Surprise Surprise . . Newbie has a mishap . . .

[BettyRubble]

Good morning all,

In the scheme of things this is minor. But it may help another newbie.

First, I encourage you to blast me. For those of you who like to blast people just for the fun of it, go for it. I've got a thick skin. As you will see, as soon as it happened I flashed back to something I read on these boards and it helped me. So if your commentary helps someone else, it's worth it.

As you undoubtedly know by now, I'm a newbie -- barely out of cert. So yesterday, I was doing my 5th and 6th dives at a local quarry. Nice weather, ok vis (it had stormed the night before so vis was lower then usual). Second dive of the day had some excitement.

I was diving with a group and will use initials instead of names. Some are members here on the boads and are welcome to share their thoughts if they wish too, but I've not asked if they want their names posted so I'll refrain.

First dive of the day went well. Of the 4 of us there were 2 very experienced divers M & R, and 1 with more experience then I (C) but still new. It went well, we enjoyed it.

On second dive an additional person joined us - S. She was experienced as well. As before the two experienced divers flanked us newbies and we newbies stayed beside each other during the dive. M in front, Me and C, then R & S.

About 30 minutes in, at 46 ft (according to the computer) my weight belt fell off (more on that later). A horrible sight to watch your belt racing for the bottom and in the next 1/2 second realize you are being rushed to the surface.

I did what I read here: put my head towards the sand and kicked my ass off. At that point I was about 3 feet off of a line and managed to kick myself to the line and grab on - just as I got cramps in my leg. I kept chanting don't panic, think. Checked my wrist computer (so glad it wasn't a console as there was no way I was letting go to look!). 46ft. No way I was letting go! I did a little spin on the line to see where everyone else was - did they even know what was happening. I wanted to scream, but knew of course that was useless! LOL

I could see that the two rear divers R &S knew what had happened and that I made it to a line so they were headed for the belt. Then I felt a tug on my back and realized C (my buddy) pulled the dump valves on my BC (I was fully inverted at this point and no way was I dropping the line to pull any fricken valves). Did I mention I was holding on to a line. :blinking:

M, who had been in the lead, said later that when he turned around and saw the line pulled so taunt he knew something wasn't right and that the sight of me fins up was well, 'interesting".

He got to me just as R & S got to me with my belt. It seemed like forever, but I suspect it was about 90 seconds. My buddy stayed with me - the look in both our eyes was HOLY ***** but we were both fairly calm. Don't get me wrong, I was blowing through air like it was free and since the last check of my gauge just before this happened showed about 600 psi, I was more concerned about my air at that point. I also knew my buddy had slightly less then I did as we shared info at that last check. (VERY GOOD THING TO DO) The last thing I wanted was an OOA situation. But figured we had a time before that was an issue.

We managed to get the belt in my hands and since we were about 20 feet down the line from a submerged plane, that is where we headed. M grabbed my bc and I grabbed his and we headed there. Then we grabbed on (actually rammed my head between the split wing, tucked my fins under, and with them holding me down, I attempted to get my belt back on. No luck. M attempted to get my belt on. No luck. So we checked our air and decided to get to an up line and do our best at a ascent. M but the weight belt around my neck, which helped alot vs carrying the weight. C stayed with us, and R & S headed back on their own - under water! LOL M, C & I got to the surface fine, with not much of a safety stop and a long surface swim. But we did a decent ascent, so all was fine.

I was very glad none of us panicked. Equally glad I was with experienced divers. And glad my somewhat lame fins turned out to not be so lame. LOL Glad I make myself hike and workout 3 to 4 times a week so I could kick that hard and glad this incident didn't scare me out of the water for good. In fact, my first thought was, when can I get back in!!!

My analysis so far:

1. New buckle on belt. It was plastic, I stopped at the shop on the way home and bought a metal one. It was on the belt 10 minutes after I walked in the door.

2. Trimmed the strap with a U or V shape so it slides through buckle easier. For whatever reason, it would not 'feed' into the plastic buckle.

