Thoughts about air-share drills

[TSandM]

What's the most critical assistance a buddy can render you underwater?

A recent diver death here got me thinking. The accident involved an OOA situation and an air-sharing ascent that went wrong. After reading about it, I was really glad that my training has made me practice those things until I've gotten reasonably good at them. And then I remembered something Thalassamania wrote in my thread about pre-dive routines, that any dive he did with a new buddy would involve at least a brief air-share practice.

GUE starts all their training dives with a valve drill and an air-share drill, and I always thought it was because they felt these skills were things we should practice often, and putting them at the beginning of every dive ensured we did that. But I think there is more to it than that. Doing an air-share at the beginning of the dive reassures you that your buddy 1) will recognize your signals; 2) will QUICKLY provide you with a working regulator, and 3) has the buoyancy control to do all of that and manage an exit that won't put either of you at increased risk.

Of the people with whom I regularly dive, most I already KNOW are quite capable of all those things. Of the two about whom I don't know this, one I'm pretty sure isn't able to do it yet (novice diver). I keep those dives shallow, and I thought that was to protect my buddy, but in fact, it may also have been protecting me. The other diver is just an unknown, and I'm going to remedy that tomorrow.

Just a thought, especially for people who dive a lot with new buddies. A quick air-share practice at the beginning of the dive could be the information you need to decide how much of a dive you are willing to do with that person.

 

[Cacia]

Sharing air can be done on safety stops and made a fun regular way to practice. I was doing it all along, I just did not know to call it a drill. Now, I know my freestyle way is not DIR, but JB and I have shared a lot of air, always with 800 psi "in the bank".

I even think drifting and manuevering adds to your ability. (pictures, timing, surfacing together with same air left) I don't like all my buddies to suck on my primary though. people who dip or have dental issues...Anyway...lots of TB pos folks in the South Pacific (me included, BTW). I realize I am probably not contagious, but people buying into resucitation mask concept should realize the body fluid issues here...right? or am I all wet?

I agree with you and practice this often with a regular partner.

I prefer not to do it with randoms I pick up on the boat.

 

[TSandM]

Copious amounts of salt water are a pretty good decontamination . . . Anybody who is actively shedding red snappers probably isn't diving.

 

[GDI]

If you are diving with a buddy for the very frst time then I would make certain they know and you know how each other shares air (technique) This could be discussed on the surface and then practised before you commit yourself to the dive and may find out that you may need the air from another diver should the situation actucally occur. You could also practice this at the safety stops

 

[Diver Dennis]

Just a thought, especially for people who dive a lot with new buddies. A quick air-share practice at the beginning of the dive could be the information you need to decide how much of a dive you are willing to do with that person.

It's a good idea to have a quick air share practice at the beginning of the dive but there are other things like buoyancy and how nervous they are on the boat that are more important to me.

 

[Ben_ca]

A quick air-share practice at the beginning of the dive could be the information you need to decide how much of a dive you are willing to do with that person.

Bingo!

Think of it as a quick checkout....

 

[TSandM]

I think buoyancy is important, but you are going to find out if it comes apart under stress if you do an air-share drill.

 

[Scububbs]

Just so we're all on the same page, are we talking about an OOA drill where the octo is donated, or where both divers share the same primary reg?
My wife and I were never trained on the reg share technique, although I'm inclined to think it's a good idea, just so we'd be prepared for a worst case scenerio. And, as I'm about to start my divemaster course I understand I'll be learning that skill anyway.
At the beginning of the dive makes sense to me, although it would be a good use of a few minutes spent on the safety stop also.

 

[SparticleBrane]

Breathing from a 5' or 7' primary hose that is wrapped around your neck and having your backup regulator dangling from a bungie cord, also around your neck.
This is donating the primary (ie the one in your mouth) to the OOA diver and you breathing off of the one hanging around your neck in the bungie necklace.

 

[mislav]

I dive with a regular buddy, but if I was to have a new one, I'd sure want to check his/hers understanding of not only the air share drill, but also of hand signals in general. We don't have to do the full drills, what would suffice is if we were to go through it in a conversation. I think I'd quickly get an idea of who I'm dealing with.