Tried to Kill Myself but Failed!

[MB NZ]

I would think that having a slung pony would be more hazardous that what it’s worth when combining hunting, especially lings that can get pretty feisty when speared.

As much as I try to avoid "discussions" about kit configuration on dive forums, thought I would comment. Technical and cave divers do all sorts of complicated dives involving entanglement hazards. They do just fine with multiple side slung cylinders. I'm a keen underwater hunter and don't have a problem either, although admittedly I don't spearfish on SCUBA, I'm mainly lobster and shellfish harvesting. Just my opinion.

 

[lermontov]

and have done this dive many times with no issues

I was in a rush to splash

Don’t be lazy about checking gauges

My wife snapped the pic below right before I donned my hood, mask, gloves, fins, speargun & stringer prior to back-roll entry over the side.

this a classic pattern as described in the human diver material-each event seems so incredibly innocuous until you write it down and see how this small things start to coalesce and create an issue.
I included the pic issue as an interruption to your thought pattern / routine

what changes have you made since?

Glad you reacted the way you did - a less experienced diver may not have fared as well

 

[Lisel27]

Thanks for sharing! I think about this type of thing all the time, especially with having different buddies.

 

[Jersey1971]

Let me just add that I fervently hope that when my 68th birthday rolls around I’ll be active and fit enough to do that type of dive. I wish you many more birthday dives.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Well, I have read the first three pages of this thread, and I have a few observations.

First, for NW Dive Dog, you were never out-of-air (OOA). You only thought you were, and figured out what was going on, switched regulators, and decided to bag the dive.

Second, you had two alternat air supplies, the pony (which you used up) and the AIR. The AIR2 allowed you to sort things out, and apparently several others use the AIR2 also. This should be recognized as a “save” for the AIR2.

Third, I would not have bagged the dive because of this. You were at a max of 80 feet, had a full tank, SPG, etc., and that’s all I usually carry on a dive. Realize that at 80 feet, you are well within the depth where a CESA is not only possible, but rather easy to do.

Now, Bill Herder of Deep Sea Bill’s in the 1970s (Newport, Oregon) called what today’s divers consider normal diving “Push Button Diving.” By that, he meant “equipment-dependent diving.” The diving world now considers having a pony bottle a “necessary” piece of equipment for solo diving. I have never used a pony bottle, and I have been solo diving since 1959. There are two problems with this extra safety gear:

—They provide extra equipment, but also extra decisions, to be made when diving. This includes which second stage to use when entering the water. Because I do a lot of vintage diving, I don’t have much problem with which mouthpiece to use, as my primary is usually a double hose regulator mouthpiece, which is different from my safe second (which I do usually have). My Trieste II regulator has a VDH Dive/Surface Valve mouthpiece, which differentiates it from my safe second, which is a MR-12.

—NW Dive Dog, your situation reminds me of a situation that occurred when I was going through the U.S. Army Jump School at what was Ft. Benning (now Ft. Moore) in 1967. One of the student jumpers, on one of his first jumps, had a line-over canopy (a suspension line over the canopy, cutting it in two and making his descent faster). He deployed his reserve, but was not descending fast enough for it to inflate. The reserve’s canopy surrounded him, and he could not get it loose or see anything. In the meantime, his line-over situation resolved when the line rolled off the canopy, so he had a full canopy, but did not know it. He continued to fight his reserve, and did not prepare for his landing. His landing was what we later called a PFL (Poor Fouled-up Landing), in that he landed on his heels and went directly to a head plant, which broke his skull and killed him. I say this because too many people, in my opinion, are panicking when they perceive being out-of-air. It is this panic that causes the problem, as in almost all situations there are ways out of it. So I think your title here, “Tried To Kill Myself, but Failed,” is a bit of hyperbole, or if actually felt, contributes to the thought that running out of air is it immediately life-threatening. That perception is what leads to panic, and can contribute to a fatal outcome.

My only other thought is, when did divers start calling a neck strap for a second stage a “neckless”?

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Me too... for hunting and videography especially.... I just prefer the backmount. I won't be changing that.

My valves being open was not the issue... but on this subject, I personally believe that the "1/4 turn back" rule is ridiculously stupid. I keep my valves either all the way on or all the way off.

A combo of pure luck........ and desperation. I was rapidly approaching the ESA decision and I've always kept it in the back of my mind that during an ESA I could possibly have the option of holding the dump valve and "rebreathing" through my BC inflator if the breath reflex overwhelmed me on the ascent. Once I had the inflator / Air 2 mouthpiece in my mug.... my instinct was to inhale and the glorious LP air was there. Best air I've ever tasted for sure!

Anyway.... thanks for all the comments and even for the constructive criticism. The more I think about this the more that I'm actually glad it happened because I know it will NEVER happen again to me and I hope that the discussion might help it from ever happening to someone else..

