What Are Your "Pro-Tips" for Safety, Redundancy, and Accident Handling

[SlugLife]

I see your point here but that is what we have +/- 5 for when we plan. If you are doing a 30ft dive and planning 60, I see how you are incorporating safety but it isn't really planning the dive and diving the plan. I am guessing it works well for you on recreational dives but it isn't advice I would give anyone, at least for me it isn't. To be clear, it doesn't mean you are wrong, but just that we have different opinions on dive planning and that is ok.

Fair point, I updated my post to reflect recreational diving.

With technical/cave/etc, you should be trained to create a more detailed plan, and of course following that plan. edit: And "over-planning" could be an obstacle, because now you have extra gear to fit through restrictions, slows you down, etc.

 

[VikingDives]

Of all the skills you learn in open water, the "life-saving" skills are the least likely to be practiced. They are all easily practiced at a safety stop, or on the way to the safety stop, or during the dive. Of those, I'd include:

1. Regulator Removal & Recovery
2. Mask Removal & Replacement
3. OOG/Out of air drill/S-drill
4. CESA
5. Breathing from a free-flowing regulator
6. Oral Inflation

As for the practice, I'd recommend letting folks know you'll be practicing #3, and perhaps #5. A slow CESA at the end of the dive probably won't kill you either...

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Of all the skills you learn in open water, the "life-saving" skills are the least likely to be practiced. They are all easily practiced at a safety stop, or on the way to the safety stop, or during the dive. Of those, I'd include:

1. Regulator Removal & Recovery
2. Mask Removal & Replacement
3. OOG/Out of air drill/S-drill
4. CESA
5. Breathing from a free-flowing regulator
6. Oral Inflation

As for the practice, I'd recommend letting folks know you'll be practicing #3, and perhaps #5. A slow CESA at the end of the dive probably won't kill you either...

I am not sure reg recovery is a skill that needs practiced for " Safety, Redundancy and Accident Planning" per the title but I see how you got there.

#3 is something that should be trained OFTEN! Many divers never do it again after their OWC. I teach my students to do it at least once on every dive if possible or at least every other dive to keep the muscle memory.

As for #4, I don't believe a CESA should ever be needed. With proper buddy protocols and gas management, there is zero reason to do a CESA. I would also never recommend a diver to do one just to practice. My divers learn what distance is appropriate for buddy separation and what is not. They also are taught why positioning is important (they often like to dive behind the more experienced diver). That plus a proper gas management plan that includes planning the dive based on a current SAC rate/RMV , checking current dive time prior to checking the SPG and then making an educated guess of how much gas has been used or is remaining based on that info.

 

[VikingDives]

I am not sure reg recovery is a skill that needs practiced for " Safety, Redundancy and Accident Planning" per the title but I see how you got there.

#3 is something that should be trained OFTEN! Many divers never do it again after their OWC. I teach my students to do it at least once on every dive if possible or at least every other dive to keep the muscle memory.

As for #4, I don't believe a CESA should ever be needed. With proper buddy protocols and gas management, there is zero reason to do a CESA. I would also never recommend a diver to do one just to practice. My divers learn what distance is appropriate for buddy separation and what is not. They also are taught why positioning is important (they often like to dive behind the more experienced diver). That plus a proper gas management plan that includes planning the dive based on a current SAC rate/RMV , checking current dive time prior to checking the SPG and then making an educated guess of how much gas has been used or is remaining based on that info.

I can't argue with you... If someone's diligent enough to practice anything, I'd say they are probably diligent enough not to ever have to do a CESA.

On the other hand, I've done a CESA once (someone shut off my gas on the surface after I'd checked it), and a reg. recovery once after a freshly certified diver with a Go Pro managed to flail his way next to me and rip my reg out of my mouth.

As for #3, I do the same. I have never had a student run OOG either in class, or after training, but I really stress gas management. I tell them my expectation is that they will never run out of gas and that they have to mail their certifications back to the shop if they do.

I also tell them that they can expect that the average diver isn't as well trained as they are, so they may end up donating at some point.

