My First Real OOA Today (& With long Hose)

[Mark Vlahos]

I gotta' admit it was a dud.

...snip

Kind of a non-event. Not very exciting at all

....snip

After the dive, he said, "Sorry about that. But hey, that hose was great. Where were you hiding all that hose?"

Glad all went well.

It sounds a lot like my similar experience, in my case the OOA diver was actually only low on air, and frankly not dangerously low, just low enough that the safety stop would have been cut short. In my experience by sharing he had enough air for a safety stop and more than enough for filling his BC and keeping his reg in his mouth when getting back on the boat.

With your diver was he OUT of air, really LOW on air, or just a little too low for comfort? The answer to this would have an effect on his stress level when you got to him.

My situation was also with someone who was not my direct buddy but rather someone who was in the same larger group. He also had not noticed over a week of diving that I had so much air hose. He jokingly thought I must have kept in on some unseen reel.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Jason B]

He also had not noticed over a week of diving that I had so much air hose. He jokingly thought I must have kept in on some unseen reel.


Mark Vlahos

Mark, that's not what's on all those reels you have?
Hey, let me know when you get back to the east coast and we'll head down to cave country one weekend. Drive safe out to the left coast.

Jason

 

[markfm]

Hmmm -- was that 7 feet, or 7 meters, for the long hose...
Good job!

 

[Rick Inman]

Hey Rick, nice job staying cool...

To echo some thoughts, I'd be concerned about the OOA and assume that you did more extensive probing into the cause of that with the other diver...

Also, even thought this fellow was not your original buddy, he was allocated to someone after his original buddy split, right?

Your group of 3 should have ideally split into two buddy pairs once his buddy surfaced...in my thinking anyway...so no-one should have been buddyless.

After the dive, we talked all about it, of course. His buddy has cancer and is going through chemotherapy and felt fatigued (no one told me this before the dive) and desided at 80' that he wasn't up to going to over 100'. If was my opinion that the two should have stuck together and the other guy should have called the dive with his buddy.

Yes, he was totally OOA, unable to even inflate his BC on the surface.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Glad everything went well. Hope the other divers talk it over and realize they must dive their plan although I've been down on wrecks were everyone goes their own way. At 110' thats pony bottle territory also.

Glad all was well; hats off to you for being of assistance; youre the type of diver thats good be have around.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Right on, Rick.

Thats the entire point of training.

Adrenaline dumps below 100' are highly over-rated.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

After the dive, we talked all about it, of course. His buddy has cancer and is going through chemotherapy and felt fatigued (no one told me this before the dive) and desided at 80' that he wasn't up to going to over 100'. If was my opinion that the two should have stuck together and the other guy should have called the dive with his buddy.

Yes, he was totally OOA, unable to even inflate his BC on the surface.

Wow, totally out of air at 100 feet. That guy is pretty lucky that you were close at hand. Not even able to inflate his BC at the surface, this means he sucked hard for that last breath, wow. I hope in the future he keeps a closer watch on his air supply.

This is a good lesson for keeping adequate reserves in your tank to get to the surface, just in case your buddy runs out of air at the worst possible time. I have been diving with other divers who routinely plan a square profile with a max depth of 100 feet and will shoot for 500 PSI or slightly less when back at the surface with an AL 80. On the same profile dive I really feel uncomfortable with less than 700 PSI on the boat, not just at the surface. With double LP 95's I will get to the 500 PSI mark, but it still makes me a little nervous.

Diving while undergoing somthing as physically stressful as chemotherapy, not the choice I would make, but you have already covered that.

Mark Vlahos

 

[mdb]

Wow, totally out of air at 100 feet. That guy is pretty lucky that you were close at hand. Not even able to inflate his BC at the surface, this means he sucked hard for that last breath, wow. I hope in the future he keeps a closer watch on his air supply.

Rick: I join the others on this thread on offering congratulations on your fine handling of the OOA incident. I also agree with those who talk about having an OOA with a "non buddy". I've dealt with two OOA situations in 30 yrs. of diving. One with a dive buddy prior to SP gauges. We were using J valve tanks. He forgot to properly set his and I failed to check it. While Abalone hunting off Point Loma in San Digeo he swam over to me, and in a panic, ripped the regulator out my mouth. I did not have an OCTO. I waited for him to take his two breaths, he began to struggle and I then realized I was not getting the reg back any time soon. I bailed out of my gear and made a free ascent from about 60 FSW. Shortly afterwards, in a stream of bubbles, my friend appeared hauling my tank and still breathing from my regulator. I starting taking classes with a fine instructor named Lou Fead. I became more or less a solo diver although I continued to buddy up on most dives. Fast forward a decade or so later to a dive off Grand Cayman. I was at about 110 FSW having a good time in warm clear water. Another diver off the boat, not my buddy, came over my head and ripped my primary from my mouth. I went for my poseidon octo and looked up to see saucer size eyes and some blood in the OOA divers mask. After a few breaths he calmed down a bit and we made a slow controlled ascent. He had had a massive 1st stage failure and I was the closest diver. That incident taught me that DIR does have it right. The primary is the reg that is going to be used in OOA situations. The long hose goes a long way to helping keep things under control. I am not a DIR diver, but I do admire the concepts and the training. Again Rick-well done. mdb

 

[Rick Inman]

Wow, totally out of air at 100 feet.

Sorry mark, I wasn't clear. We we on the way back up when it happened - less than 40'. We were about 40 mins. into the dive.

I am not a DIR diver, but I do admire the concepts and the training.

I'm not either, but I've had some dives and help from some DIR divers. Hoping to take the Sept. class coming up.

But I have a pretty regular buddy who likes to do OOA drills with me. We watch each other, and (assuming all is good), if the other person looks totally distracted, we pull an OOG drill on them . A month doesn't go by that I haven't done 2 or 3 drills.

 

[pasley]

...This is a good lesson for keeping adequate reserves in your tank to get to the surface, just in case your buddy runs out of air at the worst possible time. I have been diving with other divers who routinely plan a square profile with a max depth of 100 feet and will shoot for 500 PSI or slightly less when back at the surface with an AL 80. On the same profile dive I really feel uncomfortable with less than 700 PSI on the boat, not just at the surface. With double LP 95's I will get to the 500 PSI mark, but it still makes me a little nervous..,Mark Vlahos

Mark, you make a very good point. I normally do not do dives to 100 or more feet. But recently went out on a small dive boat where the destination is decided once everyone gets there. Long Story short, dive is to 130 foot wreck with the top of the wreck at 110 FSW. There I am with an AL 80 and no pony. I do have a great dive buddy whom I met on the boat. Down the line, explore around the wreck, and out of bottom time (9 minutes as I have my SUUNTO set for ultra conservative), back up the line, safety stop for 3 minutes at 15 feet, and back on the boat with 1680 left in the tank. Total dive time: 18 minutes. A perfect dive with no issues, but technically, I did not do all I could have in the planning department now that you mention it.

Had I thought adequately about leaving enough air for me and my buddy to use from 100 feet. No. I was content to be back on the surface with 700 PSI and had planned to leave the bottom at 1000 PSI or 9 minutes which ever came first. But I think you are right, I should have planned on being back on the boat at 700 PSI. Fortunately I am not a large user of air and bottom time is normally the ending factor on most of my dive. But some of my dive partners can blow through a 120 tank in short order, and I need to factor in their air consumption just in case we are both using my AL80 on the way up (hey, it could happen).