Just so you’ll know, in a CESA there is no urge to breathe as the air is expanding in your lungs, and you need to exhale the excess as you ascend. The AIR2 is a great option, by the way.

SeaRat

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

So I’ve been on the fence on whether or not to post this……because it’s really hard to openly and publicly admit when you do something totally stupid. But then I thought more about it last night and figure that if it might provide some productive and positive food for thought and discussion…..or maybe help someone else from making the same mistake….that I really do need to talk about it.

Day before yesterday we are out on our boat and I’m doing a nice easy dive to celebrate my 68th B-day and get us a nice Lingcod for my B-day dinner. (it's a tradition thing) I’m a solo diver (certified SDI/TDS) and have done this dive many times with no issues. Nice easy exchange with little current, descent vis of about 10 ft.. I dive an HP102 Steel with a back-mount 19cf pony and a Zeagle Ranger BC.

My wife snapped the pic below right before I donned my hood, mask, gloves, fins, speargun & stringer prior to back-roll entry over the side. In looking at the pic I have realized my mistake and what happened. The “yellow” circle is my primary Apeks 2nd stage. My pony second is kinda hidden just below and behind my right hand. The “green” circle is the clip that I normally route my pony hose through so that the pony 2nd is basically is right in front of me, always there and easily accessible. Once I finished kitting up with all my crap for the dive, I was in a rush to splash and inadvertently must have grabbed my pony 2nd rather than my primary, inserted the pony 2nd into my cake-hole, took a couple of hooves, then back-rolled into the Sound. All seemed good so I gave my wife the OK, swam forward, descended the anchor line to about 60ft and began my hunt.

About 10 minutes into the dive and after bagging and stringing a nice dinner Ling, I noticed my reg getting a bit stiff to breath….then the next breath where there was NO gas. I immediately went for my pony 2nd, but it wasn’t there in it’s normal spot because it was already in my mouth and not in it’s normal clip. My brain is spinning and totally telling me that my main gas supply is depleted for some reason and I NEED my pony 2nd. I have a moment of what I would call “high anxiety” and possibly first stage panic. My brain is saying WTF??? ESA??? so I go to my BC / Air 2 thinking that I can “re-breath” on the way to the surface if needed. The Air 2 immediately delivers blessed gas from my still full primary tank and I am some how able to calm down, settle to the bottom, re-group and access the situation.

I check my pony SPG and it’s zeroed out so I start to realize my mistake. I sweep and recover my primary 2nd, switch to that from my Air 2….and all is good. I check my primary computer and realize that I still have 3350psi of a 3500psi fill. The picture of what happened starts to clarify in my mind and I bet I spent a good full minute or two on my knees just breathing and slowing down my heart rate as I stare at my primary AI computer and see that I have LOTS of primary gas available and all is well.

Being solo and with my redundant gas now gone, I call my dive and nav back to the anchor line and my marker strobe…….make a nice slow ascent with SS and surface with plenty of primary gas remaining. Had a great Lingcod dinner and glad that I get to be a year older…

Anyway….. it’s not easy to post this because I’m totally embarrassed that I made such a stupid flipp’n mistake…. But hoping that we might be able to have some productive conversation about it.

My “personal” lessons learned.

• Confirm, crosscheck, double check and triple check all configurations and functions before splashing.
• Confirm, crosscheck, double check and triple check all configurations after splashing.
• Don’t be lazy about checking gauges early and often. If I had checked my primary gas PSI earlier I would have realized that I wasn’t using my primary gas.

That’s it. Sorry about the long post and thanks for listening….

Have you ever thought of slinging your pony? No mistaking the wrong stage 2, when the pony one is tucked into the tank bands. ( I sling my 30cu )

 

[SlugLife]

Have you ever thought of slinging your pony? No mistaking the wrong stage 2, when the pony one is tucked into the tank bands. ( I sling my 30cu )

I used to clip the pony-reg to my chest d-ring (like sidemount), but more recently stopped doing that and left it under the bungies. In short, I've found it really fast/easy/reliable to retrieve and stow from the bungies, and I usually check once per dive including taking a couple practice breaths.

I would generally recommend people practice and try it out, because even if it's easy for me, my setup may not be identical or I may have habits you don't.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I used to clip the pony-reg to my chest d-ring (like sidemount), but more recently stopped doing that and left it under the bungies. In short, I've found it really fast/easy/reliable to retrieve and stow from the bungies, and I usually check once per dive including taking a couple practice breaths.

I would generally recommend people practice and try it out, because even if it's easy for me, my setup may not be identical or I may have habits you don't.

I also sling my pony diagonally across my chest.

 

[Tigerpaw]

Thanks for sharing, we ALL learn from mistakes and as someone who often solo dives I have learned from your experience. I'm glad you decided to share and more importantly, I'm glad you made it back!!!