Last summer while about to do a solo shore dive in the Bahamas, I made a VERY dumb mistake that could have resulted in being killed or seriously injured. Luckily, I ended up with minor injuries and a $30 bill from the local clinic.
I must say that I was very hesitant to post this, but I feel obligated to do so, as I want others to learn from my bad mistake.
I consider it fair game to be taken to the cleaners by the members of this forum over the mistake I made, but I hope at the same time other will learn from this.
It all started when I arrived in Crooked Island with all of my equipment, except tanks and weights, as well as a 13 ft pony bottle that I would sling (which had its own 1st and 2nd stage of course).
As I am laying all my equip on the beach, the assembly of my tank and 1st and 2nd stage is straightforward.
Not long after, I screw on my 1st stage to my pony bottle and turn on the air.
I quickly realize that one of the holes is not ported as air is leaking out. I turn it off right away and look for one of the screws that ports it.
Unfortunately I am unable to find one, so I drive a few miles into town to see if Robbie (the main dive guy on the island) has something I can use instead.
Unfortunately he does not have a plug that fits the port, so he is able to give be a BC hose that will do the job. Before leaving his shop, I check the BC hose on his tank, and it works fine, so I take it back to the lodge and get ready to set it up on the spare port for my 1st stage pony bottle.
As I screw in the BC hose, it fits perfectly and I make sure it is tight, but not overly tight and turn on the air.
Almost instantly, the next thing I remember, was for about 1/10th of a second hearing a big rush of air, and then a VERY LOUD POP!!
I'm as shaken up as can be and instantly know that something burst, and run away from the tank and let it drain.
Due to the loud pop, it seems I have some pretty bad ringing in my ears as well.
Still in shock, I look and see that the inside of my forearm, about 4 inches past my elbow is really swelling up, and bleeding slightly.
I then run over back to the tank and see that the hose burst about 4'' downstream from the 1st stage.
Still shaken up, I run inside to the check-in area of the lodge and ask someone to take me to the medical clinic at Landrail Point.
10 min later, the nurse gives me a block of ice to apply pressure to the swelling, and luckily 15-20 minutes later, the swelling is on the decline.
About another 30 min later, she takes me into her office and the swelling is still decreasing steadily. I mention to her the ringing in my ear so she has a look inside both of my ears, but luckily, nothing looks out of the ordinary.
Meanwhile she is talking to the doctor in Nassau, and asks him if there is anything else that should be done.
I ask the doc if it OK to fly (I'm a private pilot) tomorrow to Rum Cay, and he tells me that is OK, as long as I minimize my altitude to 1000' or less, just to be totally safe.
It was not until I returned home that I realized that it was a mistake that I had made that caused the hose to burst as I had believed that it was a bad hose that I was given.
Not so!!
Talking with my NAUI instructor made it clear that it the bursting was clearly caused by attaching a LP hose into a HP port.
To complicate matters even more, the 1st stage that I had on my pony was of an earlier era, when the threads of the HP port and the LP hose could screw onto each other. If that had been a newer 1st stage, there is no way I could have made this blunder since they are now different sizes.
The biggest lesson learned was to MAKE SURE YOU KNOW what hose should go into what port, not just that it can screw on.
I made a HUGE mistake by ASSuming that I could just put in any hose that could screw into the unoccupied port, and it could have resulted in me being killed or seriously injured.
THANK GOD I only received minor injuries and I hope that by posting this, that others (especially new divers) can learn from this blunder I made.
I must say that I was very hesitant to post this, but I feel obligated to do so, as I want others to learn from my bad mistake.
I consider it fair game to be taken to the cleaners by the members of this forum over the mistake I made, but I hope at the same time other will learn from this.
It all started when I arrived in Crooked Island with all of my equipment, except tanks and weights, as well as a 13 ft pony bottle that I would sling (which had its own 1st and 2nd stage of course).
As I am laying all my equip on the beach, the assembly of my tank and 1st and 2nd stage is straightforward.
Not long after, I screw on my 1st stage to my pony bottle and turn on the air.
I quickly realize that one of the holes is not ported as air is leaking out. I turn it off right away and look for one of the screws that ports it.
Unfortunately I am unable to find one, so I drive a few miles into town to see if Robbie (the main dive guy on the island) has something I can use instead.
Unfortunately he does not have a plug that fits the port, so he is able to give be a BC hose that will do the job. Before leaving his shop, I check the BC hose on his tank, and it works fine, so I take it back to the lodge and get ready to set it up on the spare port for my 1st stage pony bottle.
As I screw in the BC hose, it fits perfectly and I make sure it is tight, but not overly tight and turn on the air.
Almost instantly, the next thing I remember, was for about 1/10th of a second hearing a big rush of air, and then a VERY LOUD POP!!
I'm as shaken up as can be and instantly know that something burst, and run away from the tank and let it drain.
Due to the loud pop, it seems I have some pretty bad ringing in my ears as well.
Still in shock, I look and see that the inside of my forearm, about 4 inches past my elbow is really swelling up, and bleeding slightly.
I then run over back to the tank and see that the hose burst about 4'' downstream from the 1st stage.
Still shaken up, I run inside to the check-in area of the lodge and ask someone to take me to the medical clinic at Landrail Point.
10 min later, the nurse gives me a block of ice to apply pressure to the swelling, and luckily 15-20 minutes later, the swelling is on the decline.
About another 30 min later, she takes me into her office and the swelling is still decreasing steadily. I mention to her the ringing in my ear so she has a look inside both of my ears, but luckily, nothing looks out of the ordinary.
Meanwhile she is talking to the doctor in Nassau, and asks him if there is anything else that should be done.
I ask the doc if it OK to fly (I'm a private pilot) tomorrow to Rum Cay, and he tells me that is OK, as long as I minimize my altitude to 1000' or less, just to be totally safe.
It was not until I returned home that I realized that it was a mistake that I had made that caused the hose to burst as I had believed that it was a bad hose that I was given.
Not so!!
Talking with my NAUI instructor made it clear that it the bursting was clearly caused by attaching a LP hose into a HP port.
To complicate matters even more, the 1st stage that I had on my pony was of an earlier era, when the threads of the HP port and the LP hose could screw onto each other. If that had been a newer 1st stage, there is no way I could have made this blunder since they are now different sizes.
The biggest lesson learned was to MAKE SURE YOU KNOW what hose should go into what port, not just that it can screw on.
I made a HUGE mistake by ASSuming that I could just put in any hose that could screw into the unoccupied port, and it could have resulted in me being killed or seriously injured.
THANK GOD I only received minor injuries and I hope that by posting this, that others (especially new divers) can learn from this blunder I made.
