Would you let a near death experience stop you? My encounter
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Dash
Contributor
I realize that panic is tough to control, and that affects what I have to say. It seems that the OP probably had enough time to figure this out, but didnt realize it. (I may not have either)
Example, even at the bottom of a breath, I can hold my breath for 30 seconds. At the top of a breath, I can hold for ~90 seconds. Throw in the stress of the situation, and that would be reduced, but even with 15 seconds, it is probably enough time to take a look down and find the correct regulator, or give the no-air signal to the instructor.
One of hte lessons I learned from this thread is to realize you have the time to figure things out if you dont panic. I only hope I can keep the panic down when/if it happens.
Example, even at the bottom of a breath, I can hold my breath for 30 seconds. At the top of a breath, I can hold for ~90 seconds. Throw in the stress of the situation, and that would be reduced, but even with 15 seconds, it is probably enough time to take a look down and find the correct regulator, or give the no-air signal to the instructor.
One of hte lessons I learned from this thread is to realize you have the time to figure things out if you dont panic. I only hope I can keep the panic down when/if it happens.
Man I just can't believe what goes on out there? Although since I've become a Divemaster I've seen some stupid stuff helping out with classes. That's why I'm still a Divemaster 
I'll wait until I get very experienced before I decide to take novices out on my own. I've helped out on the "let's see what the LDS can cram into one weekend" jobs and I can relate to some degree. It's BS and I'll have no part of it. I'd like to be able to sleep at night. Lots of stress for NO good reason.
In any event this clown needs to quit instructing. As others have stated DONATE A KNOWN GOOD AIR SOURCE BEFORE doing any troubleshooting (at this level of diver I don't think you even want to do that). You would have been better off just breathing the freeflow up and staying FAR away from that clown.
Anyway LEARN from it. Get comfortable with your gear. Intimately comfortable. Practice breathing a freeflow. Know where your alternate is. I now prefer it around my neck. If you dive a pony be able to deploy it easily.
You can also practice shutting down and opening up your own tank valve. In a pinch you can "feather" the valve on and off and stay down there all day long (not quite, but extend your stay for sure if you had to). No reason to die over a freeflow.
Lack of GAS would not have killed you. The INSTRUCTOR and PANIC could have.
I'll wait until I get very experienced before I decide to take novices out on my own. I've helped out on the "let's see what the LDS can cram into one weekend" jobs and I can relate to some degree. It's BS and I'll have no part of it. I'd like to be able to sleep at night. Lots of stress for NO good reason.In any event this clown needs to quit instructing. As others have stated DONATE A KNOWN GOOD AIR SOURCE BEFORE doing any troubleshooting (at this level of diver I don't think you even want to do that). You would have been better off just breathing the freeflow up and staying FAR away from that clown.
Anyway LEARN from it. Get comfortable with your gear. Intimately comfortable. Practice breathing a freeflow. Know where your alternate is. I now prefer it around my neck. If you dive a pony be able to deploy it easily.
You can also practice shutting down and opening up your own tank valve. In a pinch you can "feather" the valve on and off and stay down there all day long (not quite, but extend your stay for sure if you had to). No reason to die over a freeflow.
Lack of GAS would not have killed you. The INSTRUCTOR and PANIC could have.
drl
Contributor
PM, lots of folks have commented on what happened to you but no one has really addressed your question.
Yes, it is possible to get over a near-death experience and continue to dive. I did it. I won't describe my experience in detail (I felt quite stupid enough without the self-proclaimed experts telling me how stupid I was), but I was very lucky not to have been hurt or worse. And I did have a very bad scare that could have put me off my new drysuit, and cold-water diving, for good.
What worked for me was to take it slow and easy. First I did a pool dive in the drysuit. Then several gentle quarry dives at moderate depths. A couple of times I felt very anxious at the beginning of the dive and needed to surface; I made myself swim back to the line and do a controlled ascent, but didn't try to force myself to continue the dive (I did manage to calm down, descend again and do the dive). Feeling pressured to do a dive that I wasn't ready for was part of the problem; I needed to give myself permission to bag a dive. I did get back into Lake Michigan (where the incident occurred) after several successful quarry dives, but I took the dives easy for a while and did sit out some that I felt uncomfortable with. It took me most of the summer to fully get my confidence back, but I did. I also gained some respect for that little voice in my head that says "don't do this one."
