Accidents and Incidents:What mistakes have you made?

[joe8mofo]

On my first attempt at deploying an SMB at 30', I took my reg out and inflated the SMB, put the reg back in and took a deep breathe of water, as I had forgotten to hit the purge button. Needless to say I had to fight my instinct to bolt to the surface and forced myself to stay calmly there and cough it all out.

 

[Jax]

The scary part of this thread is the number of "I know it was stupid, but . . ."

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Getting caught by a fisherman is not a mistake on the divers part (necessarily) but for those who think this can't happen to them...it happened to me once.

I was at a jetty where there is supposed to be no fishing. When I got in no one was around (other than my buddy). Once I got to the end of the jetty I felt my leg (wearing a drysuit) being pulled upward. Not so hard that I was going anywhere. Nylon line is hard to see. Once I realized that I wasn't just snagged on old line but that it was actually attached to a fisherman I had to hurry up and grab my knife and cut the line.

After the dive, this guy (fisherman) came up and apologized and it was obvious that he was also somewhat mentally challenged so not much I could say. He said that he thought he had caught the biggest ling cod of his life!

Cheng and I had a fisherman intentionally trying to hook us at Cove 3 once ... while we were doing maintenance work on the boundary rope. The first time I noticed his line as it came across in front of my face, so I was watching for it with a set of shears at the ready. Next time it came down between me and Cheng ... I grabbed the line and cut it before the fishing dude could yank on it.

He was waiting for us at the end of the dive, and had the stones to yell at me for cutting his line. I offered to call the police and let him complain to them ...

Bob, I remember reading about your incident in the cave last year...that one has and will definitely stick with me.

I ain't likely to forget that one, either ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[W8less]

On a 100' scooter dive, plan was to shoot a bag with scooters and do a standard safety stop at the end of the dive (just for skill honing). I failed to make sure that the end of my finger spool line was secured tightly with a dogbone to the spool. The end of the line stayed snap bolted to the spool but somehow the loose winds unraveled and snagged my legs and did a few turns in the scooter prop. On this dive gas and BT were not an immediate issue so I took the time to unravel the mess rather than cut my good line. It's amazing how not stretching 1" of a line on a spool could create such a hassle. That won't ever happen again.

 

[peterbj7]

... I never use a finger spool for deploying a DSMB. I use a proper enclosed reel, in my case the Buddy Pocket Reel. In eight years of deploying on virtually every dive I've never had a problem. I leave the line permanently attached to the DSMB so I don't have to fiddle at the time of deployment and risk dropping one or the other.

 

[juanfr22]

-Jumping into the water with a loose/hanging tank! (I felt so stupid at the time, now I just laugh)
-Having to cancel a dive during my open water course as I was unable to clear my ears...that´s the worst, just sleeping on the boat while the others were having a blast.
-Causing myself decompression illness by proceeding with a forceful descent on my first night dive...it was my last in Mexico and I decided to descend anyway. something I regreted the entire week after the dive.

 

[DiveDocMD]

Two incidences both related to photography.
1. Diving the Great Blue Hole in Belize. Descended to 120 feet to see stalagtites. My dive buddy taps my shoulder pointing out the 2 reef sharks circling in the beams of light. It was early in my photography career and I was using a Nikonos V (well before reasonable digital). I had the hardest time trying to figure out the proper settings for the picture using ambient light. Just couldn't seem to figure it out. Checked computer....140ft! Nitrogen narcosis. Can't figure out camera settings but aware enough to know to ascend. Lesson learned-set a depth maximum alarm on the computer and screw the picture.
2. Near end of dive in Grand Cayman. Dive buddy calls me over to see something. Pair of scorpionfish just posing. Photography mode kicks in and I spend the next bit of time taking pictures from every angle and with every setting. Kind of nice to have subjects that just sit still. My the time I'm done and ready for my safety stop I check my SPG. Crap! Well below 300 psi. The boat had a bail out regulator at 15 feet so I make my way there for the safety stop saving the last few breaths for the final ascent. Of course the bail out bottle is on the boat so everyone there know somebody is about OOA. Pretty obvious its me when I'm the next one up the ladder after the bail out goes quiet. Lesson-Don't make the best picture you ever take be the last picture you ever take.

 

[Scott L]

Hey Dumpster, are you trying to get into at least three chapters of Michael Ainge's next book - Diver Down Part II?

I’ve forgotten at least once about every piece of dive gear and still entered the water. Once I almost entered the water without the entire scuba unit. I’ve entered the water many times with the primary tank off and many more times I finish a dive and discover my back mounted pony is off. I did a 180 ft solo wreck dive with my new steel tank valve barely cracked, open (which made for an abbreviated dive).

I’ve got tangled in a lift bag with a large anchor, got the line around my ankle and the bag dumped air at the surface and I got a fast ride to 90 feet (with a near empty tank). I’ve been tangled in rope and fishing line and float line at least 100 times. I once removed my entire scuba unit to crawl deep in a wreck to get a lost fish/spear and then got stuck upside down and far away from my tank (while solo). I’ve has to fight off sharks with my hands on one occasion and used spears on several others. I experienced dual leg cramps while making a solo surf exit while freediving that nearly killed me. I’ve been nearly run over by a boat several times. I’ve been bent once and probably several other times. I got lost once in a Florida cave with no guidline and zero training. I’ve gotten an unsecured second stage caught in a lift bag and got a very fast, uncontrolled ride from 60 ft to the surface. Once I was dragged to the surface by a fisherman who had lodged his hook around my heel strap of my fin (it was shallow and at night, so not a big deal).

I’m sure there are a lot more screw ups, but that is all I can remember right now.

 

[cocoajoe]

Actually I'd say always check your OWN air, but do it properly. Directly before you enter the water take a single deep breath and watch your pressure gauge. If an analogue one moves AT ALL, even if it goes directly back, you have a problem. A digital one may dip very slightly and immediately return to the same pressure that was indicated before.

In general never rely on your buddy or anyone else for life sensitive checks.

I'm curious, what would be the problem (analog gage dipping)? I'm guessing this would indicate air not turned on? Never done it but if valve is not opened, how would gage dip

 

[TSandM]

If you are breathing from the regulator, you are removing gas from the hose. The pressure in the system will fall, unless it is replaced by gas coming out of the tank. If the valve is only partially opened, gas may leave the tank, but not at the rate at which you are breathing it -- thus the pressure in the system falls briefly and then returns to normal.