What to do in the event that...

[MXGratefulDiver]

But this wasn't about wreck diving. The OP is brand-new with somewhere between 0 and 24 dives, which means that he's probably still trying to figure out his buoyancy control and worrying out slowing everybody else down while assembling his gear on the boat.

Assuming he had an OW class that actually taught all the required basic skills, he's already got everything he needs and adding alternate procedures and skills makes diving more risky by adding confusion and unnecessary decisions.

The free-flow thing is a great example.

It's entirely possible that a diver with a free-flow can turn his air off, share with a buddy, thaw out his first stage, then continue on with the dive.

It's also entirely possible that he'll lose buoyancy control, panic and bolt for the surface only to find that his power inflater doesn't work, and drown.

If he follows his OW training, he'll do a normal ascent with his buddy, establish positive buoyancy on the surface and end the dive.

For a new diver there is no advantage to having multiple options where the potential up-side is limited and the potential down-side is fatal in cases where there is a reliable, known-good method that's already been taught.

When someone posts a thread, the information offered isn't just for that person ... it's for everyone reading the thread. Those people come from a wide variety of backgrounds and environments.

One of the huge benefits of allowing a discussion to take place is to realize how different people's solutions are to a given situation ... and to discuss why that is. No matter how experienced you may be, you will often learn something by listening and sharing those differences ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Reef_Haven]

For a new diver there is no advantage to having multiple options where the potential up-side is limited and the potential down-side is fatal in cases where there is a reliable, known-good method that's already been taught.

I disagree,
A newer diver asking questions, what are my options? where do I go from here?
What skills can I practice now, that may come in handy someday?
Seems perfectly appropriate to me.

This is a typical Scubaboard thread, 80% discussing the merit of the thread and only a few actual responses to the topic.

I don't recommend this, but I'll throw it out there.
If faced with going out of air because of free flow you can actually bend the hose in half and stop the flow, while breathing from your alternate.
Better to replace a hose than go OOA or risk an embolism.

 

[TMHeimer]

I guess I'm assuming the new diver will follow her OW training when faced with a problem, and that she is only interested in other odd stuff out of curiosity. I could be wrong.

 

[Reef_Haven]

I guess I'm assuming the new diver will follow her OW training when faced with a problem, and that she is only interested in other odd stuff out of curiosity. I could be wrong.

Might be, her profile says she's a he.

 

[Mike Boswell]

I don't recommend this, but I'll throw it out there.
If faced with going out of air because of free flow you can actually bend the hose in half and stop the flow, while breathing from your alternate.
Better to replace a hose than go OOA or risk an embolism.

I have wondered about this possibility but never tried it.

Does it really shut off the air?
Why don't you recommend it?
Does it really damage the hose?

 

[mbalmr]

Dr Wu, how do you feel about pony bottles?

You might want to just stick to the basics here...

 

[Dr Wu]

... and what's wrong with that? If folks like you would quit trying to be so disruptive, might be some good useful conversation come out of that "simple" question.

I was responding to the posted statement that the original question was "simple".

It was not.

Forgive me for thinking a request for every single bit of dive experience known to man is a complex issue.

It is.

 

[Kevrumbo]

As a new diver I'm hoping to get a comprehesive list of things that I should do in the event that... (this or that goes wrong). We briefly went over things in the OW class, but I know I will encounter other issues. Sure, many can be prevented with proper planning and checks, but what to do when things happen anyway?

1. Your BCD starts inflating on its own - disconnect the low pressure inflator hose underwater and orally inflate / deflate. Flick and fiddle with your inflator button to try to dislodge the piece of sand that may be stuck in it. Re-hook LP hose and check.

2. What to do in the event of a free flow (to stop it)?
etc, etc.

A modified CESA drill with tank valve manipulation. . .

The motivation in any uncontrollable free-flow [or blown hose] scenario is not to waste any more precious breathing gas that can still be used for yourself or your team : shut that tank valve down! If you're on doubles, then go to your back-up regulator and abort the dive, ascend according to your deco plan as necessary. If on single tank, signal out-of-gas and look for your buddy's long hose or octopus donation.

If on single tank and you cannot locate your buddy (or if solo diving), go to your back-up reg if necessary, reach back with your right hand and feather/modulate your tank valve open & closed --inhaling on the open/exhaling on the closed valve --breath as normally as you can under the circumstances and manipulate the tank valve accordingly; control your wing/BCD exhaust dump or deflator hose with your left hand as you make your modified CESA (a skill IMO which all divers should be familiar with and practice regularly . . .)

 

[flots am]

Freeflows are pretty common here, because of the cold water ... and I've personally experienced many. But I've never experienced or known anyone else to experience a freeflow that was caused by two people breathing off the same regulator.

I have. Near or below about 40 degrees, even a cold water reg is operating very near it's limits and the additional adiabatic cooling from another diver can easily send it over the edge.

flots.

 

[flots am]

If on single tank and you cannot locate your buddy (or if solo diving), go to your back-up reg if necessary, reach back with your right hand and feather/modulate your tank valve open & closed --inhaling on the open/exhaling on the closed valve --breath as normally as you can under the circumstances and manipulate the tank valve accordingly; control your wing/BCD exhaust dump or deflator hose with your left hand as you make your modified CESA (a skill IMO which all divers should be familiar with and practice regularly . . .)

Exactly how is this better and safer for a brand new OW diver than simply ending the dive and surfacing with his buddy?

flots.