Why breathe from a long hose?

[Divenomad]

Only time I have ever donated for real my buddy took a few seconds to get himself together.Fixed the problem. (Tank valve was only cracked open) and we carried on diving.

I think you are diving with the wrong people.

Heh, Not one of these divers were people I knew. Two were students (not mine) one was a Japanese tourist in southern Queensland, Australia (and that situation was so odd I hesitate to recount it, because I would never believe it if I simply heard it) and one was a Kiwi tourist on the GBR. Just happened to be in the same ocean and the closest diver. After the second Australia incident, I stopped diving there because I could not find a buddy to split a day charter with, I got so nervous with the water full of tourists.

Nomad

 

[Teamcasa]

Long hose, short hose, bungied backup, clipped octo - so what?
Why you went OOA, preventable or not - again, so what?

If a diver (or you) go OOA, none of this is going to matter if there in no buddy (or other diver) near by.

Your training and practice as the donor or the recipient is going to have a significantly larger contribution to a successful and safe end than any individual gear configuration.

If you have decided to go with the long hose I'd hope you also took the Fundamentals course or other suitable course as well. If you chose to use an standard length hose and clipped off octo, practice air sharing with your buddy.

That way, donation or reception is no issue and again, your training and practice will kick in.

 

[Cave Diver]

(and that situation was so odd I hesitate to recount it, because I would never believe it if I simply heard it)

Oh, now you gotta tell us!

 

[kathydee]

I'm going to be in Monterey this weekend, Sat night for a night dive at Breakwater and Sunday, somewhere... Can someone show me what this long hose, bungied backup looks like? I.e., I want to see it on you. I can come to you, if you want.

Hi Pacificgal,

I'd like to get out Sunday for some shallow pratice. Will check Mike G's schedule to see if he is interested. I'm not an "expert" on these topics but I certainly would be glad to show you the long hose and how it works. Do you have dive plans for Sunday?

Better yet, since you are local, we could meet midweek at Wallins dive shop for a pool session. You are very welcome to try my bp/w & long hose combo in the pool ;-). It will be great to finally meet you & maybe Mike G will make it too?

One piece at a time and it's a piece of cake. It's really not that much, or that hard.

Pacificgal, there are a lot of divers in Monterey using the long hose setup. Mike and Kathy, who are doing Essentials, are using it, as is their instructor, Don. Ben V here, rhlee, KMD . . . I know a lot of people using the setup there. I'm sure someone would be happy to show it to you. !

It makes me smile to see Cave Diver and TSandM encouraging you. These were the two (and later Netmage & of course Don) who did the same for me in the very beginning -- launching me on this amazing journey .

Cave Diver & TSandM are both very helpful, knowledgeable & encouraging. Their posts are definitely worth following & reading - you'll learn quite a lot !

Thanks again you two!

 

[crd_kats]

I had forgotten just how long the hose was. It's so neatly tucked by my side and around my neck that when I had to deploy it this last weekend, I was surprised at the distance I could put between me and the other diver. Remember my training, I looped the slack once and he held that to keep the second securely in his mouth. It was all no problem and easy peasy.

 

[pacificgal]

Hi Kathy, I would love to meet you and try it out. I am available Wednesday, and may be able to get off work a little early. I'm supposed to dive on Sunday with Norbs (Norbert) but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I've already poked him, I think he may be out of town and back soon.
If Mike's unavilable to practice in the shallows with you Sunday you're welcome to join me, since I don't know if I will be buddy-less and I know we won't be doing anything challenging.
The diving community in general has been wonderful, supportive, informative and helpful. You all ROCK!

 

[Peter_C]

Your training and practice as the donor or the recipient is going to have a significantly larger contribution to a successful and safe end than any individual gear configuration.

Few people practice much of anything after graduating from OW. We did a bunch of drills in Tahoe. One guy watched me pull the reg from my mouth and hand it to him. When it was his turn to donate to me he pulled the one from his mouth and gave it to me. I sat there and held it waiting...waiting, then when he realized he should have donated his octo and not his primary reg I calmly gave it back to him. No matter what your gear configuration is practice is necessary and unfortunately few practice skills and drills. Practice makes perfect.

