Solo diving on a rebreather

[tphelps]

In my opinion it's takes a totally different mindset to dive solo and most would agree that it is not for everyone. I think this thread is great because, to me, it emphasizes the importance of self awareness we should have (solo diving or not). I have the utmost respect for Dave because it takes courage to post your own [for lack of a better word] short-comings. Kudos to you cave CCR divers, I'll get there...someday .

 

[wedivebc]

Care to respond to questions above? I'm not trying to turn this to a fight but trying to get a understanding of your thoughts and why you think it wouldn't work?

Just as I started this thread so as not to hijack another thread I won't answer your question here. Start another thread and I will respond.
You guys want to beat me up about bad decision I made 10 years ago fill your boots.

 

[oldschoolto]

Just as I started this thread so as not to hijack another thread I won't answer your question here. Start another thread and I will respond.
You guys want to beat me up about bad decision I made 10 years ago fill your boots.

I am NO way trying to beat you up.... I'm just pointing out the things to learn from your dive...

And I'll tell you the story of me flying a c-182 so far into weather that I was 100 feet over the highway and only could see looking down under the wing... I had about 35 hrs under my belt.... Hell, I'm so close to the airport .... I Can make it....

When I closed my flight plan... They wanted to know how I made it ..... VFR....

Jim...

 

[atedeschi]

Just as I started this thread so as not to hijack another thread I won't answer your question here. Start another thread and I will respond.
You guys want to beat me up about bad decision I made 10 years ago fill your boots.

How is asking you question about an incident your posted about hijacking a thread. If you posted it so people can learn why take field questions? Im in no way bashing you I simple want to know:
1) What was your thought process when you reach the room and experienced issues that you didnt go OC?
2) Why do you think going OC at that point would not have helped?
3) What about doing a dil flush?

Also this is going to be read by new divers and new CCR divers, it might have been mentioning what was stated above by someone else that it really wasnt the rebreather having a issue it was improper sorb, improper packing & ignoring signs.

Hey we all make mistakes we are human I just wanted to figure out your thought process at the time.

 

[wedivebc]

OK sanity breaths are not something I will discuss here as it is a topic for another thread.
As far as why I didn't bailout when I experienced vertigo and other symptoms of hypercapnia I can't explain. I know they are signs yet for some reason chose to ignore them or was somehow in denial of my situation.
And yes I made one bad choice prior to the dive and that was using a sorb not rated for diving although in my defence it was much more common to do that 12 years ago when I started diving CCR. The point of my original post was the one good decision I made was the choice of diving with a couple of attentive buddies.

How is asking you question about an incident your posted about hijacking a thread. If you posted it so people can learn why take field questions? Im in no way bashing you I simple want to know:
1) What was your thought process when you reach the room and experienced issues that you didnt go OC?
2) Why do you think going OC at that point would not have helped?
3) What about doing a dil flush?

Also this is going to be read by new divers and new CCR divers, it might have been mentioning what was stated above by someone else that it really wasnt the rebreather having a issue it was improper sorb, improper packing & ignoring signs.

Hey we all make mistakes we are human I just wanted to figure out your thought process at the time.

 

[atedeschi]

Thanks that all I was asking about and yes I wasnt diving CCR back then but looking at old articles and post I did find that was something that occurred back then.

 

[wedivebc]

So a question was asked in a PM why you don't believe in sanity breaths and I felt it should be answered on an open forum so others can weigh in. I know many don't subscribe to the same religion I do but here goes:
Basically you need to ask what does a sanity breath do for you? If it allows you to determine if the loop is bad by being able to tell the difference between good gas and bad gas it fails miserably. I can't taste or smell CO2 and if I had retained enough of it a few breaths of clean gas would not have felt any different to me. If it had felt different then it means yes I likely have a bad loop and I should stay off it. If it didn't feel any different then does it mean it is safe to stay on the loop? Not in my books. If I feel the need to get off the loop then I stay off the loop. Whatever caused that feeling of danger is still waiting for me on the loop. The scrubber won't fix itself (although some CCR instructors believe it will) and you are just playing russian roulette if you go back on a compromised loop.

 

[kwinter]

This is not meant as a criticism or piling on. I have too much respect for Dave to do that. I'm sure he had no idea it was a bad decision to buy that scrubber material. But he didn't know that at the time. No one could have. As for why he didn't bail out or take sanity breaths, there is a very good reason that I have stated over and over.

One of the very first symptoms of hypercapnea, hypoxia, hyperoxia or narcosis is diminished mental acuity. In retrospect, you felt dizzy or vertigo. But at the time, your addled mind probably couldn't process what was happening. It's great to say we all train for situations when things go wrong. The problem is we are often the last ones to know that something is wrong. It's very easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, even about ourselves and our own actions. But things have to be looked at in the context of being zonked. Can you really be that hard on someone who doesn't immediately ascend when he's narced out of his skull? No, he has no idea what to do specifically because he is narced out of his skull. There is a reason that smart folks who are planning to get drunk don't drive to the bar, or at least give their keys to someone else when they get there. It's because they won't have the proper judgment skills to avoid driving afterwards.

If you are going to dive solo, you accept the risks involved. You can mitigate some of those risks with proper preparation, training, equipment, redundancy, etc. But you can not eliminate all the risks, including the risk that you might be completely incapable of helping yourself. If you are not willing to accept that, then don't do it. If you deny that it can happen to you and decide to dive solo, then your dive buddy is an idiot.

 

[oldschoolto]

John Chatterton talks about dealing with narcosis .... You learn to work around it... or should I say with it.... We use chamber rides to learn to deal with hypoxia.... Working with diminished mental powers is learned.... It's almost never a single thing that gets you.... It's a chain of events... You just need to "SEE" the chain and break a link...

Jim....

 

[tstormdiver]

Excellent thread guys! Being a newbie to rebreathers, you guys are completely reiterating what I was taught in my Air Diluent course a few months ago. Hopefully this will serve to make me even more aware of what is going on with me & make me a safer RB diver. I, personally have no plans to dive my unit solo for a very long time (& then only when absolutely necessary). I look at solo diving (recreational, technical or rebreather) as an individual choice that needs to be done in a thoughtful, informed & careful manner, with full knowledge of the potential risks.