When I did cave training, I had an absolute blast doing things like zero-viz exits, working on entanglements, and sidemount mask switches. I don't think there's anything more enjoyable than feeling like you're able to handle problems underwater...

 

[MidOH]

Amateur, duh:

But do a CESA. We didn't do a CESA during training. They just explained it and put it on the written test. Too many people blew their guts out, I guess. So try one yourself, it's easy. No worries about running out of air on an open water dive. Just go up.

Buddies are useless. Look at the accidents forum. Buddy system fails again, and again, and again. I routinely disappear in my instabuddies bubbles, none have ever looked around and checked my location in less than 10min. None. Especially experienced buddies, too busy concentrating on their damn frog leg kicks.

Read up on accidents in your AO. In mine, the common denominators are:
Old people
Frozen reg free flows
"Hey, where'd dad go?"
Air embolism, likely held their breath on a CESA, after the free flow.
Home made rebreathers.

A free flow shouldn't kill anyone. Bring an extra tank and know how to do a CESA right, and most of the accidents around here are practically eliminated.

 

[SlugLife]

I agree that practice finding your regulator absolutely is applicable to this thread, a safety thing, and something people should do. About 1.5 years ago, I had an issue where one of my 2nd stages came partially unscrewed, and I couldn't find my octo in the bubbles. That said, my solution is NOT the classic regulator recovery, but rather proper use of retainers, clips, necklaces, etc. The main idea is I should be able to quickly an easily find both regulators by feel alone. I'll have to do a more detailed writeup on that later, when I'm back at my computer.

 

[rx7diver]

... That said, my solution is NOT the classic regulator recovery, but rather proper use of retainers, clips, necklaces, etc. ...

Hmmm. A simple (simpler?) approach, since your reg is always attached to your cylinder, is to reach and locate your cylinder valve by touch, "find" your 1st stage and then your regulator hose by touch, "capture" the hose between your thumb and forefinger, and straighten your arm to "find" your "lost" second stage in your hand, at the end of your regulator hose.

This approach was emphasized in my open water class (NAUI/YMCA univ course in 1986). This approach was emphasized in my daughter's univ course last spring.

This approach "always" works--even if clips, retainers, etc., should break or come lose, even if your second stage should get hung up somewhere in your gear, even if you are getting tossed around in the surf.

Alternately, divers who dive with an AIR 2 (or similar) always know where their "safe second" is.

rx7diver

 

[napDiver]

Transfill: If you want to save money on fills and avoid VIP costs, just get a transfill-whip. It'll save you money in the long-run. (I'll probably post my $40 transfill whip advice in another comment)

What's the pros/cons? I mainly use steels and I believe VIP is useless unless I think I got water in the tanks. However, what if the tanks are out of hydro. Using a whip also won't get you much more than half a fill?

 

[Boarderguy]

What's the pros/cons? I mainly use steels and I believe VIP is useless unless I think I got water in the tanks. However, what if the tanks are out of hydro. Using a whip also won't get you much more than half a fill?

A pony doesn't often go below 2500 psi. If you take a standard 3442 steel 100 and transfill your pony to bring it up to 3k again you'll drop to maybe 3200/3300 psi on your 100 and you'll still have plenty of air. If you have a good fill in the 100 (~3800) then you'll drop to maybe 3500/3600. Filing a pony from empty you drop a bit more but you can just do a partial fill from a few different tanks until you get it to 3k.

 

[SlugLife]

What's the pros/cons? I mainly use steels and I believe VIP is useless unless I think I got water in the tanks. However, what if the tanks are out of hydro. Using a whip also won't get you much more than half a fill?

Quickly filling an empty AL19 from a AL80 should get you up to about 2500 psi (roughly). Doing that again on another fresh tank will make it relatively "full." Doing the same with a HP steel should match Boarderguy's post.

I usually don't worry much about it having to be completely full, unless I'm planning on going to greater depths. I rarely use my pony more than a few breaths each dive for practice purposes, so once it's "full" then topping it up uses hardly any air from the main tank.