Switching D/S and Wing Inflator Posts

[Flightlead]

I think the argument for the status quo has to do with breathing from the right post. Ostensibly, that post is more likely to freeflow, so in that case, you would shut it down. If you have the DS on the left post, you still have DS inflation and the mobility and buoyancy that comes with it. If you have the DS on the right post, this would put you in the same situation you are trying to avoid by swapping hoses.

Which would you consider more likely- freeflowing the right post or not noticing the drysuit squeeze?

why is the right post more likely to free flow? is it simply because that is the one you are breathing, and in cold water that regulator is chilled more than left due to the higher flow?

 

[Flightlead]

Unreal, yet oh-so-typical.

How to prevent roll-offs causing a problem?

Check when you bump.

Problem solved.

Anything else is Sparticle's comment................solutions looking for a non-existent problem.

If that really is NTEC thinking, W*T*F* happened to them all of a sudden?

ah, it is probably my lack of a grip on the entire argument and my inability to communicate it rather than a lack of thinking on NAUI's part.

 

[rjack321]

There's very little gas flowing through the left reg. None if you are using an argon bottle and breathing the right reg. I don't understand how the guy in Ontario last year had a left post freeflow simultaneously with everythings else, although I may have the timeline wrong.

Sometimes we over agonize these simple configuration things at the expense of real diving. Although what else can I think about "at work"?

 

[texdiveguy]

Sometimes we over agonize these simple configuration things at the expense of real diving. Although what else can I think about "at work"?

Get back to WORK!!!

 

[do it easy]

why is the right post more likely to free flow? is it simply because that is the one you are breathing, and in cold water that regulator is chilled more than left due to the higher flow?

Yes, I think that is the argument, along with the point that rjack brought up.

 

[amascuba]

kinda hard to breath off your drysuit.

1. Spit Reg out of mouth
2. Lower chin to neck seal
3. Burp neck seal and inhale through mouth
4. Pray that you don't choke on the water

Also, If you expel bodily gas through your drysuit then your breathable gas has been contaminated.

 

[chickdiver]

I would like to start a conversation about the pros and cons of switching which post ones dry suit and wing inflator hose is connected to, from the "standard" technical standard of right post for wing and left post for dry suit to putting the wing on the left post and the dry suit on the right post. NAUI is apparently changing their NTEC (NAUI Technical Equipment Configuration) to reflect this change soon.

Per whom?

The most significant argument for this change I heard (or understood at my level) is that in the event of a roll off (left post) you would be in better shape loosing your wing inflation than your dry suit inflation. The argument went thusly:

In order to have a roll off you are in an overhead environment, such as a cave, and have contact with the ceiling. The most likely way to have this contact is when entering a descending section of cave/wreck from either a horizontal or ascending section (eg when swimming over a hump or restriction then heading down hill) and bumping the ceiling as it slopes down towards you. In this case you are descending in a head down position. As you descend, as we all know, you get increasingly negative and accelerate downwards unless air is added to one of your two (usually both) buoyancy control mechanisms: dry suit and wing. If one was to loose the wing, buoyancy could be controlled by adding air to the dry suit. However if dry suit inflation capability is lost, one might become so pinched in the descent as to restrict or prevent movement and therefore be unable to inflate the wing or perform any other activity.

Well, let's see- the last place I want to go adding gas in this scenario is my drysuit- why? Because you are already slightly (or more if entering a wreck hold) inverted, ergo the gas goes right to your feet... In fact, I can't think of any scenario where adding large volumes of gas to the drysuit to stop a rapid descent would be preferable to doing the same with the wing. Drysuit squeeze is bad argument for this reasoning. I have experience drysuit squeeze to the extent that I had broken skin and serious bruising- while wearing a 400G undergarment- guess what- I could still move well enough to manipulate valves. Bad reasoning.

Personally, I agree with Sparticle, this is a solution in search of a problem. I can't imagine that anyone who has really thought this through thinks it has real merit.

 

[amascuba]

I've actually seen somebody roll off their left post on an ascent line.

 

[limeyx]

Although what else can I think about "at work"?

What caves we are going to dive in feb.
what dives we are going to do in Jan
How poor both of us are going to be ?

 

[TSandM]

Chickdiver, I'm glad to hear a NAUI instructor weigh in that they are unaware of this pending change. (I was going to write and ask Andrew if he'd heard anything about it.) It sounds like a minor thing, but it's not.