I didn't let a near-death experience stop me, but it did slow me down a little. You can get over it, just take it slowly and don't put too much pressure on yourself.
Hope this helps.
Deborah
Yes, it is possible to get over a near-death experience and continue to dive. I did it. I won't describe my experience in detail (I felt quite stupid enough without the self-proclaimed experts telling me how stupid I was), but I was very lucky not to have been hurt or worse. And I did have a very bad scare that could have put me off my new drysuit, and cold-water diving, for good.
What worked for me was to take it slow and easy. First I did a pool dive in the drysuit. Then several gentle quarry dives at moderate depths. A couple of times I felt very anxious at the beginning of the dive and needed to surface; I made myself swim back to the line and do a controlled ascent, but didn't try to force myself to continue the dive (I did manage to calm down, descend again and do the dive). Feeling pressured to do a dive that I wasn't ready for was part of the problem; I needed to give myself permission to bag a dive. I did get back into Lake Michigan (where the incident occurred) after several successful quarry dives, but I took the dives easy for a while and did sit out some that I felt uncomfortable with. It took me most of the summer to fully get my confidence back, but I did. I also gained some respect for that little voice in my head that says "don't do this one."
I didn't let a near-death experience stop me, but it did slow me down a little. You can get over it, just take it slowly and don't put too much pressure on yourself.
Hope this helps.
Deborah
I agree with drl. I've had two what I would call near death experiences involving swimming or near drowning. I don't attempt to do what I did that created those situations but I do still swim. Like drl says, just take it slow and make sure you get comfortable at each step along the way. Sometimes realizing that you could very well die doing something makes you want to do things in a safer way.
Reflecting back on the rest of the thread, I would suggest remedial training in the basic problem areas. The free flowing reg thing can be practiced in the pool as can all manner of out of air techniques, whether its long hose, short hose, no hose, primary, secondary, buddy breathing, CESA or whatever. You need to practice and train on these things until you are comfortable. Start in a pool then move to shallow open water then to depths greater than 30 feet.
Reflecting back on the rest of the thread, I would suggest remedial training in the basic problem areas. The free flowing reg thing can be practiced in the pool as can all manner of out of air techniques, whether its long hose, short hose, no hose, primary, secondary, buddy breathing, CESA or whatever. You need to practice and train on these things until you are comfortable. Start in a pool then move to shallow open water then to depths greater than 30 feet.
bullethead
Guest
It can be done. It may take time, but is worth it. Practice skills in less challenging environments. Go to your backup during a dive to make it more automatic. Examine your gear or ask for help to see if it is efficient for the kind of diving you are doing. Keep diving, just back up a little and take it easy, then challenge yourself a little at a time. Don't plan or count on anybody else to save your bacon. They may shut your air off when you need it most
halocline
Contributor
I'm kind of confused about the whole "pony" issue. Are you saying your primary 2nd started to freeflow, and you did not go for your alternate? (octo) Or are you confusing alternate 2nd with pony?
Anyhow, if you had a primary 2nd, an alternate 2nd, and a pony, had you ever dove with a pony before? Was the pony slung or attached to your main tank? Did you receive any training with using a pony? Did your instructor really say you should never do a recreational deep dive (60-120ftOW) without either a pony or a spare air? (That's priceless) Are you aware of the HUGE difference in safety between a sizable pony (at least 19cf) and a spare air, which at that depth may last under a minute?
If your instructor advised you to do a deep dive with "either a pony or spare air" then I guess it's not that unbelievable that he would shut off your tank without warning you or checking to make sure you're breathing off a different tank.
Something just doesn't add up here, as I can't believe a trained, certified professional would act in that way. I'm a pro musician and teacher, and I see evidence of really bad music teachers all the time; the difference is, nobody ever died from hearing bad music or being taught music badly. (Although in extreme cases, you might wish you were dead)
Anyhow, if you had a primary 2nd, an alternate 2nd, and a pony, had you ever dove with a pony before? Was the pony slung or attached to your main tank? Did you receive any training with using a pony? Did your instructor really say you should never do a recreational deep dive (60-120ftOW) without either a pony or a spare air? (That's priceless) Are you aware of the HUGE difference in safety between a sizable pony (at least 19cf) and a spare air, which at that depth may last under a minute?
If your instructor advised you to do a deep dive with "either a pony or spare air" then I guess it's not that unbelievable that he would shut off your tank without warning you or checking to make sure you're breathing off a different tank.
