Whats the dumbest thing you've done?

[Gambitt]

Never assume that because your insta-buddy is wearing doubles, that he will have more air left...

I did, and ended up sharing-air because he was ooa.

 

[Scotttyd]

Never assume that because your insta-buddy is wearing doubles, that he will have more air left...

I did, and ended up sharing-air because he was ooa.

I almost ended up in the same situation - on dive number two (in 60 feet of water). The guy with double 95's ran out of air 15 minutes into the dive - I guess he was diving doubles for a reason. - although he needed two sets to complete a rec dive.

 

[BTravlin]

Was diving Columbia Shallows in Coz and towards the end of the dive my wife points out a turtle. I stop to take a few pics and when I turn around everyone is gone. No problem, I know which way they were going so I head off that way. Soon I notice a boat heading my way. Surface and sure enough it's my boat. Turns out everyone else was back aboard already and I had missed roll call. Never again.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Not sure if this is the dumbest one, but it is short. I was on a boat doing multiple days of many solo drops per day, often with a nap between dives. Warm water, calm conditions, minimal wetsuit...

I arose from a nap, got dressed, crawled over the transom and took my place in the seated position, with feet on the dive platform, facing aft as the captain approached the dive site.

As I was climbing over the transom, I couldn't help to notice how strong and refreshed I felt. (I guess the years of weight training and the nap really make a difference).

I loaded my speargun, and told the capt to "set me up". I sat there for a few minutes, as he positioned the boat. About 5 seconds before he was to yell "dive-dive-dive" I realized that the reason I felt so strong and agile scrambling over the transom was because I was wearing no scuba gear! completely forget to put on the tank BC etc. Heaven knows I had not done a proper check of my air supply, computer NDC time, regulator functioning etc. Possibly all the time I have spent freediving might provide some explanation how I could feel OK without the tank on.

This is what can happen when you've done thousands of dives, you are sleepy, you have no buddy to slap some sense into you. You just can become incredibly casual about the whole diving thing. It is just so simple, if everything goes perfectly.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Here's another one, while I'm at it. I'm spearfishing in about 60 feet of water. I swim down to about 50 and level off over the reef and begin to scan for a fish to shoot.

I am completely flared out in the horizontal position, but because of the wetsuit and depth, I am more negative than I want and start to reach over for my inflator hose, without taking my concentration off of the hunt. I make at least 3-4 attempts to find the inflator hose by touch, but each time I fail.

I am slowly sinking and realize I will bang into the reef if I don't address the bouyancy issue. I am becoming slightly aggitated at my inability to work my gear by touch, as I normally do. I'm still calm and relaxed but just a little confused about what the problem is.

So, I momentarily divert my full attention to scanning for fish and turn my head to look for the inflator hose. It was at this moment that I remembered that I had been holding my breath the entire time, that I was freediving and that I was wearing no scuba unit or any type of BC.

Maybe I do get narced at 60 feet?

 

[Water Monkey]

So far the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know about diving.

Words of wisdom

 

[boulderjohn]

Most of my long list of stupidities are closely related to being the poster child for adult ADD. I used to have a secretary who would rattle off a list of things I should have with me every time I left the office, and I would usually have forgotten one of them.

I once traveled for an hour to meet someone for a dive, paid an entrance fee, and started to suit up before realizing I had left my fins home.

I was diving at an elevation of 10,600 feet. I got my steel double 108s on and took the long, long walk to the water's edge, gasping for breath in the thin air. That was when I realized I had left my fins behind.

Then there was this event:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/near-misses-lessons-learned/140626-close-call-dressing-room.html

 

[TSandM]

I think one of the dumbest dives I've ever done was a scintillating series of really BAD decisions on my part.

Based on my enthusiasm for his training, I proposed an overly ambitious dive to a visiting diver. The dive involved descending the shot line to a wreck and touring it briefly, and then setting out on a line to a second wreck lying about five minutes away. We agreed on minimum gas numbers before the dive. There were three of us diving, two in single tanks and one in large doubles. We descended and toured the first wreck, and reached the line and set off into the dark. Mistake #1: I didn't inquire of my unfamiliar buddy what his pressure at that point was.

We swam over to the other wreck, and just after we got there, my buddy signaled he'd hit rock bottom for the dive. I considered the situation: Surfacing at the second wreck was possible, but not optimal, as it would put us some distance from our boat and in a place where they would not expect to see us. There were three of us; I was well above my rock bottom, and the guy in doubles had tons of gas, so I decided that it was okay for my friend to go below his, as both of the other divers had other options, and it was better to go home. (I don't think this was a bad decision.) I signaled the third diver and told him we needed to go back, but I didn't tell him that our friend was at minimum gas, nor did I suggest that the two of them share some gas on the swim back to lessen the demands on my friend's tank -- Mistakes #2 and #3.

We got back to the upline and did our ascent. IIRC, my friend ended up with something under 500 psi (4, I think) when we got back to the boat. Nobody got hurt, and nobody got scared, but it just wasn't well planned or well executed. I learned a lot of lessons from that dive.

 

[marcopalla]

ehem... quite embarrassing to remember.... not really me... my cusin...

some weeks ago, quite deep, probably a little bit of nitrogen ecstasy, I was also too relaxed ....
I read on my computer
... "DECO 0" and I go a little more up
... "DECO 2' " and I go more up...
..."DECO 15' " 70bar in the tank, and I start to be worried
... "DECO 20' " and I decide to stop dive and ascending, probably without enough air myself ... then narcosys probably stops (don't ask the depth please)
and I understand that was written "NO DECO 25' " on the ****ing computer

never said it to my buddy.... (I was the "leader")

lerned that if was vice-versa (if I have red NO DECO instead of DECO) it was a worst situation :banana:

on the seriuos side: to be more concentrated and less deep.

 

[Codiak]

Calculated bailout bottle into dive plan in overhead conditions.

Wasn't a problem for me and my buddy, until buddy pair a head of us got seperated and one went OOA.

I have having only 10 bar at the surface with no stops! Argh!