Don't know what happened

[Rae HalfTheHill]

Things happened very fast. I was very comfortable staying 2 meters max behind them but then the vis degraded and the next I know, they are 10 meters away and I can’t catch up. No way to tell them.

Just for conjecture-is it possible that perhaps the reducing visibility only made it appear as though you couldn't catch up? If previously you had been able to comfortably stay within 2 meters and were holding that distance, then maybe the reducing visibility made it appear the rest of the group was getting further away, when in reality everyone was working with the same effort to counteract any current, until eventually all you could track were the group's bubbles.

 

[David Novo]

Sorry. You know that English is not my native language. What do you mean by swim my gear up? If you mean being able to ascend with a malfunctioning BCD, I would say yes as I never add air to my BCD to ascend. I just release air for control. Now, if the problem is that I can’t release air from my BCD, that’s another story. I regularly practice disconnecting the LPI.

I meant swim up your gear if you lose all air you have in your BCD and can't add any.

 

[Raphus]

if I dive for fun I have a balanced rig aswell. And I am very strict about being perfect weighed.

When I dive as a DM I overweight myself with 1-2kg.so I can hold a student down if I have to, descent fast or just donate the weigth to a student.

Once I took 5 extra kg, because I asked a student to drop 5 kg because he was heavily overweighted. He didn't want to(scared for whatever reason), so I said I take 5 kg extra with me so I can give it back to you underwater, if you really need it.
The extra 5 kg was very difficult to dive.
But like I said: in general it sbest to have 2 extra kg if diving as a DM

 

[Dody]

Just for conjecture-is it possible that perhaps the reducing visibility only made it appear as though you couldn't catch up? If previously you had been able to comfortably stay within 2 meters and were holding that distance, then maybe the reducing visibility made it appear the rest of the group was getting further away, when in reality everyone was working with the same effort to counteract any current, until eventually all you could track were the group's bubbles.

It might have played a role but the distance between us definitely increased. It is difficult to say by how much. I said 10 meters but it might have been less. I might have overreacted. I lost my group once, diving in very low vis. I was not a DM but I like diving at the back because I am (usually ) a fast swimmer. But losing a group is not a good feeling. You are torn between regrouping at all costs and emergency procedures.

 

[ginti]

I meant swim up your gear if you lose all air you have in your BCD and can't add any.

Hi again @Dody to complete this good suggestion, I try to give you an example. A catastrophic failure happens when you lose the air inside your BCD; for instance, if the bladder gets cut in some sharps rocks/pieces of metal. In this unfortunate scenario, you need to swim up with your legs and no air. So what you need to (be able) to do is to completely empty your BCD at depth and swim to the surface using only your legs.

It's a very unlikely scenario, but not impossible (I know 2 people who broke their wing, but in both cases the cut was underneath and thanks to a good horizontal trim they managed to keep the air inside; this is doable in oceans, in an overhead environment, if you need to follow an inclined path, things would get worse)

It might have played a role but the distance between us definitely increased. It is difficult to say by how much. I said 10 meters but it might have been less. I might have overreacted. I lost my group once, diving in very low vis. I was not a DM but I like diving at the back because I am (usually ) a fast swimmer. But losing a group is not a good feeling. You are torn between regrouping at all costs and emergency procedures.

Have you read my previous suggestion about it?

 

[Biotech Diver]

I might be atypical but I am not a troll. I am truly infatuated with diving and just want to build up the relevant knowledge as fast as I can.

Ok I understand and give you the benefit of the doubt. It’s just strange to open yourself up to serious (even personal) criticisms. I think you would benefit more by paying an experienced instructor for a series of 1:1 lessons rather than asking for advice from strangers that have not been diving with you to give you constructive feedback and an honest evaluation.

That’s great you are motivated to get these advanced certifications but the titles mean nothing if you don’t have the experience to confidently execute what you have learned. I wouldn’t even share with other strangers you might happen to be diving with that you are a DM because they will quickly be able to tell you are not experienced or know what you are doing. It also would not bode well on the instructor that signed you off.

Do yourself a favor and start over and really learn the materials you studied and practice all of the skills again and again and again, then start a new thread on what you have learned.

Recently I’ve had several equipment failures for the first time after 15 years of diving. I thought it was unlikely to happen to me because I buy top quality gear and take good care of it and get it serviced regularly when it’s that time. Without going into detail, I found myself in a situation where I had to think quickly to resolve it and to be honest I had forgotten some of the basic skills I had learned but not practiced in over 10 years. It’s a lot different when it’s a real situation and not a practice drill because the stress of the situation affects your ability to think clearly and recall knowledge. It’s also a humbling experience.

We all wish you the best of luck and I don’t think anyone meant anything personal when they were giving you some candid feedback.

 

[Dody]

I meant swim up your gear if you lose all air you have in your BCD and can't add any.

So the answer is yes. The only issue I have had is at surface with rough weather when I needed to take my gear off to get to the rocky shore. The first time, I almost had to let it go until I inflated it.

 

[inquis]

I would say yes as I never add air to my BCD to ascend. I just release air for control.

The issue is if you lose the lift (air) in your BCD (from damage), and you've lost much of the buoyancy in your wetsuit (from compression at depth), that's potentially more than you can swim up.... when ideally weighted. Being overweighted obviously makes it worse.

This is moreso a danger with thicker wetsuits, in which case consideration of redundant lift or easily ditching some weight would be wise.

 

[ginti]

The issue is if you lose the lift (air) in your BCD (from damage), and you've lost much of the buoyancy in your wetsuit (from compression at depth), that's potentially more than you can swim up.... when ideally weighted. Being overweighted obviously makes it worse.

This is moreso a danger with thicker wetsuits, in which case consideration of redundant lift or easily ditching some weight would be wise.

I have just thought that @Dody is diving recreational, so maybe he has detachable weights; that isn't a good excuse to skip a proper weight check, but very dangerous scenarios are less likely if one just let the belt go...

 

[Dody]

Hi again @Dody to complete this good suggestion, I try to give you an example. A catastrophic failure happens when you lose the air inside your BCD; for instance, if the bladder gets cut in some sharps rocks/pieces of metal. In this unfortunate scenario, you need to swim up with your legs and no air. So what you need to (be able) to do is to completely empty your BCD at depth and swim to the surface using only your legs.

It's a very unlikely scenario, but not impossible (I know 2 people who broke their wing, but in both cases the cut was underneath and thanks to a good horizontal trim they managed to keep the air inside; this is doable in oceans, in an overhead environment, if you need to follow an inclined path, things would get worse)



Have you read my previous suggestion about it?

Yes, I have read all your posts but I might have missed a point.
As for ascend, I always use my legs. I never add air to the BCD. If I was diving deeper than 40 m, it might be different. In a case of rescue, it might also be different.