OP
Air share
- Thread starter Raphus
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Blackcrusader
Contributor
The instructor was not with students.... one dive we were doing wreck dives to 40m with experienced divers. Some instructors get all upset should a mere mortal ask them to check air and respond with an OK sign instead of how much air they actually have.
The other dives were instructors leading other experienced divers not doing courses.
Blackcrusader
Contributor
Why would it be dangerous? I was diving with my son after he got certified. He was having a bad dive day lol too much mask clearing and his buoyancy was a bit of too much air then dumping air. Anyway after 30 mins he was down to 60 bar and I had 160 bar left.
So I got him to hook up with me where we sorted his buoyancy and he got his mask sorted and calmed down. We did the next 30 mins to the safety stop on my tank. We used together about 100 bar and we were no deeper than 15m.
So my choice was share air or call the dive. I decided to let my son partner with me and get in some shared experience. At least he was able to let me know his air situation. The DM Guide was fine we continued the dive as well.
I think it was a good experience for my son to know he could advise another diver of his air and get an OK to share and continue the dive. There was no emergency. There was no inherent need to call the dive. BTW I use my secondary for a full diver every 15 dives or so and I tell the guides I do that. I like to know it will work when required.
I've had to share air once. My girlfriend and I did some dives in the mediteranean and she signalled there was something wrong with her air.
I gave her my primary and she insisted I try her regulator to see what was wrong. I tried it and it was tasting ratchet, as in some weird almost industrial grease type taste.
After we did a controlled ascent from 30m, did short safety stop and then aborted the dive and went back to the boat. The DM wanted to try it himself and he assured us the air did not smell or taste in any way...
When I started diving I've once had it that the air tasted funny and I'd just ignore it, with me ending up being nauseous as hell and having a massive headache for three hours straight after a dive. So yeah, I got away with it once, but figured I'd never take that risk again.
In the beginning sometimes I was a bit afraid to speak up on these matters, but nowadays I know it's better to displease the dive op and get away with it safely than having cluster headaches after the dive or potentially worse.
I gave her my primary and she insisted I try her regulator to see what was wrong. I tried it and it was tasting ratchet, as in some weird almost industrial grease type taste.
After we did a controlled ascent from 30m, did short safety stop and then aborted the dive and went back to the boat. The DM wanted to try it himself and he assured us the air did not smell or taste in any way...
When I started diving I've once had it that the air tasted funny and I'd just ignore it, with me ending up being nauseous as hell and having a massive headache for three hours straight after a dive. So yeah, I got away with it once, but figured I'd never take that risk again.
In the beginning sometimes I was a bit afraid to speak up on these matters, but nowadays I know it's better to displease the dive op and get away with it safely than having cluster headaches after the dive or potentially worse.
OP
Because you have used your safety device. If something happens now you Have no other option, then buddy breathing or cesa.
15m might be no problem for a cesa for you, but you don't know how a stranger would react.
Especially if you breath from 1 first stage, the stress on the stage is doubled, or even more. More likely to freeze up(OK maybe not where u dive) or fail.
A minor incident like a ruptured hose, free flow or whatever turns into a potential fatal, stressful situation.
But I know it's a known practice in guided dives.
"Roll Off" is possible for the left post on a twin set. If you let the hand-wheel in contact with any hard object eg the roof of a cave. The forward movement will eventually shut off the valve! Rubber hand wheel is the worst.
Cannot remember which tec agency actually recommended the long hose attached to the left post so "roll off" would be immediately noticed by the diver. Long time ago.
Because your buddy is supposed to be carrying air for you too, in case you have a problem.
Almost had to share air three days ago.
My buddy was a DM, and a good one. I'm an instructor, but we were on his turf and diving from the boat he captains, so he led the dive.
Lionfish hunting in 60 feet of water, I had crawled under a ledge and was wedged in about as far I could get with just my fins sticking out. My buddy was shining his light on my target through a crack that was too small to get more than a hand though.
I was just starting to wonder if I might have gone in farther than was prudent when, suddenly, I heard a WHOOOSH and the steady beam of his light started waving back and worth.
I backed out as quickly as I could. When I emerged, his head was in a cloud of bubbles flowing from his first stage, and he was giving the OOA signal.
I offered my air, but he showed me his SPG instead of accepting the reg. It was at a little more than 20 bar and going down visibly but slowly. The volume of bubbles around his head seemed to decreasing as his tank pressure decreased.
He had the presence of mind to finish killing the last lionfish I had shot, and we ascended in the share-air position. We used my octo to inflate his smb. We cut the safety stop off after one minute, which we were comfortable doing because we had been down only for 20 minutes with a max depth of 63 feet. He ran out of air just as we surfaced.
