How often does it really happen?

Ok I've got a question for y'all.

Just to start out, rather than go into a dissertation about all my certifications and experience, let's just say I have a couple PADI certifications and more than a couple dives in a lot of different environments under my belt. I am not a cave diver, nor do I have any desire to be one.

My dive buddy has moved away, and I have found myself in a position that I have to solo dive or not dive at all. Yes I know solo diving will kill me and I should never ever do it! Now back to reality, I have taken necessary precautions IE: pony bottle, backup dive knife, leaving my non diving spouse on the boat to watch my bubbles, ect.

What I am wanting to know is how often has/does a regulator actually fail? An out of air situation is preventable. I'm talking a situation where you have plenty of air in your tank and you simply can not breathe off your reg. Also to expand on this, how many of these regs were actually maintained properly?

I'm sure DAN probably has these stats, but I have no idea how to access that.

What say y'all? Ever heard of it? Know anybody that has?


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First, if you are going to be solo diving, then take the proper solo training. I would be willing to bet that you are missing a few "necessary precautions".

Second, your question sounds like you are trying not to dive with redundant air. The "necessary precautions" are for the statistical anomaly situations.

I sometimes dive alone, but at carefully selected places.

Free flows are common in ice diving, but then you will have all the air you'll ever want - for a moment. And no, 2nd stage free flows are not preventable as you axhalation is moist. You know it's coming, it's just a matter of time

You could get a stone or other debris between the exhaust diaphagm. I did. The regulator became quite wet to breathe (completely flooded actually, at 60ft, but delivered air). Don't drag regs on the ground on the shore.

The regulator could also be badly attached to the hose, and the attachment could start to leak. Result: water mist in your air.

A diver drowned as his mouth piece fell off and the diver panicked and inhaled water. That wasn't an out of air accident.

An old hose could burst. That would be bad.

A badly maintained cylinder could have rust flakes inside, and if one gets into the valve... (check cylinders, check the tube inside the tank,...)

As you can see, a lot can happen. Many things are unexpected too. I'd be especially wary of rental gear.

An out of air situation is preventable

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Many preventable accidents do happen.

Solo diving is much more relaxed and fun when you have two air sources.

The answer to your question is almost never. Regs fail in one of 2 way 99.99% of the time, full freeflow or more commonly a slight freeflow, neither of which should be more than a minor PITA as long as you are diving within reason- no overhead or deep. Could it happen, well yea but you and a buddy could also be eaten by great whites but odds are you won't. For dives less than 30 ft or so, it really becomes a non-issue for a competent diver, CESAs from those depths should be easy. Solo diving is not nearly as big a deal as many want to make it out to be, if the dives are kept within reason.

The fact that you seem to want to base your decision whether to solo dive--or at least give it a lot of weight in your decision--on the reliability of regulators suggests to me that you do not really understand the issues. (I don't claim I myself do, as I have no solo diving training or experience.) But as DBailey suggests, why don't you take a course in solo diving rather than try to reinvent the wheel by cobbling together information from various sources and trying to weigh them in your mind and figuring out how best to make practical use of the information?

Ranger233:

Ok I've got a question for y'all.

Just to start out, rather than go into a dissertation about all my certifications and experience, let's just say I have a couple PADI certifications and more than a couple dives in a lot of different environments under my belt. I am not a cave diver, nor do I have any desire to be one.

My dive buddy has moved away, and I have found myself in a position that I have to solo dive or not dive at all. Yes I know solo diving will kill me and I should never ever do it! Now back to reality, I have taken necessary precautions IE: pony bottle, backup dive knife, leaving my non diving spouse on the boat to watch my bubbles, ect.

What I am wanting to know is how often has/does a regulator actually fail? An out of air situation is preventable. I'm talking a situation where you have plenty of air in your tank and you simply can not breathe off your reg. Also to expand on this, how many of these regs were actually maintained properly?

I'm sure DAN probably has these stats, but I have no idea how to access that.

