Regulator Swivels, good or bad??

[johndiver999]

My brother-in-law's Omniswivel on his primary blew apart while we were on a deepish non-deco dive; he was surrounded by a cloud of bubbles that forced him to the surface; I jumped on him and tried to slow him down as I turned off his gas and gave him my primary while I was putting my necklaced 2nd into my own mouth. Lots to do in just few seconds. Everybody was OK. But no more swivels, including all those folks watching in dismay. Sure, proper pre-checking and maintenance of the swivel might have prevented that; but we are all using elbows now. Problem solved.

How does a cloud of bubbles force one to the surface? Is this literal or a figure of speech?

 

[Scubagolf]

Perhaps golf for those in constant fear of a failure point, just watch the weather before swinging the grounding rod around.

No problem: Just swing a 1-iron which even God can’t hit. (Thanks to Lee Trevino.)

 

[The Chairman]

only gauges were a watch, depth gauge and an SPG.

I learned with just a j-valve and a red ribbon. But no bladder. That was for rich peeps.

he was surrounded by a cloud of bubbles that forced him to the surface

Kink the hose, while you turn off his air and switch him to your safe second. Then, remove the swivel. I never, ever tighten the threads on my hose or swivel.

 

[tursiops]

How does a cloud of bubbles force one to the surface? Is this literal or a figure of speech?

The bubbles rise, they entrain water around them, everything goes up. It is not the buoyant force from the bubbles that matters so much as the force of the entrained water...it is like an up current that is gas-flow driven.

 

[tursiops]

Kink the hose,

Hand number one

while you turn off his air

Hand number two

and switch him to your safe second

Hand number three.

Right. I'll skip the hose kinking, thanks, since it does not always work...some even call it a myth.

Kinking over hose to stop freeflow?

I'm interested in your thoughts on kinking over a regulator hose to stop a freeflow. It was never mentioned in any of my training but seems like a reasonable option. Is this trained by any agency? Or is it something to be avoided? I've talked to several instructors and knowledgeable divers about...

scubaboard.com

 

[johndiver999]

The bubbles rise, they entrain water around them, everything goes up. It is not the buoyant force from the bubbles that matters so much as the force of the entrained water...it is like an up current that is gas-flow driven.

I guess, but I have been in a lot of bubble streams and never seen it. I know the air brings cooler water up from deeper, when the top is hot and calm, I think the big bubbles are cool too.

 

[The Chairman]

The bubbles rise, they entrain water around them, everything goes up. It is not the buoyant force from the bubbles that matters so much as the force of the entrained water...it is like an up current that is gas-flow driven.

It's a pre-panic response. When you get tense underwater, you tend to inhale and keep your lungs fuller.

Hand number three.

There's two of you with four hands. Shouldn't be a problem.

 

[tursiops]

There's two of you with four hands. Shouldn't be a problem.

I hope your solution works should you ever get in this situation. One of his hands was holding his regulator that used to be in his mouth, the other was trying to dump air from his BC. Forget the kinked hose idea.

 

[tursiops]

know the air brings cooler water up from deeper, when the top is hot and calm,

Exactly. That's how a bubbler systems works in a polluted pond, too.

 

[CT-Rich]

The bubbles are just loud chaos and will get people freaking out. Switching to the octo (in the absence of an air share/pony) you can probably make a safe direct ascent (depending on how much was still in the tank) kinking the hose. An IP of 150 psi is probably doable, and the goal is just to slow it down so you can go up.

ScubaToys did a video a few (15) year ago. They got two minutes.