Big scare Lesson learned

[nyresq]

mmmmmm probably not, but I suppose it would give police dive teams something to do when their not doing rescues or recovering evidence....

Picture it... you 80' down and a guys swims up with a red strobe light, shows you his badge and a slate that says "SCUBA POLICE, CAN I HAVE YOU'RE LICENSE, AND C-CARDS PLEASE... WAIT HERE WHILE I CALL THIS IN" ....

He swims away and comes back with a slate that says "OK, THIS TIME I'M JUST GIVING YOU A WARNING, BUT YOU NEED TO GET THOSE REGULATORS SERVICED AND THE TANK INSPECTION UPDATED. DON'T LET ME SEE YOU OUT HERE AGAIN WITHOUT IT"... He gives you a Glub-Glub, a thumbs up and signals you to carefully swim back into traffic...

illegal? the only laws that you would violate diving at night with out training would be the laws of nature, natural selection, evolution, and a couple theories by Darwin, unfortunately all of those laws carry the death penalty.:doctor:

 

[Atticus]

That last post made me laugh, then it reminded me of something...

We do have a form of Scuba Cops on Lake Tahoe. In Nevada state law requires that divers tow a flag. There are park rangers out watching for bubbles on a jet ski at Sand Harbor. If they see bubbles and no dive flag then they follow you in and write a citation.

I haven't had this happen to me, but I stopped one of them and asked what they were up to and they gave me a quite serious discussion of what they are up to.

They're also stopping classes and checking for commercial use permits for the area. Apparently the owner of one of the local stores was caught red handed with no permit and had to cancel his class.

 

[nyresq]

Screw the water ****s...


atticus jabbered about There are park rangers out watching for bubbles on a jet ski at Sand Harbor. If they see bubbles and no dive flag then they follow you in and write a citation.

Just use a rebreather....


or wait till they stop moving and sneak up underneath em and tie an anchor to their **** scooters (jetskis)...


kind of like "American Graffitti" when they chain the cop car to the tree...

I think the rebreather would carry less jail time though...

 

[Ron Brandt]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...



I still teach students that we use only two vave positions, full open and full closed.

Interesting....

When I teach for the "A Hole" it's valve fully on and a quarter turn back.

When I teach privately is "full on or Full off".

You see the "A Hole" is a MASTER Instructor" and lets everybody know he is god as he is a "Master Instructor".

This Master Instructor has only been diving half as long as I have but he knows everything about diving and thinks of himself as a course director.

BTY;he is the guy I refured to earlier that was frantically pointing as his console at 70ft with 3 feet vis.

RON

 

[SeaJay]

Obviously, the buddy check would have prevented this particular scenario. Of course, I've never seen a buddy check the other's location of the valve. I've seen them purge valves and make sure there's a supply of gas, but I've never seen one roll the other's valve on or off. Thus, I don't know that a buddy check would have really caught this mistake.

There are also times (admittedly not likely in 40' of open water in Coz) that the valve moves. Things that come to mind are impacts with overhead (that's why the valve's on the right, so that forward motion rolls the valve ON rather than OFF), snags with line/nets/junk, and even the occassional "something brushed by you," be it your buddy or aggressive marine life. It can happen.

My point is, just 'cause you check the valve at the surface, and it's supplying gas doesn't mean that it's going to be ON and properly supplying gas at depth. This particular scenario is a good example.

...Which is why it's important to be able to reach your valves while wearing the tank.

Imagine this scenario: You're at 100 fsw, and near the end of your dive. You're down to 1200 psi, and thinking about heading for the surface soon.

Suddenly, you whack that transmitter for your Vytec on something, or a hose gives out, or whatever. Let's say it's just a madass freeflow from a busted second stage. Whatever the problem is, you're suddenly spewing bubbles everywhere.

If you can reach your valves, you can feather them. Turn them on to breathe, and turn them off between breaths. I've heard of more than one diver who's been able to save themselves using this technique.

Sure, in 40 fsw, an emergency swimming ascent probably would have been just as viable an option. Sure, the best option would have been to take your buddy's donor. But even in that situation, you'd want to shut your gas off so that you stop blowing gas all over the place. You'd at least save your tank from a full inspection and a breakdown of your first stage.