2. Have good fins. I'm going to KL next month and have decided to invest in a better pair. Any suggestions?

3. Buy ben gay. My calves are killing me today! LOL

4. Don't panic. Think. Nothing happens underwater that can't be fixed underwater. (Well, almost nothing).

5. Always follow the reserve air rules. We had turned to head back at 1000 psi. My incident happened at about 500 psi. I surfaced with just under 300. My buddy had 200 psi.

6. Thank veteran divers for helping newbies. I am so glad M, R, S, & C were with me. It was a team effort. And I know I am going to be grateful for your comments too.

Ok, let the ripping begin!

PS If C, M, R or S want to add to this, please do. I am sure there are aspects that are incomplete with all my adrenaline pumping!

 

[rongoodman]

Did the plastic buckle break, or not thread properly, or did the belt just fall off? I don't use one at all, but I hear some of the experienced divers here, such as Thalassamania, talking about more reliable designs.

 

[BettyRubble]

Did the plastic buckle break, or not thread properly, or did the belt just fall off? I don't use one at all, but I hear some of the experienced divers here, such as Thalassamania, talking about more reliable designs.

Buckle appeared fine. Nothing broke. The clip just unclipped. So the buckle was completely intact but had 'opened' and let my belt slide off.

Thal is right. It is too easy for the strap to slip from the plastic. The teeth don't grip as well as the metal designs.


Edit: I was horizontal when it fell off. But I do swim backwards sometimes (and face towards the surface) to see if those behind us are ok. So that my have played a role in why it loosened. I have hips, too much hips LOL, but I am now inclined to go with an integrated system.

 

[spectrum]

Great dive, nobody hurt, all the gear came back and you learned something!

Whats' with the belt? Did the buckle open, fail or was the belt loose while you were vertical for some reason? The new buckle and tapered tail is all good stuff. Be sure to singe the ends of the webbing to prevent fraying. Of course that won't help with a loose belt of lack of hips. If the belt went loose you need to get in the habit of snugging when you go horizontal on the water and maybe at depth too. If you don't have nice belt holding hips then get into a harness.

Being at 46 feet with 600 PSi and buddy with less was cutting it close as you noted. Good news was situational awareness of pressures prior to the incident and during the ascent where you made choices.

When you can't scuba dive, skin dive. Cramps often suggest your legs are not yet conditioned to the load of the fins and skin diving can acelerate the process with out burning bottom time. Hydration and bananas (potasium) are also good hedges.

The time to pull the back dump was while swimming down or to use another vent as soon as you knew what was happening. With lot's of support hanging on was job 1. Kudos to the buddy that recognized the baldder air.

You seemed to use a surprisingly small amount of air during the incident. Kudos on the self control.

You're doing the right stuff, getting out there and diving with others in an approriate enviornment. We'd like to think that all learning is in a controled and prescriptive manner but that's only the beginning. Keep up the good work and thanks for the report.

Pete

 

[gcbryan]

Good job! Regarding your fins ...they are probably fine. Your calves hurt for good reason and no fins are great when your weight belt falls off

Don't let the free end of your belt be so long that it can catch on something and open up. If it was loose and just slipped off then recheck at depth as suggested.

 

[gypsyjim]

You did well. You kept thinking and partially solved your problem by inverting and reaching the line. If you do have the lower dump valve it would have been helpful to use it while inverted, but you did fine.
THIS is why we have buddies, and why buddies stick together closely. It is what a buddy is for!

 

[ScubaDocER]

All things considered, I think you did alright Betty. The important thing to me in reading your post is that you survived intact and you kept your wits about you. The post dive analysis is much more enjoyable when it is not a post mortem analysis.

Having a weight belt come off is not an unusual event to have happen. I train students in a weight integrated BC and I have had 2 pockets come out of my own BC. Very annoying. An important thing to keep in mind if you choose to use a weight belt or weight integrated BC is to know what to do it you lose them. The first thing you should do is to let some air out of your BC to prevent a runaway ascent. Most jacket style BCs (and I am assuming you were using one) have at least 3 ways to vent air, some have 4. Become familiar with all of them and be prepared to release air if necessary. This would have slowed your ascent and given you more time to orient yourself in the water. Depending on your thermal protection (wetsuit vs dry suit), even letting air out may not have slowed you down enough. If you lose your weight belt in a 7 mm wetsuit you may be headed up no matter what you do. If you find yourself upside down you can always use your "butt dump" on the back of the BC on the lower right. It may slow your ascent enough to let you right yourself.

