Hi, I have over 20 dives under my belt. Last week, in the Caribbean, I had an uncontrolled ascent from 90 feet all the way to the surface. I was using nitrox. The reason? I pushed too much air in my BCD because I felt I was going a little down. All of a sudden I started going up and up, and I just couldnt release the air from my BCD!! The good thing is that I was completely relaxed, I breathed normally and upon reaching the surface, I grabbed the line and went down again, to do all the required precautionary stops. When I went up on the boat, I had a little blood in my nostrils, but just a little bit (when I blew my nose later, no blood came out). I did not dive anymore that day, in fact, I havent since, and I never lost consciousness, or felt ANY symptoms whatsoever. So far, I am perfectly fine. How can I avoid this from happening again, especially if I feel that I am going a little down. Also, is it possible that I might get any symptoms in the future or not?
sudden uncontrolled ascent!
- Thread starter ninamoon0
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Michael_Lambert
Guest
It is going to take some time in the water to work out the finer details of your buoyancy control. If you felt a slight shift and then you should have only had to jump in the inflater for a mer second to correct it.
Now even on Nitrox if you where narked you might have felt something that really was not there.
what sort of BCD where you using? I don't understand how you could not have completely emptied your BCD being in 90 feet of water much faster than you could have rose in the water column.
Now even on Nitrox if you where narked you might have felt something that really was not there.
what sort of BCD where you using? I don't understand how you could not have completely emptied your BCD being in 90 feet of water much faster than you could have rose in the water column.
imwright1985
Contributor
sounds like you lucked out. You should just tap (dont even have to depress all the way) the inflate button then wait a sec or 2 to see if it balances out nicely. shoulda tried dumping air from one of the other dump valves and had a feel for where they need to be about to release air. if your inflate button ever sticks unhook the LPI hose
Hi, Michael!
I was using a Ladyhawk. I was going up horizontally. I pushed and pushed the grey button to no effect. (In my rush I forgot about the pull-out cords!) Instead of pushing the red for a second whan I was going down a little, I pushed it twice or three times. I think that's what did it. I dont think I narked because I was completely aware of everything. We had been below for 15 minutes or so. When I surfaced, I immediately grabbed the line and went down again SLOWLY, found my group and went back up doing all the stops.
I reckon I have buoyancy issues. I am skinny (120 punds), I use 12 punds with aluminum tanks and 8 punds with steel tanks. Usually I am pretty good at controlling it but now I dont know what to think. I was using 12 punds integrated weights that day with my aluminum nitrox tank.
Thanks for your expert advice!
I was using a Ladyhawk. I was going up horizontally. I pushed and pushed the grey button to no effect. (In my rush I forgot about the pull-out cords!) Instead of pushing the red for a second whan I was going down a little, I pushed it twice or three times. I think that's what did it. I dont think I narked because I was completely aware of everything. We had been below for 15 minutes or so. When I surfaced, I immediately grabbed the line and went down again SLOWLY, found my group and went back up doing all the stops.
I reckon I have buoyancy issues. I am skinny (120 punds), I use 12 punds with aluminum tanks and 8 punds with steel tanks. Usually I am pretty good at controlling it but now I dont know what to think. I was using 12 punds integrated weights that day with my aluminum nitrox tank.
Thanks for your expert advice!
learn to find all of your dump valves, not just the inflator. sometimes if for instance your head is down then you can pull the bottom dump valve. also if you are heading to the surface you want to try to swim down so you should be inverted. (assuming you know how to find your dump valve). at the very least this will slow you down.
if the bottom is much deeper than you want to go then you want to make sure you do not have too much weight so that being a little heavy is not a problem and you can swim up with an empty BC. you should not have to inflate your BC to keep you from an uncontrolled decent either.
I weigh 200# and use only 6# in salt water with a 3MM full suit you might be overweighted.
if the bottom is much deeper than you want to go then you want to make sure you do not have too much weight so that being a little heavy is not a problem and you can swim up with an empty BC. you should not have to inflate your BC to keep you from an uncontrolled decent either.
I weigh 200# and use only 6# in salt water with a 3MM full suit you might be overweighted.
Mr Carcharodon
Contributor
ninamoon0,
The air was not coming out of your BC because the dump valve was not at the highest point. The bubble of air will go to the highest point and if that is not where the valve is no air will come out. So to use the shoulder dump you need to be head up and to use the rear dump you need to be a little head down.
If you have no symptoms after 24 hours the chances of any developing are very low.
Keep practicing. Learning how much air to add and dump takes a little while to learn.
A.
The air was not coming out of your BC because the dump valve was not at the highest point. The bubble of air will go to the highest point and if that is not where the valve is no air will come out. So to use the shoulder dump you need to be head up and to use the rear dump you need to be a little head down.
If you have no symptoms after 24 hours the chances of any developing are very low.
Keep practicing. Learning how much air to add and dump takes a little while to learn.
A.
Kaliber35
Contributor
Ive had this happen at around 25 feet. I couldnt imagine it from 90. Bet it was a pretty fast ride! lol
On a serious note: very glad to hear youre ok and that you were able to return to depth to do your stops.
On a serious note: very glad to hear youre ok and that you were able to return to depth to do your stops.
You are indeed lucky.
Spend more time diving at 20-30 fsw. Practice using all of the dumps to control your buoyancy. Learn them to the point that reaching for them is second nature.
The bottom line is when putting in air to your BC, a little does a lot of good but a lot is not any good.
Spend more time diving at 20-30 fsw. Practice using all of the dumps to control your buoyancy. Learn them to the point that reaching for them is second nature.
The bottom line is when putting in air to your BC, a little does a lot of good but a lot is not any good.
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Is this the same instructor who certified you? Have you discussed your incident with him? If so, what feedback did he provide?
When I hear of incidents such as the one you posted, I always wonder who their instructor was and how he could certify someone with a lack of fundamental skills. Don't take this statement as a slam on you, it's not.
When you "pushed the grey button", how did you have the inflator positioned? In order to dump, you have to come out of horizontal and get the inflator up above the BCD. This means lifting your left shoulder and positioning the inflator above and a bit behind your head. If you are horizontal and push the button with the inflator where it wants to lay, you won't get any air out of it, unless it is quite full.
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