Defense Against a Menace

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've used my camera and my scooter to fend off a few curious critters before ... but I've never considered any of them a menace.

My defense against a menace underwater is to not buddy up with them anymore ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

Were any named Dennis?

---------- Post added June 14th, 2014 at 11:32 AM ----------

I guess the biggest "menace" underwater I think is sea lice...which my defense is sun screen or a full suit. And those worms that love my dive light - in which case I prefer diving in the dark. I'm only afraid of the dark when I'm not underwater.

 

[Diver0001]

Good to know

This is a skill that should be continued in all courses, I don't recall doing it for my AOW, but I think it was done on my Rescue class and more recently it was part of my Advanced Recreational Trimix course below and on the surface, it helps maintaining familiarity with your gear

Not everyone does it at AOW but I do it in confined. I have to evaluate the divers' skills before we start so I usually do that in the form of a scuba review.

I get them to first try removing it while hovering and if that looks comfortable enough I'll get them to remove their set and hand it off to me, while I hand off mine to them and then back again, all while hovering or swimming. Most people whose buoyancy control is reasonably good can do this and I figure if it's an "advanced" course then I should be setting a higher bar for skills proficiency than they had in OW.

R..

---------- Post added June 14th, 2014 at 09:22 PM ----------

For entanglement, it absolutely has value. We're taught to slowly back out of any entanglement, but if that strategy fails and the buddy isn't around to help, taking the unit off is necessary.

We do net training in confined a couple of times a year and actually, it's really REALLY hard to accidentally get entangled badly enough that you need to remove your kit to get out of it. At most taking one arm out so you can pull it around enough to see the valve is more than enough.

R..

 

[scubadada]

Doff and don is a very valuable skill and should to taught to all divers. I was taught doff and don in several situations in my 1970 LACUU course. In confined water, we shed all of our equipment (all of our equipement, including mask and fins) and then swam down to to replace it all. In open water, we did doff and don of BC/tank on the bottom and again in mid-water. In my PADI recerification in 1997 with my son, we were not required to do doff and don.

Skip to 2011 in Grand Cayman. My wife and I were diving and my DIN regulator with a yoke converter was bashing me in the back of the head. I doffed my BC and was adjusting the tank when a worried DM swam over to help. I waved him away and fininshed my task without problem.

I took a SDI solo course in Sept of 2013 with Jupiter Dive Center and I was required to do doff and don both on the bottom and in mid-water. This was a nice refresher of a skill I had not practiced much. Skip ahead again to a solo drift dive in Boynton Beach in April of this year. Somehow, I got the line to my surface float wrapped around my yoke adaptor knob and could not release it while swimming. I doffed my BC, released the line, and continued on my happy way.

As I said, doff and don is a valuable skill and I've never been entangled to the point I was not able to escape. A skill all should know, just in case it is needed.

Good diving,

Craig

 

[NAM001]

We did it in 68 for ymca course

When I first went through getting certified (more than a while ago). I don't recall that exact slide, but I do recall having do drop all gear at the bottom, surface, dive back down, re-don the gear. I know it's not part of the PADI program any more. I was told that at least 1 student had died from the free accent, held his breath. For me, it was very eye-opening how the air kept coming out of my lungs coming from 12 foot to 0.

Of course, the rig looked a lot like that, but dual hose... shades of ThunderBolt.

 

[aquacat8]

Weight integrated bc doff and don gets interesting... Anyway love the original post pic and the funny video!

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

I never cease to be amazed by the unpredictable things that happen. We don't train students only for the incidents that we can predict will happen, we train also for the things that we can't possibly foresee.