How common are OOA incidents?

[SloopCamotop]

My wife and I are brand new divers, certified last year in Key Largo and headed to Key West this year. I have caught the bug and taken my AOW and Nitrox at the local quarry and am reading this forum like crazy to try and soak up as much information as I can.

I think though, that I may have gotten a little over excited, and told her how I thought it would be a good idea to switch to a necklace setup with a 5 ft primary, just in case anything ever happened with an OOA situation. With 14 dives I am brand spanking new and have no illusions of cave, or single file exits from anywhere, but we have 3 daughters who want to get certified and I thought the easier to share air with someone in need the better.

She asked if that happened often and I said, well if it does it probably won't be one of us, it will be some ding-dong stranger that will just yank your primary, and bing - you'll use your left hand to put in your back-up and give the panicked person room.

She was not keen on the concept that we need to plan for panicked strangers attacking our air supply, and then said maybe this whole diving thing isn't worth the hassle and risk. ALL ASTERN FULL!!! I quickly explained how safe rec. diving is when we do this exact thing - plan and discuss and practice, then we can relax and enjoy knowing what we'll do and how to do it. She was less than enthused.

How much focus on the pitfalls is healthy? Are OOA situations not an IF but WHEN? I would love to tell her its no biggie - one in ten thousand but what the heck, lets just practice a few times anyway, but I don't want to say that if it really is more common occurrence -

Insight from those who know? (and btw - is it plain silly for a newbie like me to show up on a boat already kind of leaning towards a Hogarthian set up with only a few dives? Am I putting the cart before the horse here?)

 

[BDSC]

I think OOA situations are quite rare. Neither myself nor any of my diving buddies have ever had such an experience. I've never even been on a boat where it has happened. So while it is a possibility, the chance that it may happen to you, your wife, or kids is very remote. As long as you do your buddy checks before you go in and watch your computer/gauges you should be good to go. Tell your wife not to worry!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

In twenty years of diving (1400+ dives) I've never seen an OOA, but I use a necklaced backup and seven foot primary hose. On three dives I have shared air with a buddy who was low on air. Our dive plan was to surface and swim to the beach when the first diver hit 300-500psi. On each dive I still had plenty of air, so I donated my primary and we swam side-by-side all the way into the beach under water. A seven foot hose makes that so much more enjoyable.

 

[2905luvsbubbles]

It is always wise to plan for contingencies. I have never personally seen a OOA situation, but my son at around 16 put himself close as he was down to 200 pounds and hadn't let us know. Talk about a upset dad. If you remember to plan your dives, you and your family should never have a OOA unless you get a equipment malfunction. To prevent that, I now always test me gear in a pool prior to diving it once it has been serviced and I do have my gear serviced every year. Pay attention to your training, monitor your gauges and you won't have a OOA. Diving conservatively so you always surface with a minimum of 500 psi will prevent a OOA and I typically plan on hitting the surface with a bit more, around 800. I would rather fill the tank an extra time than drain the tank and risk a OOA. My humble opinion.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Happened on my last overseas trip . . .paired-up with a diver whose last dive was three years previous. Signaled low-on-air at 60'/18m; and then OOA at the safety stop.

Donated my seven foot long hose, went to my bungied necklaced backup, showed my SPG (like you're supposed to do from the old school S-Drill), and everything else turned out fine on the ascent. . .

(Here's another incident that happened with me in Indonesia). . .

 

[Diver0001]

Insight from those who know? (and btw - is it plain silly for a newbie like me to show up on a boat already kind of leaning towards a Hogarthian set up with only a few dives? Am I putting the cart before the horse here?)

How you configure your gear and how you avoid going OOA are not the same. One is an issue of gear and one is an issue of skills.

You can't solve skills problems with gear. If you are (afraid of) running out of air then you have a skills issue.

So let's address that first. Why do you think you run a risk of running out of air?

R..

 

[diver 85]

Only experienced one in my diving lifetime---& it was the wife back in about '88 in Belize.....So, I consider them very rare.....

 

[vladimir]

How you configure your gear and how you avoid going OOA are not the same. One is an issue of gear and one is an issue of skills.

You can't solve skills problems with gear. If you are (afraid of) running out of air then you have a skills issue.

So let's address that first. Why do you think you run a risk of running out of air?

R..

Did you read his post? He is thinking of configuring his gear with a long hose. The main rationale for that, repeated on the Scubaboard about a million times, is that it allows for more orderly air-sharing--a rationale he has accepted. Now he wants to know how common an out-of-air situation is--a logical question. Why do you have to hit him with this Socratic questioning when his original post is quite clear?

 

[ptyx]

There are OAA situations, and OAA situations.

The worst scenario I can think of is a completely unexpected OAA - everyone is unprepared for it. There might be some separation between the buddies, potential panic - it's what we train for, but I've never seen it happen (knock on wood...). It would require either a complete and brutal regulator failure (worse than free flow), or someone forgetting to check their SPG. I've never heard about the first case, and the second can be easily avoided by making sure buddies are aware of each other remaining gas.

'Prepared' OAA, on the other hand - happens. I've had second stage o-rings blow twice (now I stay away from swivels), an unplugged Y valve open (yes, that was stupid) - and I've seen two free flows, and plenty unexpected consumption at depth... In all those cases, one can still breathe for a while - you know you might run OAA before reaching the surface, but there is plenty of time to reach your buddy, politely ask her to be prepared to give air, round up the group and slowly head up for the surface.

About the long hose:
With new divers, it's not unusual to have someone in a group use twice as much air (or more) than more experienced/relaxed divers. You can terminate the dive as soon as anyone reaches 500psi - but it can be quite frustrating for others. I've seen DMs 'push' the person with the highest consumption, and expect them to come back really empty, but that's unsafe. Or you can donate air early in the dive to compensate for the extra consumption - that way everyone still gets a decent dive time, everyone can finish with a good safety margin, and the air sharing takes place at depth which is much easier/safer than on the way up (less task loading).
In that situation, a long hose is much more comfortable.

 

[dkktsunami]

Sloop, I wish I had started out with plate, wing, bungeed back-up, and 5' primary (actually I needed 5 1/2', and I am not large). Spent a lot of time and money getting to a place I like. As far as the OOA, I have been diving 10 yrs (1370 dives) and have never been anywhere close to running out of air (unless I did it on purpose). I have seen one close call - an obtuse diver "rescued" by DM moments before something bad happened. You sound a lot smarter than this guy - he was a banker, with a new camera, new OW cert. at 120', totally oblivious to his impending fate.