I agree on the use of a metal buckle. I have had good success when I have used the plastic ones, but the metal ones seem more secure. Was there a reason why the belt came off in the first place? Did something hit it? Do you need to change your gear configuration to make sure nothing will pop it open?

I was going to ask a question about the gas planning portion of your dive but you commented on it. I teach my students to use the rule of thirds in their gas planning as new divers. They can modify this as they become more experienced. Generally you use 1/3 of your gas to get to your destination, use 1/3 to return to your starting point (if that's the dive plan), and leave 1/3 to start your deco/safety stop or to just play around at your starting point. This also leaves you a little extra air to resolve problems that may develop. Of course you could always just ascend if you have a problem that cannot be resolved at depth, but this means you may have a long surface swim with 40+ pounds of gear on your back. Not an enviable task. Communication between buddies regarding their gas status is essential to enjoying a safe dive or to adjust the dive plan if you find you don't have the gas to complete the dive as planned. As a new diver if you are at 600 psi I would suggest you be at your safety stop. You may want to readjust your gas planning so that you have appropriate gas to complete your safety stop plus any cushion you feel comfortable with.

Once the air had been vented from your BC and assuming you are more neutral than you were before, you might have tried to put your weight belt back on. I will stipulate that if you are low on air, then this may be a moot point, especially if you need to exit the water or are low on air. If not, then putting on your weight belt may have been a viable option. This should have been taught in your OW class (I am sure it was). Having the weight belt back on restores your buoyancy in the water which should make your movement in the water easier and less stressful. I see that you tried to replace it. I teach that you replace the weight belt by placing the free end of the belt (the end without the buckle) in your right hand. While being face down, roll to your left (counter clockwise) until you are once again face down in the water. This should place the weight belt on your back or thighs. Never let go of the weight belt that is in your right hand. With your left hand, grab the buckle end of the weight belt and slide it up into place. Rebuckle the belt and it should be secure. This of course assumes you have the gas in your tank to do this.

I would not advise placing a weight belt around your neck. This could be very dangerous. The weight is not secure in this manner and could knock your reg out of your mouth, prevent you from looking up to make sure you are not going to crash into anything, or slip backwards against your tank and now you have a chunk of weight stuck in a very bad place. Either secure it, have a buddy carry it, or leave it if you are low on air and need to ascend. The safety stop during this dive was not a big deal since you were at 46 ft for 30 mins.

The most important aspect of a divers ability to be functional in the water to me is their mental approach to diving. Can they think their way out of a given situation. Did they plan for the most likely worst case scenarios. You kept your wits about you and survived the dive. No blasting from me. Seems as if the major lessons have been learned. Keep diving!!!

 

[alijtaylor]

Hi Bettyrubble

You and your buddies made a good job of a tricky situation. I have lost an integrated weight pocket on a couple of occassions - if you are going to get an integrated set up do some research on the clipping systems! Velcro by itself is not a good thing.. But one good thing about integrated weights is that if you loose something it is generally only half your weights and that is much easier to deal with.

 

[BettyRubble]

Thank you everyone. Here are some answers to the questions raised:

1. I don't believe the buckle caught on anything. But that is always a possibility. The strap wasn't overly long but with a jacket style BC, there are waist straps galore and I've always hated that my belt is in that same 'mess of straps'. I generally try to keep my hands on my console or clasped at my chest so I don't think I hit the belt - but again it is possible.

2. I was in a 7mm suit, hood, gloves, boots. I was just underweighted at the surface before the dive -- I had been working on reducing my weight from 12 lbs used during my OW cert. So I dove 10 lbs for dive 5 and the same for dive 6 when the incident happened. I'm still tweaking weight.

