How does someone run out of air???
- Thread starter Eric Sedletzky
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MartianBeerPig
Contributor
Someone turned off my air once and I forgot to double-check it before jumping in the water. :blush: Got down to about 12m by the time I noticed. Signaled to my buddy - he turned the air on and away we went.
Not one of my brighter moments.
Not one of my brighter moments.
Admittedly, when I got certified I didn't know how to execute proper gas planning until I read how on your website. I had been diving for 6 years by the time I learned how to actually plan a dive from start to finish and know how much air I would have left. That was the whole reason I made it a point to thank you for your site, because the 300 bucks I spent on OW and the 300 bucks I spent on AOW didn't compare to the hour I spent taking notes off of your free web page. It just goes to show you that dive shop courses are not always a good substitute for a helpful mentor, online or in person
So thanks...again.
skmfj
Registered
Here is one.
On a borrowed regulator, swimming hard at 90 ft chasing fish with a speargun. Looked at SPG still had 1000 lbs, and kept swimming. Started to get hard to breath. What the heck! Still says 1000 lbs. Banged on the SPG, and went to zero. Out of breath at 90 ft. That was a fun assent. Confronted my friend about the gauge. He says, "Oh yeah forgot to tell you the gauge sticks." We both laughed.
Another way to OOA is to lobster dive. Done it may times to get that last bug.
On a borrowed regulator, swimming hard at 90 ft chasing fish with a speargun. Looked at SPG still had 1000 lbs, and kept swimming. Started to get hard to breath. What the heck! Still says 1000 lbs. Banged on the SPG, and went to zero. Out of breath at 90 ft. That was a fun assent. Confronted my friend about the gauge. He says, "Oh yeah forgot to tell you the gauge sticks." We both laughed.
Another way to OOA is to lobster dive. Done it may times to get that last bug.
OP
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I wouldn't be laughing about crappy borrowed gear, I'd be pissed. That's why most of us here own our own stuff and maintain it.
I lobster dive too. Lot's of people lobster dive but seem to remember to keep track of things like how much air we have left.
With 0-24 dives (provided you're telling the truth about the number of dives) I wouldn't be bragging about the fact that you have run OOA "many times".
hey what happened to keeping it simple... out for a third (of your tank) back with a third and surface with a third!
I've only had one buddy go OOA... carelessness... won't dive with him again.
I was with fish when he decided to breathe a tank dry to see what it was like... VERY close to him and as the air got lower he was going shallower on totally safe sandy gentle slope exit. When the tank was empty he just stood up.
I've been meaning to do that myself for the experience in a safe controlled environment. I think it is a good way to gain some practice/experience just in case you need it some day.
I've only had one buddy go OOA... carelessness... won't dive with him again.
I was with fish when he decided to breathe a tank dry to see what it was like... VERY close to him and as the air got lower he was going shallower on totally safe sandy gentle slope exit. When the tank was empty he just stood up.
I've been meaning to do that myself for the experience in a safe controlled environment. I think it is a good way to gain some practice/experience just in case you need it some day.
I've gone out of gas a few times.
The first one was doing a valve drill with a brand new buddy. I turned all my own gas off. I realized what I had done when I put the new reg in my mouth and there wasn't any gas there. I looked at my buddy, who was looking somewhere else, and reached up and turned on my own gas. It was a few seconds of apprehension, but it ended fine.
I had a freeflow empty my tank before I could ascend (on somebody else's long hose) from 30 feet to the surface.
I was in a class where I got entangled in the upline, and my buddy went out of gas, and when I donated to him, I found my backup reg dry. I had rolled off my left post.
How somebody diving a single tank and not experiencing a gear malfunction ends up with no breathing gas is completely beyond me. Other divers are clearly not nearly as paranoid as I am.
The first one was doing a valve drill with a brand new buddy. I turned all my own gas off. I realized what I had done when I put the new reg in my mouth and there wasn't any gas there. I looked at my buddy, who was looking somewhere else, and reached up and turned on my own gas. It was a few seconds of apprehension, but it ended fine.
I had a freeflow empty my tank before I could ascend (on somebody else's long hose) from 30 feet to the surface.
I was in a class where I got entangled in the upline, and my buddy went out of gas, and when I donated to him, I found my backup reg dry. I had rolled off my left post.
How somebody diving a single tank and not experiencing a gear malfunction ends up with no breathing gas is completely beyond me. Other divers are clearly not nearly as paranoid as I am.
I apologize in advance for the length of this post
I was certified under 2 years ago and consider myself "inexperienced." However, with 170 dives in various conditions I also think I have experienced a relatively steep learning curve and would like to share some thoughts about Inawareness with other new divers. Some people only dive on vacations and therefore do not have the ability to develop what I would refer to as regular dive habits. Continuously diving with rental gear in new locations can only dictate the credo of always checking your air. Then there is another group of divers who regularly go to the same place, in the same conditions with the same gear. This set of circumstances is the foundation/perspective from which my experiences derive.
As a newly certified diver living first in VA and then PA, quarries were my only option if I wanted to dive every weekend. And dive I did. I ended up leading most of the dives with my regular dive buddy, probably because I was the less experienced and he could keep an eye on me that way, making it a more relaxed dive for him. As a result, I developed the habit, because I was always using my compass to nav, of flipping and subconsciously taking in my air consumption the entire time. That combined with a known matching air consumption and non variable depth of a quarry meant that without much thought, barring equipment failure, we always surfaced with proper air reserve.
