!

 

[2airishuman]

I reach back and follow the hose. The sweep doesn't always work, and therefore can increase the total amount of time required to recover the reg.

 

[EireDiver606]

Just use a longer hose around your head and bungee backup and you’ll never have to worry about those silly issues. It’s funny how agencies teach reg recovery as a skill...

 

[Colliam7]

The poll has brought out several related, but distinct, issues.

1. The question asked was, what is your 'first try reg recovery method' (FTRRM). I read that as, how do I locate a primary second stage that has - for some reason - come out of my mouth? And, the offered poll options seem fairly inclusive. But, my FTRRM will depend on the length of my primary hose. If I am diving a short (e.g. 32-36" primary hose) my FTRRM is option 2 (side lean and sweep). If I am diving a 7' primary, my FTRRM is to trace the hose from behind my head, down my right side (essentially option 7, 'some other method').

2. Several responses have actually addressed the broader 'lost reg procedure', which involves both a) assuring continuity of gas supply, and b) recovery of the reg as well as . Like many posters, my FIRST response in the case of a 'lost (primary) reg' is to go immediately to my (bungeed necklace) alternate. That assures the gas supply continuity. THEN I work to recover my primary second stage. This sequence is NOT the commonly taught procedure in most agencies. I think it should be, for a number of reasons that are best discussed separately. In fact, I had a discussion with PADI about this earlier this year after an instructor mistakenly stated that PADI 'does not allow' instructors to teach a recovery procedure that involves going to the alternate first, then recovering the primary second stage. The statement was incorrect, of course. But, I wanted to be sure I hadn't missed something in some standards revisions somewhere. The PADI training person I spoke with did indicate that she personally didn't believe going to the alternate was necessary, since a competent primary 2nd stage recovery would quickly restore the continuity of the air supply. But, that is a matter of individual preference, from my perspective.

3. The issue of WHY a diver needs a 'lost reg procedure' in the first place is interesting and is related to, but not the same as, the procedure itself. I guess I have been fortunate, that I have never had my primary second stage kicked / pulled out of my mouth by another diver. But, I have also not yet been in a situation where I encountered an OOA diver, so that (having my reg pulled out of my mouth) could still happen in the future. I have lost my primary reg a couple of times, due to my own (really silly) mistakes.

 

[TMHeimer]

I clicked the sweep method, figuring the poll asks about reg retrieval. But I agree with Colliam in that I may just grab my own octo, and am surprised I've only heard 2 instructors even mention this, whether before or after a failed attempt to get the primary. With my primary mouthpiece always bungeed around my head and IN my mouth, I cannot foresee ever having to recover it.