If you have decided to go with the long hose I'd hope you also took the Fundamentals course or other suitable course as well.

Well of course an Essentials or Fundies class is going to top an AOW class. One earns the shop money, the other hones skills to the finest levels. There is no requirement for such a class just because one chooses to use a long hose, but I do agree with you 100% on practicing with it, and knowing how to use it just like any other configuration.

 

[Divenomad]

Oh, now you gotta tell us!

OK full picture came out after the dive and through a translator.

On a dive boat, discussing the possibility of taking a DM course there ( I was considering emigrating) Japanese divers, a couple had poor English, but understood "divemaster" and assumed I was a divemaster. They jump in after my buddy and I. They assumed I was leading the dive, I had no idea they were behind me. 40 minutes in, the female grabs my fin, scares the hell out of me, points to her buddy, gives the OOG signal, and then proceeds to ascend. He's holding his breath and does not want to wait, so he kicks over crazy fast and donates my primary out of my mouth, saving me the trouble, and starts to kick for the surface. My buddy grabs his legs and rips one fin off and yanks him down and I dump his BC. My buddy grabbed his tank valve and swashes him around to get him under control (it worked, surprisingly) I grabbed him, and got him under control and we ascended the 60 ft or so with my buddy right there with me. he came up totally dry, nothing in the tank, the female has 1500 lbs or so, I forget exactly ( the gauge was in bar)

Her response was that I was the divemaster and it was my responsibility to share air, because they paid.I was in charge and responsible for their safety. The boat captain nearly blew a gasket.

it was pretty ugly, and they were apologetic, but still...

My buddy saved the day there, that day. 105 lbs of blonde Swiss competence with a mind of steel. I'd roll with her until the wheels fall off.

Nomad

 

[kathydee]

Hi Kathy, I would love to meet you and try it out. I am available Wednesday, and may be able to get off work a little early. I'm supposed to dive on Sunday with Norbs (Norbert) but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I've already poked him, I think he may be out of town and back soon.
If Mike's unavilable to practice in the shallows with you Sunday you're welcome to join me, since I don't know if I will be buddy-less and I know we won't be doing anything challenging.
The diving community in general has been wonderful, supportive, informative and helpful. You all ROCK!

Sounds great. I'll check Wallins pool schedule. Lets work details out. PM sent.

 

[fobturbo]

Wow that's a pretty crazy situation. Great thing that both you & your buddy stayed calm about things.

My biggest fear after reading some of these posts is if I'm donating air, after calming the other person down starting the ascent and then they freak out on the way up for whatever reason, dragging me up with them.

OK full picture came out after the dive and through a translator.

On a dive boat, discussing the possibility of taking a DM course there ( I was considering emigrating) Japanese divers, a couple had poor English, but understood "divemaster" and assumed I was a divemaster. They jump in after my buddy and I. They assumed I was leading the dive, I had no idea they were behind me. 40 minutes in, the female grabs my fin, scares the hell out of me, points to her buddy, gives the OOG signal, and then proceeds to ascend. He's holding his breath and does not want to wait, so he kicks over crazy fast and donates my primary out of my mouth, saving me the trouble, and starts to kick for the surface. My buddy grabs his legs and rips one fin off and yanks him down and I dump his BC. My buddy grabbed his tank valve and swashes him around to get him under control (it worked, surprisingly) I grabbed him, and got him under control and we ascended the 60 ft or so with my buddy right there with me. he came up totally dry, nothing in the tank, the female has 1500 lbs or so, I forget exactly ( the gauge was in bar)

Her response was that I was the divemaster and it was my responsibility to share air, because they paid.I was in charge and responsible for their safety. The boat captain nearly blew a gasket.

it was pretty ugly, and they were apologetic, but still...

My buddy saved the day there, that day. 105 lbs of blonde Swiss competence with a mind of steel. I'd roll with her until the wheels fall off.

Nomad