...Anyway, yes, a better buddy check would have been in order. Yes, you handled it well and obviously lived, so the "big picture" is that you handled the situation fine. Yes, you'll ensure that the problem won't happen again, so in short, you've learned a great lesson at a small price.

Seriously, thanks for sharing.

All of the above should be in place next time. However, I'd like to take this as an opportunity to point out that this is a really good reason why it's necessary to be able to reach your own valves.

Think of it as a "backup plan" to the "what if I didn't's."

 

[Rick Inman]

In the GNW, almost everybody has a dry suit and needs help with the zipper. While I'm zipping, I grab the tank valve and causally verify it's properly opened. Not just for my buddy, but more to protect me from becoming involved in an emergency. Glad it helps him, but I'm looking at my buddy to protect myself. I've got no problem taking a hold of my buddies 2nd air and giving it a purge. Making sure my buddy is go-to-go protects me as well.
The only thing safer is to solo...

 

[mars2u]

The valve should be Fully Open...end of discussion IMHO.
This is the way I was taught and it makes perfect sense to me. When diving in Palau, the DM cranked it closed 1/8 of a turn and I subsequently turned it wide open thank you very much....he chuckled at the gesture.
I understand that this was taught in the past but opinions and technology change...hell in the 60's doctors would prescribe smoking to some of their patients to alieve injuries. Now a days that sounds ludicrous.
Not trying to compare the two, just trying point that we all should be flexible with changin our opinions on things.

 

[Dive4Life]

There might not be SCUBA police but there sure as hell is MARINE PATROL! Here in Florida, at least in Broward County they aren't very tolerant people. Granted there is no law about diving at night they sure as hell would make a huge fuss about it. Marine patrol has been known to go make divers, usually people lobstering, surface and return to the boat. Where they check everyone's C-Cards, tanks and first aid equipment on the boat. It probably was a little bit above and beyond the call of duty, i'm not really sure but they have made people surface return to the boat and check every single license imaginable. Then waited for returning divers so that they could all their licenses as well. I was one the divers who returned to find Marine Patrol on the boat. I personally though it was ridiculous but then there really isn't much you can do.

 

[Elvis Maximus]

GlockDiver once bubbled...


There are many things that are illegal in Mexico, but still happen. And night diving without night certification might not even be illegal. Stupid, yes. But not illegal.

This reminds me of something that happened to me when I was working for a visa service many years ago.

One of our regular travel agent clients called us and asked a colleague of mine an odd question: she had a group of transvestites that wanted to go to Acapulco, and they wanted to know if dressing as women was illegal in Mexico.

My colleague called the notoriously unhelpful Mexican consulate. He asked for the Consul. Nobody had ever talked to the Consul; he famously refused to talk to anyone. The consular officer who answered the phone asked if she could help. My colleague described the problem, and there was a long silence on the line.

"I better get you the Consul," she said.

The Consul came on the line and my colleague told him that these transvestites were going to Acapulco and wanted to know if it was illegal for men to dress like women in Mexico. The Consul considered this question for a moment.

"It isn't illegal," he said finally, "but that doesn't mean they won't get arrested."

 

[mars2u]

Elvis Maximus once bubbled...


This reminds me of something that happened to me when I was working for a visa service many years ago.

One of our regular travel agent clients called us and asked a colleague of mine an odd question: she had a group of transvestites that wanted to go to Acapulco, and they wanted to know if dressing as women was illegal in Mexico.

My colleague called the notoriously unhelpful Mexican consulate. He asked for the Consul. Nobody had ever talked to the Consul; he famously refused to talk to anyone. The consular officer who answered the phone asked if she could help. My colleague described the problem, and there was a long silence on the line.

"I better get you the Consul," she said.

The Consul came on the line and my colleague told him that these transvestites were going to Acapulco and wanted to know if it was illegal for men to dress like women in Mexico. The Consul considered this question for a moment.

"It isn't illegal," he said finally, "but that doesn't mean they won't get arrested."

I love Mexico...Che si? Che no?
Amsterdam is better though.
Ranks right up there with the nudists booking a chartered flight. everyone had to get dressed before they landed though

Think about that the next time you take a seat in an airplane. Not only do you have a floatable cushion to act as a floatation device filled with beer farts, but some hairy dudes butt may have been on it....ewwwwww

OT....butt (pun intended) it reminded me of some silly things you hear