The kid's dad shared air with him but it didn't prolong the dive much.
Thoughts after my first time with Aldora
- Thread starter lowwall
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The kid's dad shared air with him but it didn't prolong the dive much.
There's sometimes a real world difference between what one is supposed to be able to handle and what one can actually handle. I guess you're talking about the DM yanking away the octo he was sharing to bolt towards a diver having a true emergency. Chances are, the Low on Air diver the DM was sharing with is new or inexperienced which is likely why they were low on air so fast. What if he has a grip on the octo that he is sharing and is able to keep or delay the DM from taking it back?
The thinking is that the DM sharing air as a convenience could delay or prevent him from dealing with a true emergency or to observe the group as well as he otherwise could have.
The whole idea of planned air share is to do it long before its needed and at a time during the dive when it’s easiest - you’ll see some DM’s with 5 or 7’ hose and they talk about it before they get in the water.
Other situations are just normal oh **** moments......
Other situations are just normal oh **** moments......
That changes the equation. If they start sharing earlier when the air hog has 1500 and it has been discussed, I see no big issues. I was talking about the case that I often see where a diver is down to 1000 or less when everyone else is about 1800, the DM didn't realize he had such an air hog in the group and realizes the others will be very disappointed, so impromptu shares air with him.
Totally understandable, a new to a DM customer, you have no idea who is what.
I was taught to ask air left at some set point in the dive, that’ll vary with who the divers are and tank size - early enough so you might see an air hog early so you have a better control of the sharing situation.
Also, diving with same folks over and over again, I’ve seen many dives with no air check or the known low person is checked. It’s a know who you’re with thing - unknowns need known early for everyone’s benefit. Anytime you take a regulator out of someone’s mouth, you really need to be at heightened awareness.
Did you ask to go to specific sites? They will usually take you where you want to go if the divers you are with are up for it and can handle the site. But dang, diving with dolphins up close is a once in a lifetime experience, if you're lucky. I had to go all the way to Socorro to do that.
deepsea21
Contributor
I'm sorry, maybe I'm just old school but the concept of sharing air with anyone who is not experiencing an emergency is beyond me. If someone is an air hog, that is not the DM's problem or the dive group's problem. That individual and their buddy need to surface when the time comes and get back on the boat. For a DM to put a bandage on that situation by sharing air is not going to help that diver become a better diver. That diver needs advice/instruction so he/she understands they don't need to breathe as much as they think they do and are accustomed to on the surface. Air on the surface is free but gas in tanks and bottom time costs $. When a dive op and its DM's venture into that sharing air realm because their op requires everyone to surface at the same time? Well that is the first domino to fall. We have a DM that is expending air for a diver who should have surfaced with their buddy and let the group continue their dive but that DM is going to use his air to extend the groups dive time because, of course, they all must surface together in perhaps the most heavily dived stretch of water in the world where one can't throw a rock without hitting a dive boat. The only thing that keeps a diver and the dive group alive is the gas in their tanks. For a DM to share and burn up his gas on an Air Hog is just wrong on so many levels. What if a diver in the group were to get entangled in something? A random fishing net or anything that could show up? There are only so many tanks on the boat and usually there are just enough for the dive group plus maybe a tank or 2 left by the 2nd dive. Now we have a situation that requires all divers in the group to assist but most will freak out and surface and we are left with a DM who is running low because he nursed an air hog and has to deal a situation with a tank that is 500? 750? PSI lower than it would have been had he not nursed the hog. Nah, I won't dive with an op that plays the gas sharing game.
fishi
Contributor
The last time I dove with Aldora we did Maracaibo For dive 1, and Palancar Caves for the second dive. At Maracaibo we were the only boat down there that morning. Very few boats on Palancar for dive 2.
the idea that “they all must surface together in perhaps the most heavily dived stretch of water in the world where one can't throw a rock without hitting adive boat.” Doesn’t apply to my experience with Aldora. One of the reasons I like diving with them is to get away from all the boats, and not dive in the most heavily dived stretch of water in the world.
the idea that “they all must surface together in perhaps the most heavily dived stretch of water in the world where one can't throw a rock without hitting adive boat.” Doesn’t apply to my experience with Aldora. One of the reasons I like diving with them is to get away from all the boats, and not dive in the most heavily dived stretch of water in the world.
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