Diver with Shoulder Issues

[NC Air Hog]

Hypothetical situation, of course:

A young man who had a fairly severe shoulder injury in the past now has range of motion issues. To allow himself to dive doubles, he mounts his tanks upside down because he cannot reach the maniflold any other way. While out on a boat, he was getting his gear ready to jump on in and one of the crew said he was putting his gear together the wrong way. After explaining the situation, the crewman declared that no one should be allowed to dive in such a configuration. After petitioning the Captain, the crew member was kindly asked to sit down and shut up.

Anyone else see folks diving this way? It seems like the perfect solution to reaching issues to me.

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

:blessing: He's got my blessing!

When divers first started diving sidemount, many also made negative remarks about it. Today it is the way to go, in my opinion, if you are doing wreck or cave diving. BUT you will still find many people who will talk negatively about it... Human beings are the way they are... We all have our opinions and not many are open minded.


I think that as long as it can be done safely and all safety procedures can be followed.. Why not? Dive boats are a business and as such they need to be prepared to accommodate people with handicaps just like any other business!


That also brings to mind the "new" movement and programs now available to people with handicaps, many of them on wheelchairs who are now available to dive and enjoy scuba.


Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IIBTTXEt7M

And here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmF3mD9rwl8

 

[USFpsychDiver]

I injured my shoulder skiing, not badly enough to have surgery (yet) but enough that it does limit my motion, so I went sidemount, not to wiggle in to little underwater holes, but to get the valves in front of me. Maybe I could still shut down the isolater in time in back mounted doubles, but there's no question with the valves at my sides. Don't know about upside-down tanks on the back but don't see any reason why not. I've seen the discussion before.

 

[Dhboner]

Sidemount is the best option if you have restricted shoulder mobility (like me). Inverted doubles are fairly common (particularly in Europe) but I would be concerned about the potential damage if you have a brain cramp and try to sit down on a boat with your tanks still on

 

[rhwestfall]

just inverting the tank poses a risk. If safely mitigated (they make "cages" for the valve to be oriented down - believe it is more prevalent in the UK), then, as long as he can perform the necessary skills, and the "team" is prepared, its no big deal to me.....

---------- Post added April 22nd, 2015 at 03:40 PM ----------

had to answer the phone mid-typing, DB beat me to posting....

 

[Akimbo]

I don't have range of motion issues, yet anyway. However, my doubles are valve-down and never got any guff over it. The guard is a home-brew. IMHO, valve-down is right-side-up.

 

[Akimbo]

There are valid concerns with valve-down rigs, especially with doubles. A diver that loses their balance on a slippery deck could fall on their butt and turn them into a jet-pack... or worse. Even sitting down on the bench too hard can damage high pressure components.

That being said, Jacques Cousteau and his dive team used triples with a valve on the bottom for their reserve cylinder that were far more vulnerable to damage than modern doubles. They could not be set down on the bottom at all.

 

[TSandM]

Well, the way it was explained to me, putting the valves down puts the most fragile part of the assembly where it is likely to experience impact. So then you have to cage the valves, which can interfere with reaching and manipulating them. So to avoid having to stretch your shoulders, you've bought yourself a more complicated gear setup that has significant limitations. To me, sidemount would make better sense, or physical therapy to get to where you can reach your valves. It IS possible to have an injury such that you CAN'T rehab adequately, though. I am quite aware of that.

 

[Frosty]

Which way up are firefighters rigs and why??
My areguement is two fold. 1) the "delicate" valve has to withstand 200psi all the time so is far from delicate.
2) risk iof damage for say 2 minutes on the boat VS well over an hour each dive in the water.

 

[PfcAJ]

Which way up are firefighters rigs and why??
My areguement is two fold. 1) the "delicate" valve has to withstand 200psi all the time so is far from delicate.
2) risk iof damage for say 2 minutes on the boat VS well over an hour each dive in the water.

Firefighters are fighting gravity (as well as fire).

I dont know of anyone who can manipulate valves wth the tanks up right and fighting gravity. I'm fairly sure the discussion is about scuba diving, so what firefighters do is irrelevant.

If your shoulders are wrecked do what you need to do. Accept the disadvantages and move on.