I made newbie mistakes

On a recent dive, we descended to about 40' when i realized that I had routed my gauge hose under my cumberbund. Well, I unbuckled the waste buckle of my BCD, then pulled on the cumberbund, or what I thought was the cumberbund. It actually turned out to be the integrated weights on my right side.

I got it back in ok, but it sure made me think about what I had just done.

I learned a few things from this experience:

1) When I checked my gauges topside, the gauge hose was connected correctly to the regulator, and the gauges were in the right place in my hand. I must check to make sure that the hose connecting them in the right place, too.

2) My dive buddy and I need to conduct a better buddy check on the surface.

3) I started trying to fix the problem before my dive buddy hit the bottom. I will not try that kind of fix again without my dive buddy next to me and aware of what I am doing. If I had accidentally dropped the weight, I might have had an issue if he were not there to give me a hand.

I hope this post helps another new diver avoid the same mistakes.

It sounds like you're a newbie that learned some valuable information faster than many "nubes." Congratulations! You saw what the problem was, you evaluated it, solved it, analyzed what happened, and made plans so it wouldn't happen again. I'd say it was a good dive experience!!

#2, as you say lacked a bit of thoroughness. It would have caught that error. Just slow down and take a few more minutes as you do the buddy check, and rethink what it is you are reviewing, and why. Comes easier with time.

As you also say, alerting your buddy while you made adjustments and corrections would add to your safety.

You see your mistakes, are working on correcting and avoiding them in the future. That is where you start, and how you improve. It is a learning process that hopefully never ends. We never get to the point there is nothing more to learn or no way we can improve our skills.

And most important, you kept your cool! That in itself is a valuable lesson.

It is amazaing how a little oops can snowball. Seems like you handled it well.

All your points are valid, one little suggestion, you might want to get in the habit of checking your SPG immediatly before decending, preferablly while taking a breath on your primary. This checks the gauge position, your air pressure and also will indicate if your valve is off or partially off as the gauge will drop momentarily in this case.

Guba is right. Remaining cool and thinking threw a problem is the single most important skill a diver can develop!

It sounds like a good learning experience.

Are you diving with your own or rental gear? Familiarity is a very compelling reason to own your own equipment - at the risk of sounding OCD I have a set order that I assemble and check my gear in (a mental checklist) but you're right - a more thorough buddy check should have uncovered the mistake before it became a problem.

As gypsyjim aptly pointed out - it's a learning process that never ends.

Brian Sharpe:

It sounds like a good learning experience.

Are you diving with your own or rental gear? Familiarity is a very compelling reason to own your own equipment - at the risk of sounding OCD I have a set order that I assemble and check my gear in (a mental checklist) but you're right - a more thorough buddy check should have uncovered the mistake before it became a problem.

As gypsyjim aptly pointed out - it's a learning process that never ends.

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As a matter of fact, I just ordered my own set of gauges. They are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. That only leaves a computer, to come later.

I think a little OCD for this kind of checkout it a good thing. I have decided to memorize my gear checkout routine so that nothing gets skipped.

You did well. However, it does trigger a thought: Are you properly weighted? If so, then even if you lost 1 weight pouch, you are unlikely to have shot to the surface. Since you were at the beginning of the dive, you had an extra 4 pounds of air and since you were at 40 feet, there would be some compression on your wetsuit, thereby reducing its buoyancy. Just a thought.

Scubasailor:

As a matter of fact, I just ordered my own set of gauges. They are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. That only leaves a computer, to come later.

I think a little OCD for this kind of checkout it a good thing. I have decided to memorize my gear checkout routine so that nothing gets skipped.

Click to expand...

I don't know what kind of guages or BCD you dive, but once you have your own stuff I highly recommend you figure out a "stock" configuration... i.e. you put a snap on your console and always attatch it to the D-Ring on your left chest side (or whatever works for you). That way the equipment checks become second nature and you will just be able to "feel" that something isn't right.

Diving the same way every time is a good thing.