Something just doesn't add up here, as I can't believe a trained, certified professional would act in that way. I'm a pro musician and teacher, and I see evidence of really bad music teachers all the time; the difference is, nobody ever died from hearing bad music or being taught music badly. (Although in extreme cases, you might wish you were dead
)
I'm a bit late in this reply I guess, hope the OP is still around.
I guess jumping into conclusion isn't really fit into the situation.
I would like to offer different point of view, I'm with the OP on this. He doesn't really blame the instructor, and I don't think I would blame him completely and gives strong remarks that he has to quit bla ..
First thing that is very critical here of course is when he shut down the tank, without making sure that he already informed/the student have seen the signal. It could be confusing in limited visibility although he should make sure because it's very dangerous to shut down a student's tank.
But I can also say that he handle or at least tried to handle the rest of situation when the OP looked for air. As the OP said, he had the reg on his hand, but he was panic so he couldn't think to put in into his mouth.
I guess it's a very familiar situation that panic diver can't really think clearly. The reg was there, the instructor tried to give it to him but the OP didn't realize because he was panic.
The panic is fully understandable, it can turn a perfectly fine situation into chaos and fatality. It can affect other people also to think clearly.
We are solving it here in our desk in front of computer, not when my life is threaten, because not many people have the ability to handle emergency situation in real environment, as the example of the instructor. I'm not sure whether he had done it, but what he could do, he had to stuff the reg into your mouth and even hold it for you, because we have to assume the diver is too panic and would spit it out again. But again, it's a situation we never know how well we can handle it until we are there.
For me, for those who haven't have the same experience, talking about how you would react isn't the same when you have to react in real situation. We might be better, we might be worse, but discussing it certainly leave something useful in our memory that we at least have the knowledge if we can recall the solution when we are there.
I'm agree that you should talk to the instructor and discuss how you and him could do differently, I also agree that you can give him a second chance as he sound attentive and care. He went up with the OP and helped him in the surface. It did make a difference that he is still here today. Imho, instructor willing to learn from mistake can be the great one one day.
To answer the original question, I guess you have to work on your panic level. That's the root for many2 problem underwater. Be confident and calm enough to handle every situation by getting familiar with it. Dive confident first, in the place and situation you are familiar, built your skill and confidence in the water before you tried the more advanced environment.
Good luck and thanks for sharing.
I guess jumping into conclusion isn't really fit into the situation.
I would like to offer different point of view, I'm with the OP on this. He doesn't really blame the instructor, and I don't think I would blame him completely and gives strong remarks that he has to quit bla ..
First thing that is very critical here of course is when he shut down the tank, without making sure that he already informed/the student have seen the signal. It could be confusing in limited visibility although he should make sure because it's very dangerous to shut down a student's tank.
But I can also say that he handle or at least tried to handle the rest of situation when the OP looked for air. As the OP said, he had the reg on his hand, but he was panic so he couldn't think to put in into his mouth.
I guess it's a very familiar situation that panic diver can't really think clearly. The reg was there, the instructor tried to give it to him but the OP didn't realize because he was panic.
The panic is fully understandable, it can turn a perfectly fine situation into chaos and fatality. It can affect other people also to think clearly.
We are solving it here in our desk in front of computer, not when my life is threaten, because not many people have the ability to handle emergency situation in real environment, as the example of the instructor. I'm not sure whether he had done it, but what he could do, he had to stuff the reg into your mouth and even hold it for you, because we have to assume the diver is too panic and would spit it out again. But again, it's a situation we never know how well we can handle it until we are there.
For me, for those who haven't have the same experience, talking about how you would react isn't the same when you have to react in real situation. We might be better, we might be worse, but discussing it certainly leave something useful in our memory that we at least have the knowledge if we can recall the solution when we are there.
I'm agree that you should talk to the instructor and discuss how you and him could do differently, I also agree that you can give him a second chance as he sound attentive and care. He went up with the OP and helped him in the surface. It did make a difference that he is still here today. Imho, instructor willing to learn from mistake can be the great one one day.
To answer the original question, I guess you have to work on your panic level. That's the root for many2 problem underwater. Be confident and calm enough to handle every situation by getting familiar with it. Dive confident first, in the place and situation you are familiar, built your skill and confidence in the water before you tried the more advanced environment.
Good luck and thanks for sharing.
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