What say y'all? Ever heard of it? Know anybody that has?


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I don't think anyone has reliable stats on regulator failure rates. Not all failures lead to accidents, so DAN wouldn't track them. I've wondered about this before myself and settled on the only-vaguely educated guess of somewhere between 1 in 500 and 1 in 2,000 dives. Based on the anecdotal evidence that few people on these forums with less than a few hundred dives appear to have experienced regulator/ other gass loss failures; and few people with a couple thousand dives seem to not have experienced them. Put another way: infrequently enough to be a bit suprising, frequently enough to make sure you plan for it happening just in case. Of course, the risk would then still be higher for certain environments (very cold water) and less well maintained gear.

EDIT: For clarity, my guesstimate covers any sort of failure that leads to an immediate or very quick loss of gas (like a strong freeflow).

Ranger233:

My dive buddy has moved away, and I have found myself in a position that I have to solo dive or not dive at all. Yes I know solo diving will kill me and I should never ever do it! Now back to reality, I have taken necessary precautions IE: pony bottle, backup dive knife, leaving my non diving spouse on the boat to watch my bubbles, ect.

What I am wanting to know is how often has/does a regulator actually fail? An out of air situation is preventable. I'm talking a situation where you have plenty of air in your tank and you simply can not breathe off your reg. Also to expand on this, how many of these regs were actually maintained properly?

Click to expand...

First, you seem to think that regulator failure is a problem. If it is, you shouldn't be diving solo. "Out of air" need to be nothing more than an annoyance or embarrassment if you're going to dive solo. You need to be able to handle it with no more anxiety than when you stop your car because the light turned red.

That said, failure to deliver air with a non-empty tank is reasonably random.

It can be caused by a contaminated tank that clogs the dip tube or first stage, or less frequently a regulator that fails closed (they're supposed to fail open).

Especially when diving solo, you have to be prepared that any breath will be your last. Maybe your reg clogged, maybe the first stage cracked in half (it's happened), maybe you were just stupid and ran out of air. The reasons are irrelevant. You simply need to be prepared to handle it because if you're solo, and you don't handle it, you'll die.

This means a completely redundant air source (a pony bottle or side-mount). Manifolded doubles can still leave you with nothing in some failure modes, and sometimes require assistance from a buddy, which you won't have.

Having your wife watch your bubbles is useless if she isn't a diver and can't jump in and rescue you.

There's nothing wrong with solo if you're prepared for it. It's probably safer than diving with a bad buddy, although it's decidedly more dangerous than diving with an awesome buddy. In the end you have to decide.

Also, I also recommend a Solo class. Actual Solo, not PADI's "Self Reliant Diver" or whatever it's called.

flots

flots am:

Also, I also recommend a Solo class. Actual Solo, not PADI's "Self Reliant Diver" or whatever it's called.

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PADI named their 'solo' course the 'Self-Reliant Diver' course, simple because they wished to highlight the desireability of applying the lessons taught on a universal basis: for solo diving and within buddy teams. It is also encouraged for dive Pros, who may only be accompanied by novice/trainee divers.

The course syllabus and materials clearly state that it trains and qualifies for "diving without a buddy".

I see very, very few syllabus and standards differences between the PADI 'Self-Reliant Diver' and TDI 'Solo Diver' courses...

So, what's the problem?

Ranger233:

I have taken necessary precautions IE: pony bottle...

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DBailey:

your question sounds like you are trying not to dive with redundant air

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flots am:

This means a completely redundant air source (a pony bottle or side-mount)

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Subcooled:

Solo diving is much more relaxed and fun when you have two air sources

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Do you guys read the OP before you post?

Thanks herman and xyrandomyx for actually answering my question. Also Tortuga68 for pointing out my original post.

I wasn't asking people what they thought of me solo diving. Or, how many "what if's" could happen. That is why I didn't go into my certifications, experience ECt.

I simply asked how often a properly maintained reg simply quits delivering air. I know octo's can free flow, been there done that. I know you need quality well maintained gear.


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