dumpsterDiver
Banned
- Messages
- 9,003
- Reaction score
- 4,652
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
I often see people on here touting the benefits of being able to "hand off" a pony bottle to a panicked or scared diver. Presumably it is beneficial to the donor because it keeps the two divers away from each other and this mitigates the danger to the donor. After the hand off, I guess the recipient just holds the tank in one or two hands, operates their BC and goes up.
I was taught that a diver in distress should be grabbed and held firmly, establish eye contact, provide help, maintain physical contact if practical and then escort the victim to the surface as fast as is safe. So this idea of handing off being a major consideration always sounds foreign to me.
I've never seen this scenario in real life. Have any members ever done the hand off (of the entire pony bottle - that is completely detached from their rig) and then backed off and kept their distance and allowed the recipient to go up? I'm think about recreational divers here, not tech divers sharing stage bottles.
Does it really occur often? Is it really beneficial? Will a diver who is so panicked that you don't want them anywhere near you - still be able to hold a bottle and make a safe ascent without any contact or assistance?
I was taught that a diver in distress should be grabbed and held firmly, establish eye contact, provide help, maintain physical contact if practical and then escort the victim to the surface as fast as is safe. So this idea of handing off being a major consideration always sounds foreign to me.
I've never seen this scenario in real life. Have any members ever done the hand off (of the entire pony bottle - that is completely detached from their rig) and then backed off and kept their distance and allowed the recipient to go up? I'm think about recreational divers here, not tech divers sharing stage bottles.
Does it really occur often? Is it really beneficial? Will a diver who is so panicked that you don't want them anywhere near you - still be able to hold a bottle and make a safe ascent without any contact or assistance?
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