Scary, thanks for sharing.
Sidemount, upside down in a foot of water, nearly drowned
- Thread starter infieldg
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I turtled once in doubles with fins that I borrowed (I won't shame them) instead of my normal F1's. They just were not stiff enough. Everyone else had a good laugh at my bruised ego. 
I had a friend nearly drown in 20' of water while wearing doubles because he jumped in with his valves off. None of us have mastered the ability to breathe water.
Bubblesong
Contributor
Infieldg has done an awesome amount of diving, and it’s better to stay active doing what you love than quit and be depressed. Dive on Turtle Dude!
Rob Bibber
Contributor
People are all built different. Maybe he carries a lot of muscle too. I hate generalizations like this.
Going by just my own height/weight I would be considered obese myself at 5' 9" and 230 lbs. I do have a belly but my legs and upper body are pretty much solid muscle (used to do weightlifting until arthritis put a stop to that).
At least the OP is staying active...
Going by just my own height/weight I would be considered obese myself at 5' 9" and 230 lbs. I do have a belly but my legs and upper body are pretty much solid muscle (used to do weightlifting until arthritis put a stop to that).
At least the OP is staying active...
People actually thinking you can be 130kg and "solid muscle", yeah, nah. Not without steroids at least, or being something like 2m20 (like some NBA guys). Average Joe is not going to be 130kg at 1m75 without having a large amount of fat. Interestingly, those are pretty much the stats of Phil Heath, current mister olympia I believe.
However, I believe it's misplaced to say it like Pua said. Especially since it had already been noticed, and OP said he was going to do something about it. I would add something, while losing weight will be good for many things, remember to work on mobility and stability, as you being unable to unclip tanks is a bit worrying I'd say. Also, it might be best to not put on fins while standing in the surf.
From my chair, I feel like I might be able to get myself out of such a situation, but it wouldn't be an easy task.
Good luck for the journey @infieldg
However, I believe it's misplaced to say it like Pua said. Especially since it had already been noticed, and OP said he was going to do something about it. I would add something, while losing weight will be good for many things, remember to work on mobility and stability, as you being unable to unclip tanks is a bit worrying I'd say. Also, it might be best to not put on fins while standing in the surf
.From my chair, I feel like I might be able to get myself out of such a situation, but it wouldn't be an easy task.
Good luck for the journey @infieldg
I didn't take it to be demeaning, the fact is that the weight issue would play a large role in this incident. If the OP feels upset by it, by all means report it, but I don't feel it is up to us to decide what is insulting to others.
Maybe its because I'm not in the US and don't understand the mindset regarding when it is appropriate to talk about overweight, but I have always understood the role of friends to be to tell you the truth others won't. A BMI of 41 is a concern (in my mind) when it comes to diving. I am NOT saying they shouldn't dive, I am saying that there are additional concerns that need to be considered, like the incident being discussed.
If the OP were a friend, and came to me telling me the story, I would also tell him that I was concerned about his weight and the diving choices he is making. I am about 20 lbs over my target weight and I feel every one of them doing a surf entry with 2 tanks on, if I were 100 lbs overweight I wouldn't even attempt it.
Each to their own, YMMV etc etc etc.
Maybe its because I'm not in the US and don't understand the mindset regarding when it is appropriate to talk about overweight, but I have always understood the role of friends to be to tell you the truth others won't. A BMI of 41 is a concern (in my mind) when it comes to diving. I am NOT saying they shouldn't dive, I am saying that there are additional concerns that need to be considered, like the incident being discussed.
If the OP were a friend, and came to me telling me the story, I would also tell him that I was concerned about his weight and the diving choices he is making. I am about 20 lbs over my target weight and I feel every one of them doing a surf entry with 2 tanks on, if I were 100 lbs overweight I wouldn't even attempt it.
Each to their own, YMMV etc etc etc.
Thanks for sharing! No doubt, rolling over in full sidemount gear on land or in shallow water is a challenge, even for a reasonably fit person. Maybe releasing a bungee would have been easier than unclipping a cylinder. I just wonder, why the regulatror was flooded? It is more difficult to breathe when inverted, but normally it should not deliver water instead of air.
I wonder if the wave action wasn't flipping the exhaust valve membrane over, flooding the reg. That is a beast to fix on the best day, never mind on your back in the waves.
Shasta_man
Contributor
<<gaining weight quickly>> after a little experience myself (hopefully going the other direction now) you can gain weight faster than you gain muscle to support it. And particularly due to the reason you gained that weight (input > output), it's easy to gain little muscle. Standing up 30 more pounds is not trivial. Gaining slowly over time gives your body the chance to build with it.
Besides other things like where that weight gain is also throwing off your balance you had.
Besides other things like where that weight gain is also throwing off your balance you had.
Similar threads
