When drills become thrills - incident caught on video

[billmas]

Hi Lemna,

I am wondering why you did not keep the freeflowing reg in your mouth and let the excess air escape from the corner of your mouth. That way it wouldn't have dangled above you waiting to get trapped in those loose lines, and at least some of that air would have been useful to you. And by the way, are you using a single first stage on that 15L?

On the 15l it is a fairly standard setup - single first stage with two second stages (primary and octopus). I have seen the twin 1st stage setup on some German and French divers, is that standard for Belgium too?.

When the freeflow occurred, I changed to the octopus first, so I was still breathing from the 15 - I saw no point in wasting the gas. I wanted the freeflowing reg out of my mouth because I couldn't see anything in the mass of bubbles

Obviously I was acutely aware that it was draining quick, and once it reached 40 bar (about 600 psi) I then swapped to the pony.

On the loose dangling regs - yes that is very valid point and one which I will certainly take on board. With the freeflowing reg I didn't get much choice (you see me lose it and try to catch it during the video) but once I came off the octopus onto the pony there really was no excuse for not stowing the Octopus out of harms way.

Kind Regards
Bill

 

[jago]

Twin 1st stage is mandatory in France for dive-leaders. It's also required for any autonomous diver by some Belgian agencys.

 

[Lemna]

On the 15l it is a fairly standard setup - single first stage with two second stages (primary and octopus). I have seen the twin 1st stage setup on some German and French divers, is that standard for Belgium too?.

Yes, most people I know that dive in winter have twin first stages; it's obliged by the local CMAS affiliates for dive leaders but many others also use it. The idea is that a freeflow is much more likely than an o-ring or filter failure. The second stages are separated, just like the BCD and drysuit inflator hoses. If you are air sharing the increased load is distributed over two first stages. When a freeflow occurs, you or your buddy could close the one that is freeflowing without losing air supply for both breathing and flotation.

When the freeflow occurred, I changed to the octopus first, so I was still breathing from the 15 - I saw no point in wasting the gas. I wanted the freeflowing reg out of my mouth because I couldn't see anything in the mass of bubbles

Obviously I was acutely aware that it was draining quick, and once it reached 40 bar (about 600 psi) I then swapped to the pony.

Kind Regards
Bill

I realise it is way easier when practicing, but I found that the bubbles don't get completely in the way when I tilt my head to the right. Of course, that's easy to say from behind a computer. You remain remarkably cool during the whole thing.

 

[ddmattos]

Thank you so much for posting this video. This really drives home proper training, gear config and demonstrating "the chain of events" leading up to accidents.

Gear familiarization. Knowing each others gear. You should not have worried that he would shut off the wrong valve.
Always remain calm (as you did) and work through the problem. But since you did not have a "ceiling", get the hell out of Dodge with your buddy of course. In the video you buddy looks beyond arms reach. I know you said he was only a few feet away. But in total darkness, beyond arms length is too far. I would have tugged on his arm to stress the urgency. I also feel there is no need for drama/acting during skills. Not saying it happened in this video, but I've seen over the top acting and you also mentioned that he thought you were trying to rush the skills.
***This also is a plus for stage rigging your pony/stage bottle. You would have control of your stage/pony. Lessening the confusion of what needs to be shut down.

There has been a lot said already.

Thanks again for posting what I find as a great training aide for discussion.

I commend you for sharing.

 

[Deep South Divers]

Hi Seajay,

I think I had a one in a thousand freeflow, Ian had the one in a thousand LPI failure, we were very unlucky to get them at the same time (the one in a million).

I'm quite meticulous about looking after my gear, cleaning & inspection etc. Ie, in my mind, my BCD has had the same life and work as my regs, so when I put my regs into the LDS later today for inspection (try to identify the fault) and a service, the BCD will go in too as a precaution.

Kind Regards
Bill

It's good to meet you, Bill, even if only virtually.

I have forgotten to congratulate you on a couple of things... First, that you survived. It didn't happen gracefully, and you know that, because you've asked for criticism. But the bottom line is that you're still here and didn't become a "statistic." I have done body recoveries of individuals who had much simpler issues to resolve and were not able to... So congratulations. Despite the verbal beating that you're bound to receive here (online forums tend to feel that way anyway, as emotion - and therefore tact - is very difficult to convey in the written word), you made it out of the situation alive, and that's all that mattered at that point... So whatever people say, your actions were good enough to work. Second, your attitude is remarkably refreshing regarding your openness to criticism and is exceedingly commendable. It allows you to learn and improve and be a better diver every day... And that is the most valuable skill a diver can have in his toolbox. I hope you really do have the thick skin that you might need if someone blasts you about this video.

It's interesting that you clearly know that your skills - and if I may be so frank, your (and your buddy's) gear choices - are lacking. Well... In the video they are, anyway - you clearly have learned a lot with this dive and things certainly will improve as you learn. My point, though, is that, according to your posts, you believe that you should have done things very differently. That's not your fault unless your responses were not as you were trained... That is, you chose to react badly, which I am sure you did not. Thus, I blame the issues that you had on bad training and/or mentorship. It appears that you are making dives and dealing with emergency issues that you are unprepared for or unpracticed for.

