Reg recovery?

My 'first try' reg recovery method is:


  • Total voters
    105

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northernone

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If you've lost a primary reg a couple times in your history and needed to recover your reg on your next dive, what's your first go to recovery stretegy?

Thinking of recovery specifically, switching to an alternate reg while getting it sorted is generally prudent but doesn't recover the primary.
 
I'm on a long hose and tuck the excess into my cummerbund...
;-)

This hasn't happened, but if it did, I would just grab some hose around my stomach and retrieve it....I also use a necklace.
 
voted for three of them because it all depends if I can see it and where it went.
My double hose? It's just going straight up over my head so you reach back and get it.
Most of my singles rigs are long hoses so it can't really go anywhere.
If I'm using a short hose, I usually just reach back and follow the hose down since it's the easiest way to get it if you can't see it.
 
While a significant amount if my diving has been using a double hose, I answered based on single hose. When I dive single hose, it is with a long hose (5', 7', or 9'), it it is in proper placement, it is basically right there on my shoulder, so it is a "sweep/reach, but not a lean".....

Failing that, it is go to bungied octo and sort it out with various methods listed above....
 
@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
 
As I get older, reaching over the shoulder and grabbing it at the reg isn't as easy as it used to be. With a bit of experience, a 40" hose, and bungeed backup, I don't seem to have trouble keeping track of my regs.

A couple of kicks to put your feet over your head and you can look down at it hanging there.

The biggest advantage one can have is being comfortable with the reg out of your mouth. 30 seconds or a minute is a long time to sort things out if you don't mind taking your time. There is always the alternate second if things are not going right. Freediving helps give the skills need to operate rationally without a reg immediately available.




Bob
 
I use a 40" hose and necklace backup.

First I would push away the noob that just dropped on top of me and kicked my reg out of my mouth.

Then I would switch to my backup followed by a sweep to grab my primary. I selected option 2.
 
First I would push away the noob that just dropped on top of me and kicked my reg out of my mouth.

Hubris often precedes a major mistake. In both cases during my diving career where I have lost the primary regulator out of my mouth it was my own fault. If you think you are beyond doing something that could cause you to lose the regulator out of your mouth then I would suggest that you are very likely mistaken.

My default reaction isn't in the list. I may instinctively grab/sweep for it but failing immediate retrieval my next reaction would be to FIRST change to my secondary and THEN look for the primary.

This isn't something that happens a lot in my experience but changing the the secondary first fits well with my ABC rule of problem solving.

R..
 
I like lean and sweep, but that does not work if in a decent current, hanging on to a descent line. My wife lost her's while we were making our way along a tag line towards the descent. With 3 to 5 ft waves, strong current and tag line bouncing all over it was not possible for her to recover it without assistance from me. I still haven't been able to talk her into using a necklace, but am getting closer! She's still Padified....
 
She's still Padified....

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.

The fact that most people don't learn like this has much to do with a paradigm lock among shops and instructors. I would say that the short-hose config is a "norm" but it is not a "requirement".

R..
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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