First open water dive: ran out of air. WTH?

[ScubaInChicago]

Everything will be fine. When scuba was in its infancy, people would suck the tanks empty and then bolt for the surface. Then there was the J valve where a little lever that would hopefully give you a little reserve. That didn't always work and then back to the surface it was. All this before the O'l brass and glass SPG. Divers are just spoiled nowadays and want to bitch online...you lived

 

[Asteve]

Well I am going to be the A?? here. So how many times did you show your gauge to the DI, Would he not tell you how much air you had. I mean the first time he would not tell me. I would had called the dive. You are the one that is to keep track of your air. Instead of looking to make the DI the bad guy ( and he is bad ). At this point you need to see what you could have done different so you did not run out of gas. Yes you are in a class. yes you are learning. yes the DI should have known how much air each student had. But you can not depend on other to do your job. That should be the very least to take away from this dive.

 

[Finding Thomas Paine]

Here is a pic of the culvert.

 

[Finding Thomas Paine]

Well I am going to be the A?? here. So how many times did you show your gauge to the DI, Would he not tell you how much air you had. I mean the first time he would not tell me. I would had called the dive. You are the one that is to keep track of your air. Instead of looking to make the DI the bad guy ( and he is bad ). At this point you need to see what you could have done different so you did not run out of gas. Yes you are in a class. yes you are learning. yes the DI should have known how much air each student had. But you can not depend on other to do your job. That should be the very least to take away from this dive.

Totally agree with you. Bottom line is, I was clueless. When he told me it was fine before we got wet, I went and gave it not another thought.
It's been a wake up call.

 

[Yoyodyne-88]

"He said he wanted to see our how we responded to our impending change in buoyancy once we exited and the air in our BCs had expanded. "

This only makes it worse.

Scuba certification check-out dives are NOT "tests." They are to ensure students have mastered the skills already learned and to SAFELY familiarize you with a "real" diving environment - NOT to surprise you with a new challenge. The instructor's job is to help you learn, not to see if you will fail some task.

What if the "change in buoyancy" sent two or three novice divers into an uncontrolled ascent? Someone could panic, embolize, and die.

This stinks of the bad old days of "Deep Dark and Dangerous," when egotistic instructors wanted everyone to see them as macho heroes. They would yank off our masks etc, "to see how we responded." That attitude went out with Richard Nixon and J-valves.

In my own Open Water checkouts, as well as in the pool, I repeatedly ask (sign) students "how much" air they have, and expect them to read their own gauges and report the remaining PSI. Thus I monitor them, and also ensure they monitor themselves by making it a regular habit.

Your instructor sounds like he needs a tune up.

---------- Post added October 13th, 2015 at 08:18 PM ----------

Well I am going to be the A?? here. So how many times did you show your gauge to the DI, Would he not tell you how much air you had. I mean the first time he would not tell me. I would had called the dive. You are the one that is to keep track of your air. Instead of looking to make the DI the bad guy ( and he is bad ). At this point you need to see what you could have done different so you did not run out of gas. Yes you are in a class. yes you are learning. yes the DI should have known how much air each student had. But you can not depend on other to do your job. That should be the very least to take away from this dive.

This disregards the fact that the OP is still a student.

It is a fact of human nature that new divers get tunnel vision from task loading and anxiety, etc. Training standards are intended to protect them from the consequences.

It is also a fact that regardless of any student's actions, in any matter, the Instructor remains fully and ultimately responsible for their safety.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

"He said he wanted to see our how we responded to our impending change in buoyancy once we exited and the air in our BCs had expanded. "

This only makes it worse.

Scuba certification check-out dives are NOT "tests." They are to ensure students have mastered the skills already learned and to SAFELY familiarize you with a "real" diving environment - NOT to surprise you with a new challenge. The instructor's job is to help you learn, not to see if you will fail some task.

What if the "change in buoyancy" sent two or three novice divers into an uncontrolled ascent? Someone could panic, embolize, and die.

This stinks of the bad old days of "Deep Dark and Dangerous," when egotistic instructors wanted everyone to see them as macho heroes. They would yank off our masks etc, "to see how we responded." That attitude went out with Richard Nixon and J-valves.

In my own Open Water checkouts, as well as in the pool, I repeatedly ask (sign) students "how much" air they have, and expect them to read their own gauges and report the remaining PSI. Thus I monitor them, and also ensure they monitor themselves by making it a regular habit.

Your instructor sounds like he needs a tune up.

---------- Post added October 13th, 2015 at 08:18 PM ----------




This disregards the fact that the OP is still a student.

It is a fact of human nature that new divers get tunnel vision from task loading and anxiety, etc. Training standards are intended to protect them from the consequences.

It is also a fact that regardless of any student's actions, in any matter, the Instructor remains fully and ultimately responsible for their safety.

these bolded comments are NOT how to teach students. Simply ask them what their air pressure is and they check and report to you? Ridiculous! What you should do is ask them and NOT let them check it... make them tell you the pressure, then show you the gauge and THEN they get to check it themselves (to see if they were correct or not)...

The point being that, a good diver KNOWS their air pressure all the time, without checking it. If they don't (which this little technique will rapidly reveal) then they need to self check more frequently.

I used to make a big deal out of it myself. On the introduction, on the first lesson, I would ask everyone how much gasoline is in their car's gas tank.

Pretty much everyone knows within 1/4 tank or so, how much gasoline is in their car when they are sitting in a dive class. Once students understand that air supply is a hell of a lot more important than gasoline in a gas tank.. they understand why we DEMAND this type of constant awareness of air pressure. I want them checking the air pressure all the time until they can predict exactly what it is.

 

[Hawkwood]

In the "new" PADI program, after Confined Water Dive 1, students are expected to signal their pressures WITHOUT looking at their gauges, within 200 to 300 psi, when asked. It's a performance requirement, for both confined and open water dives.

They are expected to be looking at their SPG frequently enough, that when asked they should be able to provide that number without looking.

They get pretty good at checking...they have to, it's required.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

In the "new" PADI program, after Confined Water Dive 1, students are expected to signal their pressures WITHOUT looking at their gauges, within 200 to 300 psi, when asked. It's a performance requirement, for both confined and open water dives.

They are expected to be looking at their SPG frequently enough, that when asked they should be able to provide that number without looking.

They get pretty good at checking...they have to, it's required.

it has been so long since I was an active instructor... I really don't think it was required,, back in the old days...

 

[boulderjohn]

According to the current PADI standards, when you ask a student how much air they have, they are supposed to respond with reasonable accuracy (within 200 PSI) without looking at their gauges. They are supposed to know that because they had looked at their gauges recently on their own.

EDIT: Bill and I were posting simultaneously.

 

[Hawkwood]

it has been so long since I was an active instructor... I really don't think it was required,, back in the old days...

An aweful lot has changed since 2014, when the new program was introduced. In fact a lot of stuff folks on SB say is "lacking" in instruction is actually now in the program.