Bolting to the surface...
- Thread starter dytis-sm
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OP
dytis-sm
Contributor
in my rescue class I did air sharing by handing off my primary. This is why I do not think there is anything wrong with my octo, as I recently had practiced breathing from it during training. Seems to me that the technical setup with the 7ft hose makes more sense as you can hand off a reg that you were just breathing from and know it works. The person asking for air is probably starving at that point where any delays maybe critical. That is not how I was trained however for all my other certifications and out of habit went for the octopus. Got to retrain my head a little...
OP
dytis-sm
Contributor
Last weekend I did an air sharing exercise in the water and my octo involved in this case worked like a swiss watch. Actually we even tested it upside down to eliminate that case per someone's suggestion. Octo works upside down too... So obviously in my case, my buddy freaked out...it was not an octo problem.
Conclusion two mistakes on my part: should have kept my eyes on buddies air, and when the ooa situation came up I should have kept my eyes on his and confirm that he receives air and that he calms down.
Conclusion two mistakes on my part: should have kept my eyes on buddies air, and when the ooa situation came up I should have kept my eyes on his and confirm that he receives air and that he calms down.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
During the OW class, I expect my students to be able to guess their pressure as well as their buddy's pressure during the dive. This is actually pretty easy to do. You should both tell each other your starting pressures as you do your pre-dive buddy check. Ten minutes into the dive, you should compare pressures once more. If buddy A is at 2500 and buddy B is at 2300, then buddy B is the controlling diver. Now all buddy A has to do is look at his SPG. If he's at 1000 then his buddy is right at 200!!! :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: It's important to realize that there are many factors affecting gas consumption and prudent divers should be cross checking each other's air every five minutes or so and more frequently if they are diving deep or getting close to their turn pressure(s). It's as much your duty to monitor your buddy's air as it is your own. You are the redundant eyes and gas and they are relying on you just as you are relying on them. Don't be an SOB! (Same Ocean Buddy).
Also, dive with your back up second stage on your shortest hose and hung on a bungee around your neck . Forget clipping it off in the golden triangle. Use the longer hose for your primary and simply hand it off if your buddy needs it and go to the back up reg conveniently under your chin. You may know that your octo breathes like sucking a bowling ball through a straw, but it's a complete surprise to your already panicked buddy trying to get some air. If you don't like the way it breathes then get something a bit better. Just don't foist it on an unsuspecting OOA diver and expect him to breathe through it when he's already having a bad dive.
Also, dive with your back up second stage on your shortest hose and hung on a bungee around your neck . Forget clipping it off in the golden triangle. Use the longer hose for your primary and simply hand it off if your buddy needs it and go to the back up reg conveniently under your chin. You may know that your octo breathes like sucking a bowling ball through a straw, but it's a complete surprise to your already panicked buddy trying to get some air. If you don't like the way it breathes then get something a bit better. Just don't foist it on an unsuspecting OOA diver and expect him to breathe through it when he's already having a bad dive.
OP
dytis-sm
Contributor
As you stated air consumption varies per person but also per activity. Something did come up that made my buddy suck through a lot of air in the segment I was not checking with him (we were heading for safety stop and the boat). It has happened before to me too where I sucked a lot of air after getting stuck on some kelp, stopping to grab a lobster, etc. But when low on air I give a second look more often since I do not see my buddy as my spare air in case I run out! Afterall how do I know he has enough air for me?
Octo is fine, not sucking hard. Just the way octos are tuned so that they do not free flow. As I concluded: panic was a factor on my buddy's case, and surprise on my end not to stay more focused on the exchange. Last weekend I practiced buddy air sharing just to stay "in shape" including sharing the same primary in the event of an octo failure... The later would be harder in a true emergency involving panic, but wanted to be able to do it. I figured practice makes perfect.
At the end please remember that this was not an OW class and part of the problem was assumptions that we were both "self-sufficient" to (a certain extent) as both being Rescue level certified...(and of course both failed).
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OP
dytis-sm
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Since I got certified a couple of year ago I became a fanatic student of diving theory, concepts, and practice. I am also a fairly new diver (70 dives) to recognize that I am still developing habits, hopefully good ones while getting rid of bad ones.The reason I brought this to discussion was not because I wanted to confirm that I f'ed up in my buddy responsibilities but to draw as much advise and knowledge from all of you more experienced divers. Your answers (greatly appreciated) all make sense and could be considered textbook but the reality is that on any given diving day you do not end up in that "textbook" boat full of divers out of the PADI videos. Unless diving with your usual group of buddies, you may end up being paired with someone that will agree to everything you say and then jump in the water and do his/her own thing...Unfortunately you cannot stop and "discipline" someone at 70 ft. At the end you may end up diving "alone" and that is what I have come to also realize in this experience. A while back I read this John Chatterton article and for a while I thought that he was "full of it" and selfish to promote solo diving. I really misunderstood his article and now I get it...
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I've met John Chatterton, like the man a lot, and respect his accomplishments. However, I do not agree with his premise that solo diving is the answer to poor buddy skills. Better buddy skills are.
Solo dive because you want to solo dive ... not to make up for a deficiency in some other aspect of your diving. And if you're going to take up solo diving, make sure you're aware of the additional risks it entails, and that you're prepared to deal with those risks.
This article is intended to help people get started down that path. It is not, by any means, intended to prepare you to solo dive ... but rather to give you some things to consider while thinking about whether or not it's right for you ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Solo dive because you want to solo dive ... not to make up for a deficiency in some other aspect of your diving. And if you're going to take up solo diving, make sure you're aware of the additional risks it entails, and that you're prepared to deal with those risks.
This article is intended to help people get started down that path. It is not, by any means, intended to prepare you to solo dive ... but rather to give you some things to consider while thinking about whether or not it's right for you ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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