He said his SPG went from 120 to 40 bar in the first few seconds of the emergency, and his biggest concern was about leaving me stuck under the ledge if he had to do a CESA.
For my part, I was confident I could eventually get out because I had kept one arm in front of my head and the other back down my waist so I'd always be able to push or pull with at least one hand. My chief concern was that his signal meant he was already out of air. He explained that he gave me OOA instead of LOA because he was losing pressure at a rate that meant he would be out of of air in just a few seconds and he wanted an OOA response from me. Once he showed me his SPG, I understood better what was happening.
Later that night over lionfish ceviche, some beers, some rum and some more rum, we regaled my wife and his fiancee with tales of each other's calm reactions to the emergency, thus completing the debriefing and bonding experience. We decided we'd be happy with each other as buddies the next time something goes wrong.
The lionfish died, and we lived. It was a good dive.
Haven't yet heard what failed in his regulator.
My buddy was a DM, and a good one. I'm an instructor, but we were on his turf and diving from the boat he captains, so he led the dive.
Lionfish hunting in 60 feet of water, I had crawled under a ledge and was wedged in about as far I could get with just my fins sticking out. My buddy was shining his light on my target through a crack that was too small to get more than a hand though.
I was just starting to wonder if I might have gone in farther than was prudent when, suddenly, I heard a WHOOOSH and the steady beam of his light started waving back and worth.
I backed out as quickly as I could. When I emerged, his head was in a cloud of bubbles flowing from his first stage, and he was giving the OOA signal.
I offered my air, but he showed me his SPG instead of accepting the reg. It was at a little more than 20 bar and going down visibly but slowly. The volume of bubbles around his head seemed to decreasing as his tank pressure decreased.
He had the presence of mind to finish killing the last lionfish I had shot, and we ascended in the share-air position. We used my octo to inflate his smb. We cut the safety stop off after one minute, which we were comfortable doing because we had been down only for 20 minutes with a max depth of 63 feet. He ran out of air just as we surfaced.
He said his SPG went from 120 to 40 bar in the first few seconds of the emergency, and his biggest concern was about leaving me stuck under the ledge if he had to do a CESA.
For my part, I was confident I could eventually get out because I had kept one arm in front of my head and the other back down my waist so I'd always be able to push or pull with at least one hand. My chief concern was that his signal meant he was already out of air. He explained that he gave me OOA instead of LOA because he was losing pressure at a rate that meant he would be out of of air in just a few seconds and he wanted an OOA response from me. Once he showed me his SPG, I understood better what was happening.
Later that night over lionfish ceviche, some beers, some rum and some more rum, we regaled my wife and his fiancee with tales of each other's calm reactions to the emergency, thus completing the debriefing and bonding experience. We decided we'd be happy with each other as buddies the next time something goes wrong.
The lionfish died, and we lived. It was a good dive.
Haven't yet heard what failed in his regulator.
No OOA incidents but there’s been some low air.
First it was me when I was doing my OW. It was towards the end of the dive and I was getting near 500psi but I wasn’t worried because by the end of this dive we were pretty shallow. I signaled to my instructor on how much air I had left and in my opinion she freaked out. Made me take her octo, deployed the dsmb and after a safety stop she signaled for me to surface and get on the boat. Not long after everyone else joined me.
Next one was also me (after me OW) but I signaled to the DM that I was getting near low air and that I’d surface on my own. Did my safety stop and swam to the boat.
Last incident was me diving in San Andres with the DM and a couple who had just finished their OW. About 30 minutes into the dive I didn’t understand what was happening but the husband was breathing off the DM’s octo. I was convinced that the dive was going to get called but we kept on going for a bit until he signaled to the couple that they could surface and swing back to the shore while he and I finished the dive. That was my best dive in San Andres.
First it was me when I was doing my OW. It was towards the end of the dive and I was getting near 500psi but I wasn’t worried because by the end of this dive we were pretty shallow. I signaled to my instructor on how much air I had left and in my opinion she freaked out. Made me take her octo, deployed the dsmb and after a safety stop she signaled for me to surface and get on the boat. Not long after everyone else joined me.
Next one was also me (after me OW) but I signaled to the DM that I was getting near low air and that I’d surface on my own. Did my safety stop and swam to the boat.
Last incident was me diving in San Andres with the DM and a couple who had just finished their OW. About 30 minutes into the dive I didn’t understand what was happening but the husband was breathing off the DM’s octo. I was convinced that the dive was going to get called but we kept on going for a bit until he signaled to the couple that they could surface and swing back to the shore while he and I finished the dive. That was my best dive in San Andres.
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