Forgot to hook up inflator - near miss

[chillyinCanada]

It may have appeared that the hose was connected and who knows when it actually popped off.

It happened to me long ago and I've been quite a bit more careful since.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

IME even the BWRAF does so if it's done right. That "B" is for BCD, and having forgotten to hook up my suit hose once, I now use that to check that also my suit inflates.

Except most new divers quickly forget the acronym, what it means, what to check. Top down, right left is much much easier.

 

[Storker]

most new divers quickly forget the acronym, what it means, what to check

Only if they quit doing buddy checks while their OW cert is still warm.

I crossed over from PADI to CMAS after some hundred-odd dives in my logbook. Our 3* instructor preferred top-down (or bottom-up, our choice), and that was when I was introduced to that type of buddy check. Until then, BWRAF had served me rather well (except that one time that I forgot to hook up my drysuit hose), and I still run BWRAF if I'm diving with PADI certed buddies. Perhaps it's because I've never stopped checking my gear and my buddy before splashing.

A buddy check - any buddy check - is better than no buddy check. IME and IMO the different types of buddy check I've been taught or introduced to are "good enough" if they're done properly. At least for simple rec diving.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I check all of my own gear over and over, not OCD but will start again if I'm interrupted. When I have a buddy, I encourage them to do the same, watch them do it then check it again myself.

Amazingly, even with all that, a little something could go wrong but it's a lot less likely.

 

[happy-diver]

Forgot to unhook inflator - no miss

back at the ute shoredive with the tank on my back resting on the closed tailgate unbuckling the bc
and then dumped my gear in the back and connected drysuit hose pulled me backwards on top of it

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Only if they quit doing buddy checks while their OW cert is still warm

I wish that were true. In my experience as an instructor, students forget quite quickly which is why I think acronyms are stupid and teach a systematic process m. If BWRAF works for you I’m ecstatic. But for many people dm they don’t remember past getting out of the water from OW#4.

 

[Storker]

I wish that were true.

So what you're saying is that they quit doing buddy checks even before their card has been printed?

Now, if I'm diving with a buddy who I know well, trust and have dived with several times, I might forgo the more formal run-through. But I always check my own gear, usually bottom to top if I'm not doing an explocit check and if my buddy is the type of buddy I prefer diving with I can trust that they're doing the same.

Proper pre-dive checks have saved me from embarrassing situations more than once. I'm not particularly interested in looking like a clueless n00b, so I hate being in situations like when I forgot to hook up my suit hose. Besides, in my type of diving, there isn't any DM to cover my arse if I mess up.

 

[Fastmarc]

How did he realise that the hose wasn't connected? Typically you would put a bit of air before entering the water, but the next time you would normally touch the inflator is when you are under, approaching your target depth to get neutral.
Prior to descending on the surface, did you observe each other and give each other the 'thumbs down'?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@Storker

They forget BWRAF itself and what the letters mean. This is consistent including some very intelligent engineers in IT

 

[Storker]

including some very intelligent engineers in IT

I'd question the "intelligent" label, but perhaps that's just me.