Indeed - that's a strategy that would easily replace a mere nuisance problem (OOG) with a much bigger one (DCS).
But at least you might get a free helicopter ride!
Safety Question
- Thread starter penguinpete
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Indeed - that's a strategy that would easily replace a mere nuisance problem (OOG) with a much bigger one (DCS).
But at least you might get a free helicopter ride!
sardiverdan
Contributor
Penguinpete,
Do not rule out the idea of self rescue in your scenario. You also have the option of removing your BC and manually operating your first stage until you reach the surface. I see many options here but you should practice these in a secure environment. If you do not want the additional issue of a pony bottle with its own 1st and 2nd stage you could also go with a dual valve on a single cylinder and run your primary off one side and the secondary off of the other. That way if your situation occurred, you could shut the one bad line down and switch to the other...just my 2 cents.
Do not rule out the idea of self rescue in your scenario. You also have the option of removing your BC and manually operating your first stage until you reach the surface. I see many options here but you should practice these in a secure environment. If you do not want the additional issue of a pony bottle with its own 1st and 2nd stage you could also go with a dual valve on a single cylinder and run your primary off one side and the secondary off of the other. That way if your situation occurred, you could shut the one bad line down and switch to the other...just my 2 cents.
Just out of curiousity, how did your reg line break at the tank? Did the metal break off at the threads? Did the hose separate? What happened?
I'm with Bob. The problem isn't the gear failure, it's the team failure.
When you dive with a single tank, your fallback is your buddy. That's the way it's taught in PADI classes, too -- first option is to end the dive if you are low on gas, second option is gas sharing ascent with buddy. But if your spare gas is 25 feet away and swimming away from you, you're forced further down the list of options, to things which are less desirable (like CESA, which is not something I ever want to have to do for real).
Perhaps the thing to do is have your wife try an exercise I did several years ago. Get 25 or 30 feet apart, and you turn your back. She can exhale and then stop breathing (simulating discovering the tank is empty when you try to inhale from it) and then start swimming to you. She has to reach you, get your attention, and get gas from you. I can GUARANTEE that, by the time she's done all that, she's going to be pretty air hungry and really glad to get that regulator.
The day I did that was the day I decided that, one way or another, I was going to have a buddy closer to me than that. (My husband and I didn't dive together again for almost six months.)
Oh, and issues like this are the reason that overhead environments aren't recommended for open water trained divers, using simple open water equipment. Every time you go through a swimthrough, you run the risk of having a problem while you're in it that might require an urgent ascent. That's why folks like Rick Murchison only consider something an appropriate OW diver swimthrough if you can see the exit before you enter.
When you dive with a single tank, your fallback is your buddy. That's the way it's taught in PADI classes, too -- first option is to end the dive if you are low on gas, second option is gas sharing ascent with buddy. But if your spare gas is 25 feet away and swimming away from you, you're forced further down the list of options, to things which are less desirable (like CESA, which is not something I ever want to have to do for real).
Perhaps the thing to do is have your wife try an exercise I did several years ago. Get 25 or 30 feet apart, and you turn your back. She can exhale and then stop breathing (simulating discovering the tank is empty when you try to inhale from it) and then start swimming to you. She has to reach you, get your attention, and get gas from you. I can GUARANTEE that, by the time she's done all that, she's going to be pretty air hungry and really glad to get that regulator.
The day I did that was the day I decided that, one way or another, I was going to have a buddy closer to me than that. (My husband and I didn't dive together again for almost six months.)
Oh, and issues like this are the reason that overhead environments aren't recommended for open water trained divers, using simple open water equipment. Every time you go through a swimthrough, you run the risk of having a problem while you're in it that might require an urgent ascent. That's why folks like Rick Murchison only consider something an appropriate OW diver swimthrough if you can see the exit before you enter.
OP
penguinpete
Registered
My description may be a little misleading, my wife is usually a good dive buddy and we don't stray far from each other but because of the current on that dive we did get separated several times but the next time I feel she is getting too far away I will go for her fin.
PfcAJ
Contributor
Removing your BC? Thats a great way to lose it and be stuck without anything at all.
Sticking with your buddy and simply sharing gas is a much better and simpler solution to the issue.
If you aren't getting gas through your primary, switch to your (octo, backup, safe second, air2) and then start sharing gas with your bud. What little gas you have left in your tank at that point certainly isn't going to last much longer!
OP
penguinpete
Registered
You are right, the best solution is to stay close to your buddy and we are usually pretty good at doing that. The hose failure made me think of the only time that I can remember that I felt my buddy was too far away (hey, we're not perfect), which was the drift dive with current. Keep in mind that this is a hypothetical. My take on the situation is that I would be better off surfacing since I am within 40 feet of the surface (the entire dive was 30-40 feet)and I would be fighting current to swim to my buddy.
We have been lucky that we have never had any serious equipment failures or problems during our dive career. The worst thing that happened during any of our dives is we temporarily lost a diver during a cenote dive. A little scary but everyone was OK.
I am actually glad that the hose blew, it made me sit down and think about what I would do if the hose blew in the swim through. My wife was right in front of me and I hope I would have grabbed her octopus but I can't say for sure that I would not have panicked.
We have been lucky that we have never had any serious equipment failures or problems during our dive career. The worst thing that happened during any of our dives is we temporarily lost a diver during a cenote dive. A little scary but everyone was OK.
I am actually glad that the hose blew, it made me sit down and think about what I would do if the hose blew in the swim through. My wife was right in front of me and I hope I would have grabbed her octopus but I can't say for sure that I would not have panicked.
penguinpete, thinking is a good thing. Some of the best learning is through situations that didn't end up in accidents or near-accidents, but brought the proximity of a bad outcome home.
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