Why didn't I handle a freeflow situation?

[Thumpers]

Went I was going through my Divemaster training there were several other divers I had the greatest respect for going through it at the same time.
We knew that with what we did we were definitely going to find ourselves in one of those situations down the road and we wanted to be sure we were prepared to handle it.
To that end we self made those situations in controlled situations.
I cannot tell you the number of times I had my mask yanked off while in a class, the number of times my air was turned off, or my regulator yanked out of my mouth.
I have had my feet grabbed and been flipped over.
I promise that if you do these kinds of these in practice that when a real emergency happens it will not be something you panic over.

We were diving Lake Travis and went up into the overhang at the Pecan Grove. This is a cool little rock over hang that has a pocket. You take out your regulator and press the release and let air out. Air will pocket and you can then come up and into an alcove 100 feet under water and remove your mask and talk.
Well my regulator went into free flow at that point. It simply amazed me that it happened. I had my wife turn off the air to my tank. We waited until the air stopped flowing. Then turned it back on and everything was okay.
Mind you this is at 100 feet under water, it is dark, it is cold and it does not get much more nerve racking than that.
Yet there was no panicing, no emergency ascent, I simply did what I had done 100 times before.

 

[The Chairman]

Skill sets...

With each certification I earned while diving, I actually acquired a new set of skills. Like muscles, skills get stronger with each repetition as Rick pointed out. I worked on buoyancy, trim and the like as well as all of my emergency skills until I had them down. Then I worked on them some more.

I became a DM to be able to assist my kids while diving. I became an instructor to assist Scouts in learning how to dive. Both of these made me hone and refine those skill sets. Now, I not only practice them, I have them broken down into discrete units so my students can understand what I am doing. You don't really learn a skill until you try to teach/describe it. DMing with an instructor is a quick way to get those skills down.

 

[String]

any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Training and practice. When you learn things in training you do them a small amount of time over a compressed time scale. That isn't great for developing muscle memory or long term comfort especially as most people rarely if ever practice their rescue skills once they've finished a course.
That means that when something happens for real they aren't comfortable with a skill they did a few times several years ago or whatever and it goes wrong.

Number of dives isnt really relevant here:- if someone has 300 trouble free dives and then has a problem they're still trying to remember something they havent done for several years. The cure is practice.

Its a very common problem but one which is easily remedied - practice OOA ascents, mask removals, freeflowing reg etc frequently on normal dives so you're constantly refreshing your memory and comfortable with it.

 

[Nemrod]

hi im an advanced openwater diver with 50 dives under my belt not much i know so clearly still a novice.

The other day me and my buddy was diving a local site when after 5 minuits into the dive i had a freeflow situation. I hadnt had to deal with anything like that before. in my training i totally understood what i would need to do in this situation, however the other day i totally lost it and instead of being calm i paniked and started to hyperventilate at 25 mtrs. i grabed my buddys octo and exchanged for my freeflowing reg. Now i should be ok knowing that i now was reasonably safe but i couldnt get enough air as i was paniking still, so i tried to get to the surface as quick as i could, with my buddy!!! we failed to hold a safety stop we are both ok but i put my buddys life in danger and am now thinking weather or not to carry on diving.

any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
thanx P.S sorry buddy

Dude----

A. No, you should not stop diving.

B. You may have an advanced c card but with 50 dives you are a BEGINNER, you are not advanced at anything and no piece of paper or plastic card you got from PadI can make it different.

C. You should mentally practice and then practice for real these circumstances, in a pool, like you should have done in Basic but probably did not. You should practice with your mask removed and then stick the free flow or OOA on top.

D. Ain't no big dealio

Let me add, the reason I go on about equipment dependency, this is an example, no piece of equipment is life support, the junk cannot be counted on, the only thing you have you can count on is your brain, use it.

N, I am "N" to zen

 

[divemaster2011]

i would just like to thank all you guys that have left me good sound advice i am going to keep at it as i am a determined sort of person although it did scare the s*** out of me!!! doing skills on every dive sounds like a good plan will be talking it over with my buddy

thanks shaun

 

[mikeb663]

What ever you do don't quit diving. I have been through this several times and have progressed to the point now that it is no big deal. I dive in predominantly cold water where we expect free flows and are prepared for them. My dive instructor was very good at preparing me for this and I do feel it is easier every time. My first free flow I think I felt about the same way as you did. One thing to remember is that when we operate under stressful situations you will not rise to the occassion, but will sink to the level of your training. You must prepare for the freeflow and try to practice each dive. Go into each dive mentally prepared and ready to handle problems where you are instead of having your first reaction to be ascent! I hope this helps. Have fun

 

[Ardy]

Everyone here would have had a least 3 underwater issues to deal with if they have been diving regularly for 5 years or more. Maybe a more sensible approach is that something will happen, rather than nothing will happen to me. Free flow is one of the more common problems.

The reaction of people in difficult situations never ceases to amaze me and I am sure it will vary depending on depth, current, temp and viz. I have had out of air instabuddies who were convinced it was the end. In Jervis Bay NSW I had a young diver who was part of a group of 4 divers, tap me on the shoulder whilst I was taking photo's and give me the ooa signal. I gave him my occy and he wanted to stay down longer and watch what I was up to. I checked his gauge and he was completely out. Don't know what happened to his buddies but he was very controlled for a new diver OOA.

Look after yourself it pays.

 

[bsee65]

I appreciate that everyone here is pro-diving and on the bandwagon, but only the diver can decide if continuing is appropriate. I taught some motorcycle courses a few years back and found that maybe ten percent of the students just didn't have the basic coordination and mindset to ride safely. These included some brilliant people and athletes who just couldn't put the skills together. Some were find on the closed range, but I was sure that they would be in an accident, most likely someone else's fault, once they hit the streets. When you get on a motorcycle to drive with cars, you have to put the pride away and keep track of everyone and every thing around you. No matter what the rules of the road say, the motorcycle never has the right of way.

Diving seems very similar. You have to have the mindset and you have to practice. You have to be aware of all the dangers out there and prepare to respond to them before they become dangerous.

I believe everyone should be supportive of your interest in diving. We should all try to help people resolve their issues and answer questions. I just believe that no one can tell you that you have to keep diving but you. If you do decide to continue, then learn from your mistake. Think about the things that could go wrong before they do and practice dealing with the ones that you can.

 

[scubadrewvideo]

I never had to do that. What's it like...any tricks?

Yeah...try actually getting certified!
That skill is part of all open water courses, so you would have done it if you were certified.

another good reason to hide behind a fake name...your fake certification might get exposed!

 

[bluebubble1995]

Yeah...try actually getting certified!
That skill is part of all open water courses, so you would have done it if you were certified.

another good reason to hide behind a fake name...your fake certification might get exposed!

Why the attack???!!! When I got certified in 1995 at Blue Bubble in Coz I don't recall having done that. It wasn't even required that you know how to swim. My first dive was to 126' on Palancar Reef. That doesn't happen anymore!