How would you do this?

[TSandM]

I've seen a number of students fail the arm sweep in the pool, and persist in doing it, and getting more and more anxious. Peter DOES brief people that you have TWO regulators, and there is no law saying you can't use either one of them if it's convenient or necessary. Once you pick up the octo and show it to them, the light goes on.

I prefer the bungied backup system, myself, but it was not what I was taught on.

 

[flots am]

How were you taught to: 1. 'Wear" your alternate 2nd stage 2. "Recover" your primary regulator, and 3. Is that the way you think you'd recover it, should you have occasion to "lose it."

1. Air-2. It can't get lost.
2. Same way everybody else is. Sweep or reach behind, as well as "ask your buddy" and "take off the BC and figure out what the hell happened."
3. It's on a hose attached to the first stage. There are a limited number of places it can be. "Whatever works" is fine.

flots.

 

[Lorenzoid]

1. the "golden triangle" in the middle of the chest
2. the arm sweep as one option and the trace-the-hose from the first stage as a second option
3. I would put my alternate in my mouth and then recover my primary using the trace-the-hose method (which I find to be easier). I don't recall exactly what I was taught.

 

[rongoodman]

Bungeed secondary since right after OW. I had to use "standard" rental gear a couple of weeks ago in Playa for some ocean dives, and it felt very strange indeed.

 

[Steve_C]

Not all rental gear comes with a way to put secondary in the triangle. I carry several rubber attachments always so I can hang secondary in the triangle.

Had to do an air share last summer because new OW grad on first ocean dive could not find her secondary when she had problems with her primary. Was in her pocket and not in the triangle where she had practiced in class.

 

[nimoh]

I've seen a number of students fail the arm sweep in the pool, and persist in doing it, and getting more and more anxious. Peter DOES brief people that you have TWO regulators, and there is no law saying you can't use either one of them if it's convenient or necessary. Once you pick up the octo and show it to them, the light goes on.

I prefer the bungied backup system, myself, but it was not what I was taught on.

on more than one occasion, I have seen students dislodge their octopus during the sweep back, and then when they bring their arm forward and the regulator comes up yellow, they promptly toss the regulator away and start over.

Sometimes students just get hung up on doing the skill, rather than learning the skill.

 

[lostcajun]

Sure!!! A really good instructor can teach "calm"..... I had a good instructor!

I agree with you that some people are more emotionally equipped to handle scuba and some are not, and it would be difficult to teach someone who is inclined to panic to avoid panicking. It's about preparation, practice, and learning how to deal with the unexpected.... some are more natural at that that others....

 

[rhwestfall]

on more than one occasion, I have seen students dislodge their octopus during the sweep back, and then when they bring their arm forward and the regulator comes up yellow, they promptly toss the regulator away and start over.

You just cost me a keyboard, and my nose is killing me from the coffee that went through it.... That there is a Darwin candidate....

 

[SailNaked]

Secondary? what secondary? we had a primary, and a horse collar. only two hoses on the reg and one was an spg that was very hard to breath from. if you lost your primary you had rubber in your mouth you had to spit out and then the primary would not stay anymore anyway. our regulators were so heavy they were always straight down.

 

[nimoh]

You just cost me a keyboard, and my nose is killing me from the coffee that went through it.... That there is a Darwin candidate....

sorry about that. It wasn't even my best OW anecdote