Planned air sharing/Hose of shame to extend bottom time
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I still personally prefer to do a PLANNED air share at beginning of the dive.
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I've been using air share to extend dives with my alpha buddy for years. She goes through her air a bit faster than I do, and when we're on vacation and forced to use those oversize beer cans that are so popular in the tropics, we'll plan on her spending 10 minutes or so on my tank at some point during the dive. Like your dive guide, I use a 7-foot primary hose, which makes this practice a lot more comfortable than it would be with a standard recreational regulator configuration.
Some ground rules though ... always make sure the dive guide knows you're planning to do this, and always do it while the other person has plenty of gas left in their tank in case you have to separate sooner than anticipated. Don't wait till you're "low" ... and CERTAINLY don't wait till you're OOA. That's cutting your safety margins too thin and creating stressors that can lead to bigger problems. We usually make the swap when she gets down to 1000-1200 psi, depending on depth ... and whenever we make the switch we're going to set some depth limits ... usually 60 feet ... while we're sharing air. This is all discussed with the dive guide before the dive begins.
I think I'd have an issue with someone doing this with the dive guide ... mainly because it leaves him in a situation where he can't help another diver if needed. But if it's between you and your dive buddy, I don't see an issue.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Some ground rules though ... always make sure the dive guide knows you're planning to do this, and always do it while the other person has plenty of gas left in their tank in case you have to separate sooner than anticipated. Don't wait till you're "low" ... and CERTAINLY don't wait till you're OOA. That's cutting your safety margins too thin and creating stressors that can lead to bigger problems. We usually make the swap when she gets down to 1000-1200 psi, depending on depth ... and whenever we make the switch we're going to set some depth limits ... usually 60 feet ... while we're sharing air. This is all discussed with the dive guide before the dive begins.
I think I'd have an issue with someone doing this with the dive guide ... mainly because it leaves him in a situation where he can't help another diver if needed. But if it's between you and your dive buddy, I don't see an issue.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Brewone0to
Contributor
While I understand the reasoning behind a DM toured dive sharing as needed.
I am firm believer that if shared gas is in plan that it be accomplished during first 1/3 of useage.
It just makes sense that way, at the end of the dive is not best time and will always be noted as oh crap moment by all around you.
victorzamora
Contributor
Bob, I like the part about letting the dive guide know. I hadn't even thought about that. It's a good point and something to consider. Same with depth limits....but we've followed MinGas, so I'm not as worried.
You're right, if the guide hasn't seen the other divers. When my wife shared with the guide, it was because he had 200psi more than me so he shared instead of me. Also, the only other divers with him were me and his AI.
He shared air with another diver while we were there, but the ratio was again very favorable. A&B were buddies. AI was with us. Wife and I were with them. Guide shared air with A, AI buddied with B, wife and I buddied still. Had AI not been there, it still would've been fine with me as we could've buddy team with B.
I agree with you on your point, but I'd add the caveat that I don't mind it IF the ratios are good, or if the guide is with divers he got to know over at least a few dives.
You're right, if the guide hasn't seen the other divers. When my wife shared with the guide, it was because he had 200psi more than me so he shared instead of me. Also, the only other divers with him were me and his AI.
He shared air with another diver while we were there, but the ratio was again very favorable. A&B were buddies. AI was with us. Wife and I were with them. Guide shared air with A, AI buddied with B, wife and I buddied still. Had AI not been there, it still would've been fine with me as we could've buddy team with B.
I agree with you on your point, but I'd add the caveat that I don't mind it IF the ratios are good, or if the guide is with divers he got to know over at least a few dives.
I wrote
I would be concerned about doing this with someone who wasn't trained to share gas on a long hose. with a new diver I would have started us up/back as soon as air sharing started....
I was asked
what is your concern about the long hose?
Answer
First of all, by "sharing air on the long hose" I mean using the long hose to share air while continuing to dive, i.e. not heading up/out ASAP. I'd probebly never do this on a short hose because it's just not comfortable enough to be anything anyone is likely to want to do.
I just don't like to do anything that might make the other diver feel uncomfortable: stressed people can get real unhappy real quick and with virtually no warning. Someone who isn't trained to share air might get scared enough to do something stupid/inadvisable/unfortunate, maybe getting hurt, maybe getting me hurt. At the very least they might just be a minor annoyance: biting thru the mouthpiece on my backup, gluing onto me, yanking on the hose, etc.
Note: "training" can be just a brief discussion. I definetly don't think we've got a new specialty here :blinking:
I would be concerned about doing this with someone who wasn't trained to share gas on a long hose. with a new diver I would have started us up/back as soon as air sharing started....
I was asked
what is your concern about the long hose?
Answer
First of all, by "sharing air on the long hose" I mean using the long hose to share air while continuing to dive, i.e. not heading up/out ASAP. I'd probebly never do this on a short hose because it's just not comfortable enough to be anything anyone is likely to want to do.
I just don't like to do anything that might make the other diver feel uncomfortable: stressed people can get real unhappy real quick and with virtually no warning. Someone who isn't trained to share air might get scared enough to do something stupid/inadvisable/unfortunate, maybe getting hurt, maybe getting me hurt. At the very least they might just be a minor annoyance: biting thru the mouthpiece on my backup, gluing onto me, yanking on the hose, etc.
Note: "training" can be just a brief discussion. I definetly don't think we've got a new specialty here :blinking:
In the OP, it was said that it was discussed before the dive, and taking the reg was not required and should only be taken if you are comfortable with it. I think this addresses your concern doesn't it?
I agree with Victor that all divers are trained in sharing air, but many haven't done it since their OW course that could have been years ago (I am not saying this is OK, just that it happens). I think these people would fall into your "isn't trained to share air" group, but these divers should just end the dive if they are not comfortable...although I think they should get comfortable in the pool at some point
learning to share air while continuing a dive might include for example
-receiving diver is positioned to donator's right, possibly slightly above and/or behind
-hold the hose at all times as though you sincerely do not wish to be deprived of this air source
-both divers control their own buoyancy, no one clings to anyone else
-how to signal to donator "stop" and "go"
The above was not something I would expect everyone to know from a basic scuba class. I also wouldn't expect everyone to feel comfortable about being low on air and not heading home ASAP for that reason.
This is not the same as sharing air and making a shared air ascent - which I would expect everyone to have learned from their basic class.
this is why I and most other folks commenting here have said they wouldn't share air to extend the dive unless it was planned, discussed, etc.
-receiving diver is positioned to donator's right, possibly slightly above and/or behind
-hold the hose at all times as though you sincerely do not wish to be deprived of this air source
-both divers control their own buoyancy, no one clings to anyone else
-how to signal to donator "stop" and "go"
The above was not something I would expect everyone to know from a basic scuba class. I also wouldn't expect everyone to feel comfortable about being low on air and not heading home ASAP for that reason.
This is not the same as sharing air and making a shared air ascent - which I would expect everyone to have learned from their basic class.
this is why I and most other folks commenting here have said they wouldn't share air to extend the dive unless it was planned, discussed, etc.
yes, I did learn all of that. In the pool we had to share gas, swim to the end of the pool, switch donor/receiver positions and swim back (after of course being instructed on it, and watching a demonstration). We also had to do this on one of our open water dives.
However, if you didn't learn this, then you probably wouldn't be comfortable continuing the dive, and so as mentioned in the dive briefing described in the OP, you shouldn't do it.
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