Descended quickly to 35 feet. Can you briefly go to surface then resume planned dive?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I would just go back up to the boat and get it, no big deal.
Take your buddy if it makes you feel better or just have him stay put on the anchor line, your choice depending on your comfort level regarding never ever dive without a buddy for a second on any dive.
In my case we do a lot of shore diving or kayak diving. The biggest thing that handicaps me is not having a compass. If I don't know where I am or have no way to tell which direction I'm going that's as bad as anything. I can deal with just looking at an SPG and guessing at time since most of our dives are dictated by gas supply not depth. And being that we dive a lot of the same spots we know the average depths close enough so I could even deal with not having a depth gauge. I've paddled all the way out to a spot and realized I forgot something or a few weeks ago my PDC crapped out and I said screw it I'm not going back, and did the dive a little more instinctively. But never the less, forgetting stuff is annoying and a pain in the ass, but it's not always the end of the world.

 

[nolatom]

I'd think that "Air" in the BWRAF alphabet would also stand for "check air percentage", meaning you had to look at your computer. I've never lost mine 'coz its on my console. But I have forgotten weights and even fins, even though they are W and F-words ;-) Brilliant.

 

[diver 85]

Go back & get your computer--------watch your ascent rate(as I'm sure you always do..)

 

[boulderjohn]

In the Knowledge Reviews for the RDP version of the PADI OW course, students are required to calculate the minimum surface intervals between given dives. Each question gives the details for the two dives in both imperial and metric units. In one of them, the correct imperial answer for the minimum surface interval between dives is 4 minutes, and the metric answer is 0 minutes.

 

[TSandM]

BTW, I agree with the shortcomings of the BWRAF, which is why I do a head-to-toe equipment check. As I move down my body, my gauges come right after dry suit inflator check.

 

[knotical]

Since this discussion has morphed, consider this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/460295-buddy-check-mnemonic-revisited.html

 

[boulderjohn]

BTW, I agree with the shortcomings of the BWRAF, which is why I do a head-to-toe equipment check. As I move down my body, my gauges come right after dry suit inflator check.

This illustrates another problem with standardized agency-led buddy checks--not everyone is wearing the same equipment, so no pre-made system works the same for everyone. If you are using the standard set of gear from 20 years ago, when you checked your air, you looked at your console and thus checked your instruments--no other step needed. The average new diver does not need to check the dry suit inflator button, so it is not in the standard buddy check. People who never dive nitrox don't have to make sure their computers are set to the proper mix. I have dived a number of times with Natalie Gibb in Mexico, and she does a very, very thorough pre-dive check that precisely fits her side mount setup. As we go through it together, I adapt my back mount setup to that checklist.

You may have to customize your pre-dive check to the brand of your equipment. I have a Shearwater Petrel computer, and until its most recent firmware update, if the computer timed out and turned off before I descended, it would turn itself on as I descended (as all do); however, if I were diving at altitude, it would not know that, and it would give the wrong depth. I had to make sure that it was not only on my wrist, but it was turned on before I descended. Since that was something I did not have to do in the past, it was easy to forget. I recently did something very similar to the OP in this thread by realizing during my descent that the computer had not been turned on before the dive, so I had to go back to the surface, shut it off, and turn it back on again before resuming the dive.

The head to toe check works well in that it is perfectly customized, but it requires you to have a perfect image in your mind of what things should look like so you can compare it to what is actually happening. It takes time to develop that image. I think it is helpful to talk out loud as you go through at least the key points of your check, because it helps remind your buddy.

 

[dmaziuk]

In the Knowledge Reviews for the RDP version of the PADI OW course, students are required to calculate the minimum surface intervals between given dives. Each question gives the details for the two dives in both imperial and metric units. In one of them, the correct imperial answer for the minimum surface interval between dives is 4 minutes, and the metric answer is 0 minutes.

So that's why I set my DC to metric back when I got it -- I must have known...


Seriously though, you've spent less than 3 minutes (I assume form "descended quickly") at a safety stop depth, I bet you DC wouldn't even count that as a "dive" if you had it on your wrist.

 

[The Chairman]

It depends on the dive on whether I'm doing a formal buddy check. Look at your buddy: do they look like a diver? Cool, let's breathe twice off of our regs while looking at our SPG and then splash. Hitting a cave with a buddy? Things are taken to another level, one that includes our plan for the dive.

I've seen people get distracted trying to remember the various mnemonics and miss obvious crap.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

What are the consequences of taking a trip to the surface near the beginning of a dive?

Scenario: Descend to 35 feet. Discover don't have dive computer on arm. Continue or get the computer?

My first question is: Are you on your first dive in a 24 hour period?

I don't usually jump into the Basic Discussions, so please excuse me if I seem harsh, long fingered (type too much) or assume too much. I am just too far away from my instructor days to remember all the responses I used to have at my disposal.

I seem to find this a fascinating experiment in potential repetitive dive issues and the experience potential of someone who has more than 100 dives (as indicated in your profile info).

What should the recreational diver do? (And what should the dive master advise?)

I believe the dive master should never advise in this type of situation. You are either qualified to make the decision or you are not and would therefore end your dive at this point.

There is no disgrace in ending a dive because one is uncomfortable, or has an equipment malfunction. It is always survival of the fittest when diving, and the more experiences you have, the better qualified you are to handle them in the future. You now have one more experience for you to qualify in the future.

Remember, instructors are only charged with giving you enough information and experience to "NOT" kill yourself when diving. It is up to you to go farther and learn how to be a "better" diver.

A) Go to the boat, get the computer, and rejoin the group.
B) Continue without the computer.
D) Ascend and wait for _____ amount of time before diving.
C) Ascend and don't dive.

Each of these scenarios is dependent on your experiences and comfort. No one but you can answer this to your comfort level.

What if the reason to ascend was something else?

Thanks!

That's the thing... You would need to be specific for each "something else" in order to find an answer...
Example:
mask
fins
snorkel
squeeze
buoyancy
flag
... etc.

---------- Post added August 10th, 2015 at 09:56 PM ----------

It depends on the dive on whether I'm doing a formal buddy check. Look at your buddy: do they look like a diver? Cool, let's breathe twice off of our regs while looking at our SPG and then splash. Hitting a cave with a buddy? Things are taken to another level, one that includes our plan for the dive.

I've seen people get distracted trying to remember the various mnemonics and miss obvious crap.

Oooo... shiny thing!