What would you do: Molested at 100' by an OOA Diver

[MXGratefulDiver]

Does it really matter? You won't get very far if you believe everything you read in the internet.

Scubaboard or not, written by James Bond himself or not- just take everything with a grain of salt, and be cool. Be cool. It's a good story after all, who cares if it's based on real practice or real imagination...

I really like SB, it's a great source of info, ideas and shared experiences- but remember to never ever learn scuba from any internet forums. That's NOT the way to do it.

Sent from my myTouch 4G

... a good story doesn't have to be true ... it just has to be interesting ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added June 10th, 2013 at 01:09 PM ----------

As a newer diver...I gotta ask. Why are all these people running out of air? From reading, it doesn't seem un-common for divers to be OOA.

Equipment malfunction, not paying attention to your air left, something else?

It's a lot less common than some folks would have you believe ... but it does happen. What you'll find more often are people who are low on air, and getting stressed out because they realize they've put themselves in a bad situation.

Most people who run out of air do so because they go deeper than they are qualified to go, and the cumulative effects of task-loading, narcosis, and poor diving technique catches up with them. Depth tends to magnify problems, and the little things that we find so "forgiving" at shallower depths can lead to all manner of larger issues. OOA is just the one of them ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[rhwestfall]

stuff like this helps me in developing new equipment strategy... I am now working on the "Porcupine BC"....

 

[agilis]

I have a small very sharp knife just above my left wrist. Right in the neck.

I should point out that I'm not a professional with oversight responsibilities. I absolutely refuse to accept the assignment of a buddy on these resort dives. I just a tag along on certain group dives at some Caribbean resorts because there is no other option. If this is not allowed, I'll go snorkeling, hunting for reptiles, parrot watching, hiking, river diving, etc.

I always keep my distance from the resort dive group, trailing behind and to the side. Some of these divers are quite good. Some are not. Some begin thrashing around clumsily immediately, or run low on gas very early on. When the dive is called under those circumstances I frequenly have well over 1200 lbs and do my best to stay down partially out of sight.

I make sure the DM can see me. They generally are much too busy to swim over and try to force me up, especially if I'm 60 or 70 feet away. I make it clear that I'm OK, and signal my air reading. I've seen divers on these group resort dives go OOA. I ignore them as they drop the inevitable camera, stay as far away as possible. I'm a solo diver at heart. It's time for them to start learning that we are all solo divers, really. Let the DM or someone with a sense of exceptional legal or ethical responsibility save them.

If someone tried to bear hug me and take my reg I'd kill them without hesitation. Immediately. Struggling might make escape from the madman difficult or impossible.

 

[rhwestfall]

I have a small very sharp knife just above my left wrist. Right in the neck. If someone tried to bear hug me and take my reg I'd kill them without hesitation. Immediately. Struggling might make escape from the madman difficult or impossible.

Yep, thats a true "Jersey Boy" right there! BTW - where is Paladin? I need his input here... IIRC, something about "making them eat their mask"....

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have a small very sharp knife just above my left wrist. Right in the neck.

... I was wondering how long it would take for someone to break out the pig-sticker ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[agilis]

Yep, thats a true "Jersey Boy" right there!

Born and bred. 4th generation. My favorite state, after seeing most of them. North it's too cold, South there are too many really ignorant people narcotized on some combination of beer, religion and football. California is very nice, but the ocean is cold pretty much year round and too many people are infected by terminal political correctness, except for enclaves of retired cops who have their own set of problems. I used to like Florida until the tap water and many rivers began to smell like sewage and I became aware that the political establishment there made good old fashioned NJ corruption look like good government. Let's see, are there any other states? Probably, but who cares?

I'll bet that most people, if they had a knife in their hand, would use it under the horrifying circumstances described by the OP. If they were from California or Canada or someplace nice like that maybe they would bandage it later. Send a sympathy card to the family. Feel guilty.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I had a real OOA, at 10O with an inexperienced diver. I gave her my primary and we ascended without incident and I used an Air 2 (I guess).

I find the scenario and the posted responses pretty silly. Fighting the person off and all that.

I seriously doubt someone would be able to bear hug me effectively enough to prevent me from securing my Air 2 or my pony.. If they were able to do that, then I guess I would begin to fight loose, but you only need one hand to grab a second stage.

And the knife... LOL.. Seriously? If you can release a knife you sure as heck can secure a second stage. I have knifed hundreds of big fish when battling them underwater and I can draw a knife in 2 seconds, but I wouldn't consider knifing a person, just because they are holding onto me on an ascent? Crazy talk.


Once I got something to breath, I would just swim up and try to dump some air on the ascent. Macho talk about 4 minutes exhales, in a panic situation while swimming and struggling is BS for 99.99% of the diving population.. Just ain't gonna happen.

 

[agilis]

Dumpster diver, I tend to agree, but I did once see an OOA woman grab and the second stage (this was back in buddy breathing days)offered by the DM with such unimaginable manic ferocity that she managed to partially dislodge the first stage flooding the whole works. Fortunately this was in about 30 feet of water and nobody got hurt too bad, though this woman vomited salt water and last weeks lunch, retching loudly and wailing for so long I was tempted to stab her. In this case it was not her fault for running out of air. This was a small Caribbean dive operation without its own compressor. The tanks were filled by the dive operation at a local hotel. They seem to have missed this one. This was also before SPGs, and it appears her jvalve pull rod was down before she ever got in the water. The shop owner probably did not check each tank to make sure they were filled, but how many people can you stab?

 

[chrpai]

I'm a big advocate of personal responsibility. How is it not her fault? Would it not have been her responsibility to make sure the j-valve was properly up before starting the dive?

 

[agilis]

I'm a big advocate of personal responsibility. How is it not her fault? Would it not have been her responsibility to make sure the j-valve was properly up before starting the dive?

So am I, but most divers on these resort dive boats are not. That's why some DMs insist on twisting my tank's valve (a stabbing offence in my book), and trying to help me on with my gear. It seems lots of 'divers' expect this kind of thing. Some even expect the DM to periodically swim over and check their SPG and let them know when it's time to begin the ascent. In the situation I witnessed this American tourist expected that the DM/small shop owner would do everything for her, including setting up her gear. Who knows who failed to make sure the j valve was in the up position? It's too late now. The Jamaican DM died a few years ago (shot in a robbery, considered a natural death there) and I have no idea where to find the other individuals involved, so my sharp little vintage Tekna stays in its scabbard.