Then one day I changed a piece of equipment (bc to wing , wetsuit to dry, not all on the same dive, but just giving examples here) Hmmm, well, darned if I didn't notice while I was fidgeting with that and leading as usual, I was going to give the thumbs up a little earlier than normal. (Note to self: comfort/experience with new equipment matters) Then one day I dived in the same location with the same equipment but with a new buddy, hmmm, noticed my air consumption went up on that dive. (Note to self: new buddies matter) Then I went to clear warm water and air consumption went waaaaay down. (note to self: conditions REALLY matter) Then I got a camera and noticed that distractions matter, same thing with a scooter. Really, the ability to recognize your distraction threshold is what matters. Then I went on a drift/wreck dive with strong current and that REALLY matters. Day v. night dives matter. I have used several sizes of tanks, which makes a difference. My experience on the first 50 dives compared to my last 50 made a difference on air consumption. All else being equal, behaviors matter. On one dive, I changed my equip config, where my air gauge was no longer on my upper right shoulder but on my lower right hip. (IOW out of field of vision) On the same dive, I did not lead, so I did not do my usual habit of subconsciously flipping my compass to check my air. On the same dive I had the distraction of both camera and scooter. On the same dive I had an equipment malfunction and went OOA at 70 ft at 17 minutes with a HP steel 100. (as a result of my altered behaviors I was not checking my gauge AS regularly, the equipment failure was not catastrophic IOW not immediate but rather a medium leak, and actually even more went wrong on this dive including poor dive plan) Analysis of that and other dive stories mentioned to me led me to a harsh realization that no matter how much you dive, every little thing MATTERS with regard to air consumption. And the negative impact is not linear, but exponentially increased with each varying factor from your norm. I am not a mathematician, this is just my instinct.
(I did not go into details here about locations, but profile contains addtl info for your reference)
I remember thinking when I read posts here about stupid divers, what, specifically about their comprehension made their logic faulty. I never considered myself stupid, however I thought it was possible to make the same errors as all the stupid divers. In denial perhaps, I made up another group, of which I included myself, those without enough information/experience.
Happy Diving
Donna
I was certified under 2 years ago and consider myself "inexperienced." However, with 170 dives in various conditions I also think I have experienced a relatively steep learning curve and would like to share some thoughts about Inawareness with other new divers. Some people only dive on vacations and therefore do not have the ability to develop what I would refer to as regular dive habits. Continuously diving with rental gear in new locations can only dictate the credo of always checking your air. Then there is another group of divers who regularly go to the same place, in the same conditions with the same gear. This set of circumstances is the foundation/perspective from which my experiences derive.
As a newly certified diver living first in VA and then PA, quarries were my only option if I wanted to dive every weekend. And dive I did. I ended up leading most of the dives with my regular dive buddy, probably because I was the less experienced and he could keep an eye on me that way, making it a more relaxed dive for him. As a result, I developed the habit, because I was always using my compass to nav, of flipping and subconsciously taking in my air consumption the entire time. That combined with a known matching air consumption and non variable depth of a quarry meant that without much thought, barring equipment failure, we always surfaced with proper air reserve.
Then one day I changed a piece of equipment (bc to wing , wetsuit to dry, not all on the same dive, but just giving examples here) Hmmm, well, darned if I didn't notice while I was fidgeting with that and leading as usual, I was going to give the thumbs up a little earlier than normal. (Note to self: comfort/experience with new equipment matters) Then one day I dived in the same location with the same equipment but with a new buddy, hmmm, noticed my air consumption went up on that dive. (Note to self: new buddies matter) Then I went to clear warm water and air consumption went waaaaay down. (note to self: conditions REALLY matter) Then I got a camera and noticed that distractions matter, same thing with a scooter. Really, the ability to recognize your distraction threshold is what matters. Then I went on a drift/wreck dive with strong current and that REALLY matters. Day v. night dives matter. I have used several sizes of tanks, which makes a difference. My experience on the first 50 dives compared to my last 50 made a difference on air consumption. All else being equal, behaviors matter. On one dive, I changed my equip config, where my air gauge was no longer on my upper right shoulder but on my lower right hip. (IOW out of field of vision) On the same dive, I did not lead, so I did not do my usual habit of subconsciously flipping my compass to check my air. On the same dive I had the distraction of both camera and scooter. On the same dive I had an equipment malfunction and went OOA at 70 ft at 17 minutes with a HP steel 100. (as a result of my altered behaviors I was not checking my gauge AS regularly, the equipment failure was not catastrophic IOW not immediate but rather a medium leak, and actually even more went wrong on this dive including poor dive plan) Analysis of that and other dive stories mentioned to me led me to a harsh realization that no matter how much you dive, every little thing MATTERS with regard to air consumption. And the negative impact is not linear, but exponentially increased with each varying factor from your norm. I am not a mathematician, this is just my instinct.
(I did not go into details here about locations, but profile contains addtl info for your reference)
I remember thinking when I read posts here about stupid divers, what, specifically about their comprehension made their logic faulty. I never considered myself stupid, however I thought it was possible to make the same errors as all the stupid divers. In denial perhaps, I made up another group, of which I included myself, those without enough information/experience.
Happy Diving
Donna
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My wife ran OOA during her OW course (don't tell her I posted this). This happened because of inexperience, the resulting high SAC, and just plain 'ol not checking the gauge. She was pretty embarassed about it at the time, but everything turned out OK, and we had a good laugh after she got home and told me about it. Just my .02 psi
). This happened because of inexperience, the resulting high SAC, and just plain 'ol not checking the gauge. She was pretty embarassed about it at the time, but everything turned out OK, and we had a good laugh after she got home and told me about it. Just my .02 psiSimilar threads
