DIR- GUE s-drill with a reel

[overthinking_diver]

Does anything in the s-drill SOP change if one or both of the divers involved have a reel with line? I'm not talking about cave but open water diving cases when you have to dive with a dive flag or tie a line to the anchor line. In these cases it's possible that both divers involved are handling a reel.

I'm worried about the line getting entangled in the long hose or the light cord or something else. Is there a recommended way to do an s-drill while also managing a reel? Also, reeling in a line takes two hands (I think?) so how do you maintain touch contact when exiting? Do you give the reel to the OOG diver?

I'm looking at the GUE-SOPs_v3.0.pdf that I received with my Fundamentals package but there's nothing in the s-drill SOP that mentions managing a reel. They have Cave/Tech SOPs so it's definitely not limited to the Fundamentals level.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why would you want or need to do an S-drill while holding a reel? The S-drill is a drill--a training procedure that simulates donating a regulator to an out-of-gas diver. Why complicate a drill?

Now, if what you are asking is not about the drill but rather how to donate a regulator to an out-of-gas diver in a scenario where you or the OOG diver is handling a reel at the time, that is a very real thing. I believe how you should best handle it would depend on the circumstances. If you are in open water and ascending with a reel/spool on a deployed SMB, the donor could handle the reel/spool during the ascent. Indeed, that scenario is done in the Fundies class. Touch contact is not needed when ascending directly up a line to an SMB.

 

[PfcAJ]

You can donate and go to your backup with one hand.

If you need to ditch the reel and make a hasty exit, lock it off and mush it into the ground or do a quick tie off. Leave it for another day. Reeling up line is slow, and being slow isn’t what you want when someone is out of gas.

Likewise, if you’re ascending on a spool, lock it off and let it hang. Bring it up when things settle (gas switch if deco dive, on the surface if rec) or whenever makes sense.

 

[overthinking_diver]

Thank you both for your replies. This is easier than I thought.

Why would you want or need to do an S-drill while holding a reel?

Sorry for the confusion. I was asking about actual air sharing while reels/spools are involved. I don't want to be in a situation where I need to share air and I'm not 100% sure what I'm supposed to do with all the extra equipment.

You can donate and go to your backup with one hand.

Oh, this makes so much sense. I was trying to make it work following the "right hand for primary, left hand for backup" rule that's in place for most other GUE drills. This looks like a perfect example of when to break this rule.

My biggest issue was how to do the light cord dance that frees up the long hose when one hand is holding a reel/spool. Locking it/tying it off seems like an easy and obvious solution.

 

[overthinking_diver]

If you are in open water and ascending with a reel/spool on a deployed SMB, the donor could handle the reel/spool during the ascent. Indeed, that scenario is done in the Fundies class.

I think Fundies covers the opposite scenario - deploying and SMB when you're already sharing air. This is a little easier because the donor can use both hands while the OOG diver can hold the long hose.

It's possible that what I'm asking here - share air **after** deploying an SMB was covered too and I just forgot about it.

 

[ChrisMBC]

Thank you both for your replies. This is easier than I thought.


Sorry for the confusion. I was asking about actual air sharing while reels/spools are involved. I don't want to be in a situation where I need to share air and I'm not 100% sure what I'm supposed to do with all the extra equipment.


Oh, this makes so much sense. I was trying to make it work following the "right hand for primary, left hand for backup" rule that's in place for most other GUE drills. This looks like a perfect example of when to break this rule.

My biggest issue was how to do the light cord dance that frees up the long hose when one hand is holding a reel/spool. Locking it/tying it off seems like an easy and obvious solution.

In my Fundies/T1 class, the instructor had us passing off the reel/spool during the S drill to practice this.

In the case of S-drill in the middle of ascending, while reeling in the spool, the donating diver can hand off the spool to the out-of-gas diver when they need two hands for something (like sorting the light cord).

 

[PfcAJ]

Thank you both for your replies. This is easier than I thought.


Sorry for the confusion. I was asking about actual air sharing while reels/spools are involved. I don't want to be in a situation where I need to share air and I'm not 100% sure what I'm supposed to do with all the extra equipment.


Oh, this makes so much sense. I was trying to make it work following the "right hand for primary, left hand for backup" rule that's in place for most other GUE drills. This looks like a perfect example of when to break this rule.

My biggest issue was how to do the light cord dance that frees up the long hose when one hand is holding a reel/spool. Locking it/tying it off seems like an easy and obvious solution.

Yeah don’t get locked in to “rules”.

It’s more of a “this works really well for most situations”.

Here are the real rules:

Don’t dive with unsafe divers
Don’t listen to unsafe divers
Option 1 - don’t dive
Always analyze your gas
Don’t dive a rebreather unless you need it
Nothing underwater is worth dying for
Always look cool

 

[tursiops]

Why is the actual donation of the long hose to an OOG diver called an S-drill?

 

[rongoodman]

Safety drill?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Sorry for the confusion. I was asking about actual air sharing while reels/spools are involved. I don't want to be in a situation where I need to share air and I'm not 100% sure what I'm supposed to do with all the extra equipment.

No worries about the confusion of terminology. Soon you will be spouting off GUE-speak like the rest of us. Seriously, though, AJ's advice is always good. Listen to him and take note, especially the sense of humor. If you haven't taken Fundies yet, or if you need to go back to finish it up, don't forget about the fun in Fundies class.

People who aren't familiar with GUE sometimes get the impression that there is a "rule" for everything. There isn't. And there can't be, because there are too many possible scenarios in the real world to cover every possibility with rules. The rules or SOPs are a framework to aid standardization. Within that framework, there is a surprising (to me) amount of latitude for a diver to do what works under the circumstances. If you can lock and drop a reel in order to deal with something like an OOG diver, do it. If you can hold onto the reel without creating an entanglement problem, do that. If it seems better to hand the reel to your buddy, do that. There may not be a "wrong" way to handle it, and if your instructor believes an alternative way might have been better, your instructor will point it out to you during the debrief after the dive.

The main thing here is to stop worrying so much about things that will be covered in your Fundies class. (Yes, we know you're the "over-thinking diver." ) You're expected to read the materials before class, but what you need to know in order to become a competent fundamentals-level diver will all be covered by your instructor in class. If reading the materials makes you think of a question, then ask your instructor in class. Yours was a good question, and the answers here have been good, but a GUE instructor is the best resource. You're paying to be taught. You're not expected to know everything when you show up for class. If you've already taken Fundies, I'm sure your former instructor would be glad to chat about your question.

Why is the actual donation of the long hose to an OOG diver called an S-drill?

If divers are doing a drill, simulating donation of the long hose reg to an OOG diver, it's called an S-drill, where the "S" stands for Safety. If an actual donation to an OOG diver is done during a dive, it's called, well, something like "donating to an OOG diver."

The other drill that is done along with the S-drill is a valve drill, but for some reason (or no reason) it's not commonly referred to as a "V-drill."