3. Your points on understanding your gear is critical. I've used 3 different style BC's to date, mostly because I haven't decided which to buy. But it means I don't know the setup as well. I was in a Sherwood Luna for this dive.

4. My dump inclination on a BC is still to go for the hose button so I need to train myself to also go for the dump valves (and know where they are). When my buddy pulled the valves it helped some, but I was still fully inverted - probably because of the 7 mm suit. But there was less tension on the line and I felt less like I was about to snap off of it.

5. We did attempt to get the belt back on but could not get the strap to feed through the plastic buckle. Could have been adrenaline etc, but both M and I tried and neither of us could make it work. Ironically, in pool sessions, this was the easiest skill for me. Of course, I wasn't faced with trying to keep myself under water at the same time. LOL

6. Oh, and we had dove to 60 feet during that dive. So I was very concerned about shooting to the surface having been at that depth and it being my second dive. I don't understand all the concepts of off loading and the bends well enough yet, but just instinctively knew I needed to stay down and try a reasonable accent.

7. I was blowing out the whole time I was pushing for the line and my body was trying to push to the surface. Funny what becomes instinctive. But I wanted my lungs empty in hopes it would help keep me lower (Ha Ha in a 7 mm!) and if i couldn't hang on the line at least I was blowing out as I ascended.

8. On gas planning, we were starting our swim back when this happened but agree that gas got lower then we'd planned.

Thanks again!

 

[ScubaDocER]

A 7 mm wet suit will make you incredibly buoyant. Without a counter balancing weight, you'll be like a rocket shooting to the top. This makes retaining the weight belt even more important. Seems as if you certainly made the attempt to secure it. An integrated BC may help resolve this problem. Although it is not without its own issues.

Most seasoned divers that I know and have watched in the water use their butt dump as their primary means of releasing gas out of their BC. The primary advantage of this method is that it allows you to maintain your trim (ability to remain horizontal) in the water. The preferred swimming position is to remain horizontal to reduce drag. If you need to release air, just tilt your butt up a little, give a VERY brief tug on the butt dump, then lower your butt back into a horizontal position. It's quick and very efficient (No pun intended in this description ). Lifting your butt places the air in the BC at a higher level than your shoulders. It is now highest at the butt dump. Using the inflator hose usually requires you to lift your shoulders higher that your torso which forces the gas up towards the shoulder dump. This places you more out of trim and most of the time you will start to rise in the water. Often times you'll see divers rise and sink in the water like a yo-yo with great variations in their depth every time they attempt to deflate their BC. The butt dump is much more efficient IMHO for maintaining good trim while you adjust your buoyancy and for avoiding the wild swings in depth when you do so. When you use the butt dump you will invariably let out more gas than you need, even with a slight tug on the string. That's ok. Keep your hand on your inflator button and add a few squirts of air if you feel that you're sinking and you should be neutral in the water again. Takes a little practice but I think you'll prefer it once you get the hang of it. You can change your buoyancy without making big changes in your trim.

Review your gas planning. There are several threads on SB that address this issue and its importance. Always make sure that you have enough gas to get you and potentially your dive buddy either safely to the surface (including deco stops if needed) or back to your starting point to avoid long surface swims. Remember that overexertion is a contributing factor to DCS. The more you dive the better you will be at assessing your SAC rate or being able to determine how fast you'll go through your gas under normal circumstances. Take note of how much gas you use during a dive and during your average depth and you'll start to develop an idea as to how long your gas will last you.

The concept of the bends is actually multifactorial. With regard to your dive, ascending too fast secondary to not having a counter balance could cause the nitrogen bubbles in your body to expand faster than you can exhale them. Also if you accumulate large amounts of nitrogen due to a long dive or a deep dive or repetitive dives, you may have an issue with the bends. For the dive you described, it seems as if you were within the recreational limits of a no decompression dive. The one thing that may alter that is the overexertion caused by the lost weight belt.

In either event, with the weight belt issue corrected, either with a steel buckle or with a weight integrated BC, this hopefully will be a thing of the past and you can just enjoy your diving and get ready for the next lesson .