That said, you're doing a practice dive... A "scrimmage day" dive designed to improve your responses, and that is an excellent teaching tool - many say that only true way to learn. If your training is lacking, then your practice dive provides a suggestion to the contrary.

I have suggestions for excellent training if you would like them. Certainly hooking up with a mentor/instruction that could provide one-on-one attention (or better yet, one-on-two with you and your buddy) would be an improvement over anything that you could obtain on the internet. Check out this page for the instructor closest to you: GUE Instructors | Global Underwater Explorers I suggest that you contact him or her and show them your video and ask if they can help. They are in the business of doing exactly that.

Keep in mind that the kind of training that you will find from this agency is a radical departure from what you've received thus far... But then again, that's what you need, because you are looking for a radical departure from the way that this dive went, right?

I am sure that there are many other training agencies and instructors that could improve your diving experiences and provide solutions that would prevent the sort of things that happened in this video... But I can tell you that in all my training with all of the different agencies that I've trained with, this one is by far my most valued, and they have instructors near you.

Back to the gear issues, which are much less personal to talk about than skills, and comparably easier to change:

The reasons that your second stage went into a permanent freeflow is one or multiple of the following:

1. Debris had contaminated the working parts of the regulator.
2. The regulator had frozen in an open position.
3. Something was wrong with the mechanics of the regulator.
4. The regulator was not adjusted properly during it's last rebuild.
5. The regulator was not adjusted correctly by the user (applies only if the regulator has user adjustments).

If I had experienced the same problem that you had - a freeflowing regulator at depth - I would have immediately switched to my backup ("octopus" on your rig) and addressed the issue with the primary second stage. This would have involved shaking the regulator or hitting it on the palm of my hand to get it to reseat and stop the freeflow. If that didn't work, I would have worked the controls (lever and/or dial) tight to attempt to get the reg to stop freeflowing. If that didn't work, I'd have probably given it a couple more whacks, now with the controls tighter. If it was still freeflowing, I would then have used the palm of my hand to unscrew the face a little and release pressure on the mechanism that holds the valve open. If that didn't work, then I would have removed the face completely and done it with my fingers. These actions wouldn't have taken more than 20 seconds or so.

I'm not saying that my response is the right way... I'm just saying what I would have done. If I was driving down the road and a headlight went out in my car, I'd probably pull over and tap it with my hand and then pop the hood ("bonnet" to you) and look at the connection and make sure it's still attached. I might even wiggle the plug where it goes into the light. It's just second nature for me to assess the issue before deciding how to handle it. I might even fully unplug and plug the plug back in.

Can you do this with your regs? It would require a round-faced, downstream regulator. I never get a good look at which Oceanic reg you're using, but your buddy's Jetstream would not work this way. The Jetstream is also unique in that it is an "upstream" reg, meaning that when it fails, it fails closed rather than open. While this may seem like a good idea due to a loss of gas issue (that you experienced), at least a diver can breathe from a freeflowing reg. A failed reg that is failed closed provides no gas at all, and that's a much bigger problem.

For what it's worth, if it was impossible - or should I say "too in depth" - to repair the issue on the fly and during the dive, there are several additional responses. Me... I would have simply grabbed the regulator hose and kinked it to prevent the hose from spewing out all of my breathing gas. Like a garden hose, it's easy to kink over and keep it from blowing out all of your gas. Had you known this during this incident, you could have prevented the entire "pucker" that you experienced during this dive. Again, that boils down to training, and it's not your fault that you didn't know this.

Regardless of how the issue was handled, and unless I could have fixed the problem permenantly (ie - there was an obstruction in the second stage that was cleared, or the operation of the user controls fixed the problem with the reg), I'd have called the dive... That is, two thumbs up. If your buddy isn't seeing it or getting it or whatever, then you need to be clearer. Yes, it was dark. Yes, it was lower vis than you'd like (it always is)... So what? Light your thumbs with your light or better yet... Grab his hand and put a thumb or pair of thumbs in his hand. Why were you so timid with your communication?

Regarding this... If my team had seen me flailing around like that - and my light flailing around like that - they'd have already known something was wrong, even before I signalled. They'd have been all over me, already trying to help and figure out what's going on. The problem in your situation is that flailing lights and bubbles and flailing hands, apparently, are nothing out of the ordinary. That is, all of the action and movement that you performed was nothing out of the ordinary to your buddy... So there was no reason to believe anything was wrong. Let's talk about that in another post... There's a lot of reasons for that, but let's talk about those regs first.

Our team uses Apeks and HOG regs - both of which have round-faced, classic downstream second stages that came fitted with the cold water kit (vanes along the outside of the second stage LP hose that help to prevent regulator freezeups in the case of a freeflow). If these second stages fail, they fail open, which is to say that they will always provide something to breathe. Our first stages are environmentally sealed diaphragm regulators... Not because we dive cold water, but because we dive in silty water with suspended particulates often. Sealed regs simply last longer - and since we dive every day, that's a big deal to us. Piston firsts with nothing but grease to protect inner components need to be rebuilt about once a month... So we do the diaphragms. There is an additional benefit that they can handle colder water without freezing.

