When drills become thrills - incident caught on video

[billmas]

What strikes me about this video is that the diver with the camera keeps shining his dive light directly into the face of his buddy.

Hi Harry,

I hope it wasn't directly in his face - and if it was, it would be inadvertent A torch waved over the side of the mask (ie from behind or the side but not directly in the eyes) is accepted practice here. It is considered to be a general 'Attention' signal.

Hth
Bill

 

[billmas]

Bill explained that, where they dive in open water, they are never not in current, so they have to do all their descents and ascents hanging into the line. I'm still unsure as to why that makes doing it in a lake a good idea, but he seems convinced of it.

Hi TSandM,

I think I was unclear on that.

Line Descents are the norm.
Line Ascents are the exception.

Towards the end of any dive in open water, when the current is picking up again, we shoot a dSMB and do a drifting ascent under the dSMB. The dSMB isn't there to climb (you'd break it), it is there for the skipper to track your position in the water and to hopefully not have your head cut off by boat traffic

The dSMB is so critical to just about any UK dive, that many boat skippers won't let you jump in without one, and most divers (me included) carry two.

Hth
Bill

 

[jago]

What can happen in very silty water

Particles and pebbles can "lock" the 2nd stage in open-position.

 

[billmas]

Hi SeaJay,

I still haven't heard from Bill... I was looking forward to moving on to the next suggestion for improvement. A functioning (and, in my opinion, better - or at least more appropriate) set of regulators would be at the top of my list...

I don't think the regulators are inappropriate, one of the results of being in Europe is that the regulators are classified as a life support system - and therefore by law have to meet minimum standards as to Work of Breathing, delivery rate, cold water performance, depth performance etc. As the regulator is also sold in the US, the manufacturers have also tested against and found them to exceed US Navy standards. So for those reasons, I don't think they're inappropriate.

I think you mentioned before about the XTX range, over here they are also considered one of the better regulators, although their performance chart (on EU standards) varies vary little from most others.

Right up there with training that could solve a lot of the gear (simple) issues that I see in the video followed by skills (much more sophisticated and effective) issues that I see in the video. I was hoping to discuss this stuff with him in an open forum where opinion could be offered and counteroffered by all - as he's asked for.

I was a little concerned that the thread was going to become a 'how to dive GUE style' or even just 'how to dive' thing but your paragraph above suggests different.

Bill, you 'round? I was hoping to discuss the suggestions that you've heard thus far and move on to the next suggestion... Unless you've had enough.

No, not had enough - not yet anyway

Kind Regards
Bill

 

[billmas]

Bill, maybe I missed it but you said you had the regs serviced at some point in the fall (I think). Have you done any cold water dives with them since servicing?

Yes, they've done about 40 dives since the service, 10 of which have been at 7c or lower.

Have they performed as expected after servicing?

Yes absolutely - well until that dive anyway First place they went after the service was in the pool. I am Mr Cynical and I want to find out at 3m, not 30m whether they're working properly.

Just because a reg is serviced doesn't mean it's been serviced well... I'm just saying that your regs may be cold water regs but if they're poorly tuned during service you could still have some issues. Something to consider.

You're quite right and it is a good point to raise. I've 'heard' or got the general impression from other divers stories, that they feel they get more issues with regs immediately after a service than otherwise. I suspect it is just that they place more emphasis on those issues which come up after a service - as they believe a serviced reg cannot have a problem. Without some proper data, we'll never know.

I'd also like to say you've been incredibly patient and humble throughout this thread and it's been a great thread for "thought exercises" and scenario drills.

Thanks

Kind Regards
Bill

 

[Bombay High]

Jago has good advice.
I think you did well to stay calm and stay together.
My main advice would be on how utterly pointless and dangerous the safety stop was, given your dive profile.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

OBTW, Bill is Ian a member of this site? If so, I would really like to hear his side of the story and his take on what was happening.

 

[billmas]

Hi Tony,

OBTW, Bill is Ian a member of this site? If so, I would really like to hear his side of the story and his take on what was happening.

No, he's not. We're probably (not definitely!) going to write up our own accounts, in an "as they happened" format, strictly a blow by blow account of our own views of the incident as it happened. This will be difficult, because we've both now seen the video - naturally our memories will be skewed as a result.

It will likely be even less realistic from me, as whether I like it or not, I've now had sight of the questions it raises, and will likely be trying to answer them subconsciously.

If we do get this done, I think it will be an incredible learning resource for everyone.
- What Bill was thinking
- What Ian was thinking
- What actually happened (the video)
I think that depending on which one of the above is seen first, the viewer would likely form different opinions.

I've actually been contacted by a few instructors who would like the untitled video to show to their students as part of a "identify the mistakes" and "identify the positives" training session.

I'm not sure I want to be that famous

I'll try to keep you all informed if we ever manage to get our written, contemporary accounts together, and if Ian is as relaxed as I am about posting it to a public forum.

You're the first poster looking to see the account from Ian's eyes, rather than from me or the video. That indicates a desire for knowledge - and that is a desire I have a lot of respect for.

With Kind Regards
Bill

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Identify the positives....You didn't die? :shocked2:

 

[billmas]

Identify the positives....You didn't die? :shocked2:

After careful consideration lasting atleast 1 nanosecond, I agree