lamont
Contributor
Other good mistakes with valve drills:
- left post off in the beginning, don't notice till you go on your backup
- forget to turn the right post on, don't notice till you go to it
- clip off the primary, fumble the unclip after shutting down the left post
- leave the left post off, don't do a flow check afterwards, then your buddy OOAs you and your necklace doesn't work
Some things to keep in mind with valve drills:
- always do them with good trim
- slow is smooth and smooth is fast
- don't do nervous kicks and try to stay in one place
- practice hovering with your doubles first and get your trim and balance sorted out
- one of your hands should always be controlling the light and everything else should be done one-handed
- you should always keep the long hose reg under control
- always keep looking ahead, not down, with your head against the manifold and good eye contact with your buddy
- when you shut down the right post your right hand should come down, grab and hold the long hose reg, help shove the backup into your mouth, and then clip off the long hose all while keeping the left hand steady
- you can try to duck your head and get the backup in your mouth with no hands at all
- when you shut down the left post, first pass the light to the right hand and keep the right hand steady. when you go to put the long hose back in your mouth you should pass the light back to the left hand.
- always do a flow check (modified valve drill) before and after a valve drill
- always do S-drills before valve drills
There are two theories on weither or not to purge regs before going to them:
- you should always purge before shutting down the other post so that you know you won't go OOA
- you should always know the position of your valves and should do flow checks before and after so that you will never go OOA (and you're never really "OOA" you just need to turn a valve on)
There are also two theories on weither or not to unclip the long hose before shutting down the left post.
- unclip first so you don't fumble it and wind up with your left post off and your long hose unreachable
- going to the clipped off long hose is more realistic (simulating that your left post has rolled off, and you've clustered your gas switch somehow) and you can always throw the left post back on if you can't get it unclipped.
- if you unclip first, you have to hold the long hose and thumb the light to keep both in control, if you unclip after shutting down you can pass the light to the left hand and then unclip the long hose with the right.
I've found that GUE instructors get major pucker factor when they watch me do a valve drill without purging regs, so I've started purging my regs. I haven't gotten any comments about not unclipping first and I like the challenge of it -- also, forgetting to unclip until the left post is off is a pretty common occurance anyway, even if its not planned on.
Also, clearly both the not-purging and not-unclipping-first options require that you be comfortable with going "oh ****, i can't reach any gas" and being able to think your way to opening a valve and fixing the problem. I've practiced shutting down my left post and purging my backup, then going to my backup and turning on the left post as practice.
- left post off in the beginning, don't notice till you go on your backup
- forget to turn the right post on, don't notice till you go to it
- clip off the primary, fumble the unclip after shutting down the left post
- leave the left post off, don't do a flow check afterwards, then your buddy OOAs you and your necklace doesn't work
Some things to keep in mind with valve drills:
- always do them with good trim
- slow is smooth and smooth is fast
- don't do nervous kicks and try to stay in one place
- practice hovering with your doubles first and get your trim and balance sorted out
- one of your hands should always be controlling the light and everything else should be done one-handed
- you should always keep the long hose reg under control
- always keep looking ahead, not down, with your head against the manifold and good eye contact with your buddy
- when you shut down the right post your right hand should come down, grab and hold the long hose reg, help shove the backup into your mouth, and then clip off the long hose all while keeping the left hand steady
- you can try to duck your head and get the backup in your mouth with no hands at all
- when you shut down the left post, first pass the light to the right hand and keep the right hand steady. when you go to put the long hose back in your mouth you should pass the light back to the left hand.
- always do a flow check (modified valve drill) before and after a valve drill
- always do S-drills before valve drills
There are two theories on weither or not to purge regs before going to them:
- you should always purge before shutting down the other post so that you know you won't go OOA
- you should always know the position of your valves and should do flow checks before and after so that you will never go OOA (and you're never really "OOA" you just need to turn a valve on)
There are also two theories on weither or not to unclip the long hose before shutting down the left post.
- unclip first so you don't fumble it and wind up with your left post off and your long hose unreachable
- going to the clipped off long hose is more realistic (simulating that your left post has rolled off, and you've clustered your gas switch somehow) and you can always throw the left post back on if you can't get it unclipped.
- if you unclip first, you have to hold the long hose and thumb the light to keep both in control, if you unclip after shutting down you can pass the light to the left hand and then unclip the long hose with the right.
I've found that GUE instructors get major pucker factor when they watch me do a valve drill without purging regs, so I've started purging my regs. I haven't gotten any comments about not unclipping first and I like the challenge of it -- also, forgetting to unclip until the left post is off is a pretty common occurance anyway, even if its not planned on.
Also, clearly both the not-purging and not-unclipping-first options require that you be comfortable with going "oh ****, i can't reach any gas" and being able to think your way to opening a valve and fixing the problem. I've practiced shutting down my left post and purging my backup, then going to my backup and turning on the left post as practice.