Our favored first stages are the Apeks DS4 or higher (XTX100 or 200) and the HOG D2 with the sealed kit. Note that we have a multitude of them... All the same. This is so that there is a constant regarding gear on our team. If someone has an issue with a regulator, then it's easy to fix because there is a spare parts kit sitting around... Or you can use your buddy's... Since his is exactly the same as yours. This is part of being a team - having the same (or nearly identical) gear. You using an Oceanic and him using a Jetstream means that if one of you has a failure, the other isn't going to have the right tools, parts, spares, or experience to help... And, as you experienced, causes an issue with gear familiararity - so when the fit hits the shan and you need to manipulate your buddy's gear, you don't really know the right way to do that. If his gear was the same as yours, you wouldn't have hesitated. This is why it's a good idea to at least have similar gear throughout the team, and why the thought process of, "Hey, everyone's different, with different needs and preferences and they should all have different gear" is such a bad one.

Lastly, be wary of regulators that promise to have the super-duperest, giantest-freeflowing, most "high performance" breathing capacity in the world. You mention that your Oceanic second stage was a high-flow regulator. I bet you weren't so happy about that as it was freeflowing and emptying your tank! Tune it down a bit... You'll never need 700l/min, or even 500l/min, so why have a regulator capable of dumping that much gas that quickly? As you can see, it can cause issues if something goes wrong.

In summary... What I'd do is call one of the instructors that I've recommended, and you and your buddy take some training from one of these guys and buy yourself a fresh set of regulators that are similar, if not identical. Personally, I would suggest the HOG regs, but your local GUE instructor may already have a standardized reg that his team prefers, and matching what they're diving is - as aforementioned - really beneficial to the whole team.

Next topic, or do you need some time to munch on this huge post?

 

[jago]

I'm not sure this is the right thread to promote an agency or a diving style whatever it is. Key point IMHO is not the equipment but the skills and procedures.

By the way the Pos reg is one of the few elements which didn't failed during the dive.

 

[Deep South Divers]

You're right, jago... I, too, believe that this is a skills issue and not a gear issue.

However, to develop the skills, there needs to be a constant in gear so that every dive is the same as the last one and that things work reliably such that skills can be focused on, practiced, and mastered.

I have no interest in promoting any sort of diving style or agency... I do not work for one, and it holds no benefit to me to promote any agency or style. I suggested the agency because it is where I personally have gotten my most valued training, which directly addressed many of the issues that I see in the video. It would be a disservice to Bill if I didn't tell him where I knew he could find answers to his questions and issues.

 

[TSandM]

I think that, given what happened, talking about preventing first stage freezing by choosing different equipment is quite legitimate.

I also think that, given that some skills deficiencies clearly played a role here, recommending further education is not out of line, either. Just like DSD, I can envision the same dive (with the same failures) with my dive buddies -- we would have been dropping face to face, with our lights on our hands, and when the freeflow started, both of my buddies would have noted it instantly (I know, because I've BEEN there). A reg would have been donated, the tank would have been shut off, and the dive would have been thumbed. When the other diver developed a leak, he would calmly have reached back and shut the offending post. No drama, no disastrous gas loss . . . This comes from TRAINING and PRACTICE. The OP, to his credit, was DOING a dive to practice skills . . . he just clearly hadn't had a lot of training in managing failures, or in avoiding the incident pit. This training IS available from the agency that DSD mentioned. It's available (one would hope, anyway) from most technical instructors.

One last comment . . . I don't completely condemn the guy in the doubles for not being able to do valve shutdowns. I don't think it's been mentioned anywhere here how LONG he has been diving doubles. When I started, I did a few dives with the tanks just to get used to the weight and the balance of them, before I played with shutdowns. (Although I think, in the event of a huge leak, I would have tried, anyway.) You DO increase the number of failure points when you introduce a manifold, so it's an awfully good idea to learn fairly promptly how to manage it, but if it was one of his first dives with the setup, he may not have gotten that far yet.

 

[jago]

I just mean a main tank + a pony bottle, 2 SM tanks, 2 isolated twins tanks would be an acceptable configuration with appropriate procedures even if it's not D.I.R. but I admit the OP didn't have an holistic approach and that's the initial cause of all the issues of the dive.

 

[Jax]

I'd call this 'Situational Denial'.... and I think it's pretty common. Basically, there's nothing wrong with situational awareness... but the brain refuses to acknowledge the severity of that situation and doesn't place you into an emergency resolution mindset. The same thing happens in all sorts of emergencies, not just in scuba.

Knowing when you are in an emergency and acting effectively, with speed, to resolve it is a skill that goes far beyond what is taught on the average rescue course. In fact, the primary emphasis when learning scuba, at most levels, is to remain calm and controlled. That's good advice, but can actually work against the diver, if it leads them to lose a sense of urgency. For the average person, who doesn't encounter critical situations in their day-to-day life, it's a whole new mental capability that needs to be developed.

Interesting.

So was Bill not recognizing the severity, or not reacting because he lost his sense of urgency? Bill?