Long-hose in the time of COVID-19

[rddvet]

There is no way I would stop someone from going for the surface if they don't have a working reg in their mouth. I've slowed a few down with free-flows or buoyancy issues, so we did around 15-20m/min.
t.

I was shortening the story for ease. I grabbed her because she was freaking out, and I was starting to donate my reg when she started freaking out on me. Her husband was also right there, but was lost trying to find his reg. So I grabbed him with my other arm and pulled him towards her and he pushed the reg in her mouth. She was fighting with him the whole time too. Maybe keeping her from darting to the surface wasn't the right choice, but it was in this case. I don't think she would have made it to the surface to be honest, or would have blown a lung on the way up. Either way the initial goal was to get a reg in her mouth, but she screwed it up by fighting me so much. That's when the easiest thing was to get control of her and get her husband to her asap.

You guys can argue that it's all anecdotal, but my experience and the experience of friends coincide with what my technical instructors have taught us. If she would have ripped the necklaced reg out of my mouth it's not a big deal. Sure I can get the long hose back in my mouth on my own, unless a flailing fighting woman is doing her best to stop that from happening.

Every situation is going to be different and you don't know what your response will be until it happens. All I know is I expect a scared OOG diver to act like an idiot.

 

[saxman242]

again just anecdotal hearsay ...

BSAC reports of incidents that occurred are by definition anecdotes as well.

 

[Esprise Me]

BSAC seems like a great organization. I'm not inclined to second-guess their system. But I wonder how broadly applicable their findings are outside their ranks. I suspect that, for it to be true that people follow their training in an emergency, that training has to be pretty well ingrained. A BSAC member who underwent their training program and continued to dive regularly with other members is different from a casual vacation diver who got certified in four days five years ago and has done half a dozen dives since. That's the guy who might panic and snatch the primary out of your mouth, regardless of what he was taught.

I witnessed the aftermath of an incident where a young woman ran low on air and panicked. She didn't mug her buddy for his reg, but she completely forgot the signs and instead frantically waved her console in his face, which he didn't understand. She made it back unhurt but badly shaken. I marveled at the fact that she couldn't clear her head enough to signal low on air, out of air, share air, or ascend, any of which would've probably gotten the message across.

One thing that's kinda nice about the long hose is that, because it's not what most people are expecting, it gives me a reason to go through the motions of handing off the primary to demonstrate to an instabuddy what to do in an OOA situation. I like to think that, every time I do that, it carves that groove a little bit deeper, so that I'm that much more likely to do it automatically in a real emergency.

 

[formernuke]

Just hearsay then.

Nope, I watched it happen, hearsay is I heard it from somebody else.

 

[formernuke]

I'm bowing out of this one. You guys argue till the cows come home.

I'll dive the way I've been trained and am the most comfortable with.

 

[tursiops]

I'll dive the way I've been trained and am the most comfortable with.

I've been trained different ways over the years....the point is, training (and equipment) evolves, and the way you need to equip yourself and to dive depends on the situation. One size does NOT fit all. Be flexible, don't get stuck in a rut.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

I am a bit tired of seeing the BSAC drum being beaten in so many threads. There "evidence" is based on a small sample size and IS NOT reflective of the rest of the world.

Now onto a clipped off longhose: as sidemount divers we do this all the time so it is not a big deal. Use the breakaways and it takes no ore or less time than donating any other way. It is simple.

 

[M-Cameron]

eh, i might be in the minority here......but i would MUCH rather risk getting Covid than i would drown from an OOA scenario.


im guessing the chance of me dying from a diving mishap because we were fiddling around trying to get a bolt snap undone, is significantly higher than my chances of dying from Covid.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

eh, i might be in the minority here......but i would MUCH rather risk getting Covid than i would drown from an OOA scenario.


im guessing the chance of me dying from a diving mishap because we were fiddling around trying to get a bolt snap undone, is significantly higher than my chances of dying from Covid.

There is no need to undo a bolt snap if you rig the longhose like us sidemount divers.

 

[tursiops]

im guessing the chance of me dying from a diving mishap because we were fiddling around trying to get a bolt snap undone, is significantly higher than my chances of dying from Covid.

I'me guessing you have maybe never unclipped a boltsnap. It is really not hard. you can find YouTube videos to help you learn how.
/SARCASM
Really, you can breath through the reg even if it is still clipped.
And if that reg is being reserved for use as an alternate during the pandemic, then it does not even need to be clipped off...it can be bungeed, or on a breakaway, or stuffed in a stretchy octo keeper....it just need to be secured so it doesn't dangle and drag.