Nearly drowned in the pool... But it was fun...

[scuba70]

fisherdvm, imo you should count yourself lucky to have passed that skill. When I went through it, going to the surface would give you a failing score under the evaluation criteria given for the PADI DM class. You should have had to start from the beginning of the exercise to receive a passing score. I'm not sure if you were with them or not. Either way, it's still a fun exercise.

 

[captron]

Glad you made it through ok, When I took my D.M . class my dive partner & I put on the other persons gear before we entered the water not right but worked great.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Clay, maybe your right but I still dont see this as relevant as some here seem to do. I dive on the average of 40 individual day and night dives a month in waters averaging 40 meters or more in all conditions of current, lighting and surface condition. I dont imagine there are many here on SB who train as much or as often as I do. I do understand the benefit of being able to properly make a decision under stressful conditions but like I said gear swapping is not my favorite drill. I never said I hadnt done this drill or the NAUI skin ditch n don or the "bailout" you write about.

Then you also understand how hard it is to bring the conditions you train in into a pool. We can't simulate most things that will happen in the real world but we CAN figure out exercises that raise your stress level and make you multi task that can be done in a pool where we can remove the stressors at will. The best part about these seemingly senseless exercises is the ability to "do it over" when you aren't dealing with the stress and the multi tasking in a safe manner. The higher up the certification chain you get especially once you are at the pro level, the more likely someone ELSE will get hurt or die if you can't keep your head in the game when multiple things go wrong.

My OW students ask me why we do bailouts (air on for them). I tell them it's only useful as an actual skill if your boat is being torpedoed but for reality purposes it's a problem solving exercise we can easily control in the pool.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Rec Diver]

fisherdvm;

I think the issues here is that you panicked.

 

[fisherdvm]

Hey, I admit, I panicked. I am negatively buoyant, my instructor is positive. He's pulling me to the surface. I am trying to clear an oversized mask while watching him float away with my life support system in HIS mouth. I can't see. He wears bifocals, and I wear - 4 diopters.. My mask is flooded....

Of course I panicked... Then on the surface, his BC is heavy, and I can't inflate it... Heck, yes, I panicked...

But I still wouldn't mind doing the drill again. Next time, we'll both be really negative. Next time, we wouldn't be floating to the surface .... But it probably wouldn't be as fun.

We did the same drill a week ago but using our octos... That was a breeze. Then he said the next time, he has a surprise. I guess it was.

 

[Thalassamania]

Hey, I admit, I panicked. I am negatively buoyant, my instructor is positive. He's pulling me to the surface. I am trying to clear an oversized mask while watching him float away with my life support system in HIS mouth. I can't see. He wears bifocals, and I wear - 4 diopters.. My mask is flooded....

Of course I panicked... Then on the surface, his BC is heavy, and I can't inflate it... Heck, yes, I panicked...

But I still wouldn't mind doing the drill again. Next time, we'll both be really negative. Next time, we wouldn't be floating to the surface .... But it probably wouldn't be as fun.

We did the same drill a week ago but using our octos... That was a breeze. Then he said the next time, he has a surprise. I guess it was.

First of all a bit of perspective, this is a skill we do in the 100 hour course. We do it on the bottom, we do it in mid-water and sometimes we do it in mid-water buddy breathing. Properly prepared, it is no big deal for the student. Weighting is a critical issue, a big piece of the skill is both divers having their rigs neutral and themselves neutral, as you found out. There is an item to point to when folks ask, "Why do this skill? It isn't 'realistic'." Realism is not always what one is looking for, sometime learning transferable lessons can be more important.

 

[Baconated]

I had to do the gear swap for my NAUI AOW class. I had all of the gear on and my instructor and I were buddy breathing from the shallow to the deep end of the pool, swapped gear while continuing to buddy breath, and then swam back with him wearing everything. It was a bit stressful, more so once I gave him my mask and my vis went to hell.

At one point on the swim back while buddy breathing and not being able to see very well I was tired and felt like I really needed air. I could sort of make out that he was handing me the reg and I took it from him too quickly and wrapped my mouth around the side of the reg instead of the mouthpiece - it got frustrating and I _really_ wanted air at that point.

I'm really glad I did it though. Not because it is something I'll have to do in the wild, but because I think it is a really good task loading exercise. There was a lot to think about aside from having to remember to pass the reg, and it all gets more difficult once your getting tired. Folks have mentioned it being dangerous, but I wasn't concerned about that very much since it was in the pool in a controlled situation. It was a good tiring exercise that you really had to be calm for.

Just like I'm glad (after the fact) that I puked through my reg at 35 feet once - now I have a better idea of how to handle it and I'm less concerned if something like that were to happen again.

Nathan

 

[jbd]

Yes, I think the lesson teaches alot about the danger of buddy breathing,...

Why did you come away with this about buddy breathing???

 

[fisherdvm]

Why did you come away with this about buddy breathing???

Both buddies must be comfortable with the technique, otherwise one would panic. Haven't done buddy breathing since OW training in 1993, so it was a little shocking for me to jump into it so quick.

 

[BarryNL]

As a current Divermaster candidate, I am *quite* looking forward to this one, as it's one of the most entertaining drills you get to do.

Remember, fins can be swapped one at a time