First time with equipment problems

[pediatron]

Thanks for all the great replies. We did end up taking the rescue course last month and it was great. I am hoping my response to the next minor problem would have a bit less anxiety associated with it -- but that's the thing: none of us can really predict how we will behave when something goes wrong. We can anticipate, plan, etc. but it's hard to judge what your own reaction will be. I learned a lot from my very minor experience and in retrospect might even be happy it happened so I can build up some experience in the when things go wrong category. I do agree that the rescue course is priceless for learning to anticipate and then deal with problems.

[mjacobydc]

Glad to hear you are o.k and got to enjoy the rest of your dive trip. I had an incident diving with my brother, nephew, & a DM where We rushed to get off the dive boat and did not do a proper safety check on our equipment. I guess these things are a great reminder to slow down and make sure we personally check our gear and feel comfortable that it is in good order.

[Jim Lapenta]

I would also recommend you take an equipment course. You are responsible for your gear. Not your husband. As to him not knowing you were ok at what point did you call out to him to say you needed help? He did not desert you. Not dropping your weights because they can be a pain to get back in also indicates you are not familiar enough with your gear. If you cannot unclip, clip, remove, replace everything in your kit with your eyes closed, it's time to either rethink your set up or get in the pool ALOT more and practice till you can. A big disservice some instructors do is not instill in their students that there may come a time when you cannot see for one reason or another and you'll need to do this. Also if the pockets are that big a pain it may be time to change bc's or get a weightbelt. Hesitation can hurt or kill you very fast.

[ce4jesus]

About 3-4 times a year, my wife and I practice stuff in the pool. OOA, BCD failure (disconnect airhose), lost mask, unconscious diver (one of us goes limp and the other has to get them to the surface then tow them to the other end of the pool). Its only in a pool but it helps build our confidence should things happen in real life. My goal is to continually think up scenarios we could eventually face.

[jeckyll]

pediatron: Sounds like you were ready to dump the weight, which is good, but I think the thing to keep in mind, is that if you are the only one in the water you are solo diving. It's much different having someone there with you who can immediately help out (and is equipped with scuba).

Also, inflating your wing / bcd pre-dive and ensuring it holds gas might be a good check to add, especially on entries where you can't walk out.

[idivetrain]

I am so glad you took the Rescue Diver course and glad to hear of your new confidence in yourself. As others have pointed out, roll playing problems on an ongoing basis will only improve your skills and comfort. Happy diving, may you have many great adventures ahead of you..

[waynel]

For reasons just like this, I dont like the dives in Cozumel where they have you jump in with no air in, and just sink. Glad everything worked out okay.

Just curious. Who did you dive with when this happened? I know some Ops might do it, but from what I understand, and that's after only one trip and chatting with instructors/DM's in Coz via the Cozumel sub forum, most Ops require the DM to descend their divers as a group. I'd like to avoid an Op that allows each diver a direct entry. Thanks.

[Walter]

I was in a new 5mm full wetsuit (from my previous 3mm) and needed to figure out weights. My husband didn’t suit up as his plan was to hand me additional weights from the pier if needed. I suited up and jumped off the pier (probably over-weighted with 18 lbs.) into about 12 feet of water.

Why did you use 18 lbs? It's better to start out underweighted and add weight until you are weighted correctly.

Very quickly I noticed that while my BC would inflate for a moment, it wouldn’t stay inflated........................There was a DM on the boat I was trying to go around who asked if he could help and jumped in, then tried to orally inflate my BC without success and gave me a quick tow to the stairs..................my hubby fixed the connection of the inflator hose.

This makes no sense. If the problem was a poor connection, the BC would hold air and would fill when orally inflated. If the problem was the BC not holding air, fixing the inflator hose connection would not correct it.

I felt very abandoned by my dive buddy, husband.

You were abandoned by him.

I’m disappointed in myself for not dropping the weights. I do understand what they teach in the rescue course about a panicked diver not descending. (I could have easily swam UNDER the pier to the steps in no time, but this didn’t even cross my mind).

You should be disappointed in yourself. If you had air, you had no reason to be nervous in 18 feet of water. In a worse case, you could drop to the bottom and crawl to the stairs. Was your regulator not in your mouth? If not, why not?

I had been very trusting of my equipment and thought I could handle problems as they came up.

Why did you think you could handle problems as they came up? Unless you've trained to handle problems (very few divers actually do), there's no reason for such confidence. Your goal should be to be able to easily handle the complete loss of any two pieces of equipment at the same time without undue stress. You can train towards this goal.

If my husband had been in the water or probably any other buddy, I think I would have been a lot calmer. I definitely felt very alone and will not agree to that type of separation again even under what seemed like such benign conditions. (BTW – we just booked another Bonaire trip for this summer!)

While I agree you shouldn't be diving solo, you should be self reliant. You should be confident and able to handle minor problems on your own. You need to practice emergency proceedures until you are comfortable with your ability to handle emergencies.

[Missdirected]

There was a woman that passed away recently on Mollases in Key Largo (25ft of water). She was over-weighted, panicked, and died as a result. Eeerily reminds me of your situation. So okay you already in the water alone, instead of allowing your husband to assume you were okay you should have shouted for his help immediately upon realizing you weren't doing so good and panic was setting in. Panic can be fast and furious - you don't want it to get the better of you. Glad teh DM was there to assist.

Lots of good stuff to be learned from this thread: over weighting death

[Bob]

Pediatron,
As an AOW diver, you should have known that you, and you alone, are responsible to make sure your gear is working properly, before you enter the water. I'm happy you took the Rescue class, and you feel more confident. However, you shouldn't have needed additional training to recognize that when you're having trouble maintaining buoyancy at the surface, the very first thing you do is drop your weights. That's basic OW stuff. Bob