Water in regulator at depth causing panic

[berndo]

I think about heading to the surface, even taking a kick or two. It dawns on me quickly that I won’t make it and/or a rapid ascent will probably kill me.

After a few minutes a at 60' it's extremely unlikely that a rapid ascent kills you or even hurts you unless you hold your breath.
You shouldn't do it but it's an option, the least desirable one, but an option.

After 2 years without diving at your experience level I would always recommend to repeat some skills just see if you're still familiar with everything. At least the basics. Mask removal, air share, switching regs. Some shops offer short check dives or updates. Those are not a money grab, they really make sense.

Diving in a group is fine but make sure you have an actual buddy and both of you know that you're buddies.

I can't think of any repair the guides could have done near the gauge that would fix getting a water into the 2nd stage. Must have been the exhaust valve.

 

[BoltSnap]

Most advice above is excellent and adds to your experience a great deal. One other bit of advice is getting your own equipment starting with your regulator system. The majority of rental equipment in dive destinations is low grade and lacking in maintenance as is very clear with the rental equipment you had in this dive. Consequences could have been worse, much worse.

Invest in your own kit, maintain it and dive it a lot You don't have to get the top of the line model, a middle of the road kit will do just fine.

I wish you lots of safe awesome diving with great vis and fantastic marine life in calm seas!

 

[kissonerga.ccr]

I practice removing and replacing my primary or switching between primary and octo on nearly every dive. It's really a non-event if you've done it enough.

Switching between different second stages is a pretty fundamental part of tec skills. In fact, the training is very much focused on NOT grabbing a second stage before verifying it’s safe to breathe, but the switch itself is indeed a non-event.

However, at the recreational level, I wonder if the diving masses shouldn’t be better served if the agencies taught, as part of OW skill set, to switch to one’s own octo, to deal with the kind of problems the OP encountered. Take the whole exercise with recovery of ‘lost’ primary second stage – wouldn’t a better initial response be to go for your own octo, and then start fishing for the primary? It’s right there, in a known place secured to your bcd (and not hanging loose or dragging through the weeds, right?), it’s yellow so easy to locate, no? In real world, if your primary is torn from your mouth by fast current, or buddy’s kick, or mermaid going for a kiss, a better instinctive response would be to go for the octo, imho – but it needs to be drilled to become that.

Just a thought. Or maybe I’m behind the curve, and that‘s how it is taught now…

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

One other bit of advice is getting your own equipment starting with your regulator system. The majority of rental equipment in dive destinations is low grade and lacking in maintenance as is very clear with the rental equipment you had in this dive.

^ ^ ^ THIS ^ ^ ^

One problem on one dive? Chance. A second unrelated problem on a second dive? They ripped you off if they charged rental (and put you at unnecessary risk). Two unrelated failures on one trip with the same reg set? Or failure of two sets from the the same operator? In my mind, that's an indication that they don't maintain their rental equipment well.

 

[PeskyMonkey]

Thanks so much for sharing this! I find that many people in the diving community are hesitant to share their negative experiences, especially ones that they THINK will make them look bad. Everything you experienced was basic human behavior, and you responded appropriately!

One note I would add: When having a problem with your primary reg, your immediate instinct should be to switch to your backup. If it is not, to me, that means you may not be practicing your drills enough. Me and my wife do at least 1 S drill every dive, and we always end our dives doing an OOA simulation. I once had a similar issue to you in a quarry in PA (reg started breathing wet) but I simply turned to my wife and before I could even signal anything, her reg was out of her mouth and in my face. You can never practice too much!

 

[FishWatcher747]

There is signal and noise in life and on SB. This original post and the helpful responses that followed it are an example of the signal.

 

[SysGreg]

Had similar experience some time ago in Egypt, doing a jump into water with sidemount. With the first breath water came in. I touched my reg and it was not there. I just had the mouthpiece in place while reg flown away, even if it was hanging around my necck with bungee before.

I believe in such situations training habits and instincts just called for grabbing the second reg clipped at my d-ring. Later I found the tiewrap of the mouthpiece beeing damaged. I always encourage people diving with non-tech rig to have the pieces of equipment always stowed in the same position, dive after dive, in order not to look for it frantically when abnormal situation occurs. That allows your muscle memory to find, second reg, flashlight or knife without looking. for it.

With some experience you develop a breathing technique that starts with shallow intake of gas at the beginning and when no water sensed you inhale fully.

The most important all went well, and the case adds to your experience and get yiu second thoughts.

 

[berndo]

... wouldn’t a better initial response be to go for your own octo, and then start fishing for the primary?

You don't really have to start fishing. It's super easy to get the primary back... it's right next to your arm.

Had similar experience some time ago in Egypt, doing a jump into water with sidemount. With the first breath water came in. I touched my reg and it was not there.

Don't you put one hand over your mask and reg when you jump into the water?

 

[DiveProKoko]

Since the problem fixed itself, it was most likely the exhaust diaphragm folded over. Some regs are more prone to it than others.

This ......and these things happen occasionally, which is why we train.

 

[DiveProKoko]

After 2 years without diving at your experience level I would always recommend to repeat some skills just see if you're still familiar with everything. At least the basics. Mask removal, air share, switching regs. Some shops offer short check dives or updates. Those are not a money grab, they really make sense.

Most dive ops require a refresher course or dive if you haven't been diving for more than a year. You're right, it's not a money grab. It's to make sure you are ready to dive, can fix your own emergencies and be a reliable buddy. I do refreshers/updates for our shop. It's mostly for people getting ready to go on a trip...and it's very interesting to see the varying skill levels of people who have been out of the water for awhile.