new diver - first dive problems

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Yep, and he died from aspergillosis.

BTW, and FTR, Aspergillus aren't bacteria, they're fungi
Apparently though the Aspergillus are common and the death is a fluke.

But, for something that's non-essential, better be safe than sorry :)
 
Thanks for this, when I use a question mark it's a legitimate question, not just me implying it's a good idea.

So thanks for providing good feed back :)

An edit, while the risk seems low, it looks like the method is sound.

So given the risk (that fungus), just test your BCD by inflating, but not deflating with your breath (even at surface).

And only ever breathe from it if you would otherwise die. Other than that...there must be some way to help reduce fungal growth in a BCD?
Yea just wash it with a disinfectant solution that can kill fungal and germs and then dry it thoroughly.

I agree with you it is better to take the risk and breath from the BCD than drowning for example. I would not practice breathing from my BCD unless I have thoroughly cleaned it recently. Even then there is alway water stuck in the inflator or at the bottom of my wing unless I dry it with valve open under the sun when it’s warm.
 
I won’t be a d*ck because we’ve all been clueless when we first started out. (I’m a certified rescue diver now, and cavern diver (I’ll dive caves but CAREFULLY), and I’ve done over 120 dives)

however, one thing I’ll tell you:

It’s fine to challenge yourself. However, there needs to be some limits.

For example, I think it’s fine for a new diver to go down to 100 feet. Honestly, I did. I went down to 130 when I only had like 12 or 15 actual dives.

However, you shouldn’t do it on like dive 1 or 2.

also, you shouldn’t combine spear fishing with depth, at all, for your first year of diving (or until you do at least like 50 dives IMO... whichever comes first).

I think that you’re in a little over your head and the problem is you can die that way. Trust me I almost died doing cave diving before I was prepared. I almost **** myself in fear lmaooo and i was like NOT doing that again!!! So now, whenever I do caves I’m careful as hell. I have all my right equipment. I double check it. I do sidemount with at least 2 tanks. And I only use up 1/3 of one tank’s air before I turn around. I’m SUPER careful. And I mark the line very clearly with special markers that I painted so I know they’re mine.

anyway....

You obviously did a lot wrong here.

you missed your safety stop and could’ve caused some internal organ or joint issue (DCS) without realizing it... I’m sure you know this already but just telling you...

you shouldn’t have been spear fishing so soon... it causes you to GET DISTRACTED and you lose track of time...

you need to have an SPG so you can see your air tank, and you need to have a wrist-watch dive computer (trust me get one for your wrist it’s so much ****** better than one connected to your tank. You gotta be able to look at your dive computer 24-7 when ascending or descending bro, like almost every second).

I also recommend checking your buoyancy to make sure it’s correct so that you don’t sink insanely fast. You should be properly weighted so that when you completely exhale, with a full tank, you are at eye level in the water and your mask has water like halfway up it on the outside. It should be right about that. Doesn’t need to be perfect but it should be like that. That way, you’ll be able to maintain buoyancy better and you won’t sink too fast or rise uncontrollably. Also, that way; you won’t be unnecessarily weighted and bulky.
 
Also, as to your 3000 PSI air running out faster, here are some tips and facts:

1) Yeah, air consumption increases every 10 meters. It’s 2x surface consumption at 10 meters. 3x surface consumption at 20 meters. 4x surface consumption at 30 meters. And so on, and so on

at 100 feet, you’re sucking air about 4.1 (about 4) times faster than you would be at the surface.

2) You shouldn’t ever be “surprised” your air is low. You should be checking your air/pressure gauge (your SPG) almost as much as you’re checking your dive watch/computer. You should always be able to say “hey, my air is X PSI” and be within 200 PSI of what it actually is. That’s generally the rule. Some say 100, some say 300, the point is, look at it frequently and know your status.

3) You should have started surfacing when you had about 1200 PSI left, at that depth you wanna surface with a little more than 1/3. If you’re only at like 70 feet you can start surfacing at 1000. Heck at 50 feet you can start surfacing with 850 or so. But at 100 feet brah, you need to surface with 1200 PSI AT LEAST. For me, at 1350 PSI I would personally start heading my way up. I’d chill around 70 feet until I was at 1000, then I’d head up the rest of the way

4) you gotta do your 3 minute safety stop. It’s seriously important for your health. Which is why you need to head up with the right PSI.

5) I know they won’t teach you this in school bcuz it’s technically not the “ideal” scenario, but honestly... if you find that you f*ucked up and you have less air than you should and you gotta head to the surface.... TAKE SLOWER, SMALLER BREATHS AND DONT HOLD IT FOR LONG, BUT HOLD IT SLIGHTLY BETWEEN BREATHS. SLOW YOUR PULSE AND MOVEMENT.

6) never head to the surface faster than 1 foot per second. You should never have a low air “emergency” requiring that, unless your equipment broke. If you mismanaged your air again; then stop diving beyond 50 feet until you learn how to read and monitor your air gauge properly. In fact I recommend you do some trial dives at 40, then 50 and then 60 feet, practicing your air gauge monitoring before you go deeper again. Then work up to 70, 85 and 100 the next day. Learn how to identify faster and slower air consumption based on death.
 
4) you gotta do your 3 minute safety stop. It’s seriously important for your health.

No you don't gotta do it. A safety stop, is by definition "optional". Meaning that if you skip it, you'll probably be ok.

5) TAKE SLOWER, SMALLER BREATHS AND DONT HOLD IT FOR LONG, BUT HOLD IT SLIGHTLY BETWEEN BREATHS. SLOW YOUR PULSE AND MOVEMENT.

Dangerous advice. It's too easy for a stressed panicked diver who might take this advice to hold a little too much gas for a little too long and rupture a lung. Especially since that air will be expanding at an unpredictable rate depending on how fast the diver is ascending. Also a diver in good shape can most likely surface on one breath, constantly exhaling as the gas expands from depths of more than 80' and breathing from what remains from the tank and constantly exhaling rather than holding it in.

6) never head to the surface faster than 1 foot per second.

60' per minute was the standard until fairly recently. All of a sudden, the rules changed and ascending any faster than 30' per minute is considered reckless and life endangering. Well, it isn't. Especially if a diver is low on gas and risks going OOA- it's much better to ascend at faster than 30' per minute, even up to that "reckless" 60' per minute, rather than doing a slow ascent that results in emptying a tank before getting close to the surface.
 
I congratulate the OP on how he took some of the very harsh criticism. I also congratulate him on being willing to modify his behaviors.

Be safe, folks here are really only concerned about your well being.

Great video's too......Just remember, the deeper you go the less light there is and your video quality will degrade. 30-40' makes for great shooting. :)
 

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