Regulator Kicked Out of Mouth by New Diver

[V1P3R]

one of my incidents was quite sporty if you're going by that metric. I was using one of the camps regulator sets and I failed to properly check the zip tie on the mouthpiece when I grabbed it. One of my students kicked the regulator out of the mouthpiece. Since I was teaching, I was focused on the students, and I found out when I tried to inhale and sucked a mouthful of seawater. It's one thing to have the reg kicked out and you feel it. It's completely different to still have the mouthpiece in your mouth and not realize it got kicked out because you were task loaded... No issue, I just took the mouthpiece out, put it back on the second stage, and kept going, but it was a bit of a shock nonetheless

Wow!! this is why I love this SB site. I would have never thought of this issue. But, it sure makes sense now that you've shared. Another tidbit of information I can squeeze into my tackle box of good knowledge. Thank you TBone

 

[KLY]

one of my incidents was quite sporty if you're going by that metric. I was using one of the camps regulator sets and I failed to properly check the zip tie on the mouthpiece when I grabbed it. One of my students kicked the regulator out of the mouthpiece. Since I was teaching, I was focused on the students, and I found out when I tried to inhale and sucked a mouthful of seawater. It's one thing to have the reg kicked out and you feel it. It's completely different to still have the mouthpiece in your mouth and not realize it got kicked out because you were task loaded... No issue, I just took the mouthpiece out, put it back on the second stage, and kept going, but it was a bit of a shock nonetheless

Wow... that is definitely more of a shocker. I guess the more experienced you are, the calmer the response though it may come as a shock

 

[Edward3c]

This will happen even with experienced divers. I had to take evasive action yesterday when my buddy (an instructor) moved in front of me and would have knocked my mask off.

It just happens occasionally, no big deal.

 

[KLY]

one of my incidents was quite sporty if you're going by that metric. I was using one of the camps regulator sets and I failed to properly check the zip tie on the mouthpiece when I grabbed it. One of my students kicked the regulator out of the mouthpiece. Since I was teaching, I was focused on the students, and I found out when I tried to inhale and sucked a mouthful of seawater. It's one thing to have the reg kicked out and you feel it. It's completely different to still have the mouthpiece in your mouth and not realize it got kicked out because you were task loaded... No issue, I just took the mouthpiece out, put it back on the second stage, and kept going, but it was a bit of a shock nonetheless

There was also a video in YouTube where a woman was somersaulting underwater and her mouthpiece came off.. she panicked and grabbed the camera person's regulator. A valuable piece of safety information to always check the mouthpiece...

 

[tbone1004]

Wow... that is definitely more of a shocker. I guess the more experienced you are, the calmer the response though it may come as a shock

internal monologue during that experience
"wtf, this is weird"
"huh, my regulator is gone, whatever"
-switch to secondary and hold onto mouthpiece
-find primary and shove mouthpiece back on
-put primary back in
"why did this effin kid try to kick me in the face? oh wait, not my student, that's someone elses problem"

@KLY and that person who had his reg mugged should hopefully now subscribe to primary donate if they weren't already....
Since @Edward3c is in here, I had to make that jab :-D

 

[BlueTrin]

I think another lesson one can learn from this is that it’s better to not circle your buddy by turning your back to him. You might be kicking close to his head without knowing ...

I had the same experience and I try to not put myself in the situation where someone kicks near my head.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I was on a dive where there was this beautiful wolf eel (they are incredibly docile). His head was hidden, and had a beautiful pattern on his body that was showing. I signaled my buddy (jokingly) to poke the wolf eel's body so I could get a better shot. His eyes went wide and furiously shook his head no (I would have stopped him if he went to do it).

I laughed so hard that I spit my own reg out. Drank a little bit of sea water. Not a biggie, just grabbed my reg and put it back in my mouth and we drifted on.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I had just returned from recreational diving at Tioman Island, Malaysia about 2 weeks back. I would like to share an unexpected incident that happened during one of my boat dives.

Due to the Covid-19 situation, border restrictions were in place and Malaysians were unable to travel. So, many took the oppprtunity to visit local islands. This was the first time I have seen so many divers, at Kampung Paya, Tioman island. In one of my dives, I doved to 18m with the Dive Centre DM and some other divers. The DM stopped at a location next to a reef and signalled to us to show us a nudibranch. I also noticed a group of new divers (I knew they were new by their vertical stance and furious fin-kicking actions) but which I thought was not too near to us. As I was going nearer to the reef, all of a sudden I found my regulator kicked out of my mouth by another diver's hard fin kicks, and I was taking in water at 18m. Fortunately for me, I was able to be calm and proceeded to retrieve my 2nd stage while i was blowing bubbles. After I have managed to put the regulator safely back to my mouth, I realised there was this new Diver near me. I pushed him away and signalled furiously to him that he had kicked my regulator out of my mouth.

Lessons learnt :-

1. Do not go near a new Diver or even think that they are not near to you when you see them.
2. If you see a bunch of new Divers at depth, observe them and do not focus on something else as they may suddenly end up very near you.
3. Remain calm if anything unexpected happens, as the basic equipment set up is there to support you.
4. Always dive near your buddy, if your equipment fails, your dive buddy will be there to save you.
5. Do not crowd up underwater, unexpected things can happen. If possible, do not dive at all if there are too many divers diving.
6. Distance and depth is an illusion underwater, it is hard to measure through the naked eye.

Hope that this sharing will create awareness of possible dangers that can happen unexpectedly.

Good advice...

This is one of many lessons I had to learn as a result of an unexpected mishap too. These days I try to be respectful of my distances regardless of whatever else may be going on in the group, but especially when other divers get excited about finding something. These situations are usually when curiosity can turn into distraction, and it's only human nature to lose focus on safety and situational awareness. When I find myself in uncomfortably tight quarters with other divers, I will often grab hold of my mask and second-stag with both hands, protecting my head with my arms as best I can, and slowly try to move out of the zone in a measured way; and try not to be the next guy to kick someone else in the face. Once clear, this is probably a good time to keep an eye on the group for any difficulties, and be ready to help provide assistance if something goes wrong.

Glad you are okay. Hopefully the other divers in your group learned something as well.

 

[Zef]

Lessons learnt :-

4. Always dive near your buddy, if your equipment fails, your dive buddy will be there to save you.

While deep down we expect our dive buddy will be there to save us if equipment fails, being reliant on them is a flawed mentality in my opinion. I believe one should dive in such a way that they are fairly self-reliant and IF the dive buddy helps with a situation, whatever level of crisis, then all the better.

-Z

 

[herman]

I use to assist with OW classes, it happened at least once a class. It does not phase me now.