Identifying Stages By Feel

[jale]

why make it complicate when the only thing you need is just a reg around your neck?
Be off-board dil-bo or off-board bo, you just get your gas at your neck like in oc...

 

[W W Meixner]

why make it complicate when the only thing you need is just a reg around your neck?
Be off-board dil-bo or off-board bo, you just get your gas at your neck like in oc...

J...

You're correct in part...the OP's question was easy identification and correct positioning of multiple bottles...with different mixes...in a ''O'' vis situation...

You may be a ribi diver or an OC diver slinging four bottles...in a ''O'' vis situation the four bottles have been removed...you need to be able to identify which mix is in which bottle...you'll need to re-sling them in the correct orientation and know which bottle has which mix and where it is...all without being able to visually see any of the bottles...touch and feel only...breathing from the bottle with 100% O2 at 130 feet would be a fatal mistake...

Not my question...only one of numerous resolutions...a lot of standards...not only in scuba diving come about as the result of investigations/inquiries/inquests...resulting from actual cases...Caving experts involved with squeeze situations and siltouts or expert wreck divers involved in siltouts and having to re-rig may be able to provide more valuable insight...

W...

 

[swimlikethefish]

In zero Vis, if you took them off. How would you find 4 bottles to put back on? Would be a lot of searching... .

 

[PfcAJ]

J...

You may have off-board plugged into a necklace second...not all ribi divers dive with BOV's...English to Latin to Greek is not a fair response...and an identifiable by feel second stage is far better than a zip tie...that may no longer be there...or a tank sticker that cannot be read in a ''O'' vis situation...

My above note was a personal resolve...if the reg is changed in the future...the protocol is revised...

My resolve would work for me...

Tell us what you do...

W.

I don’t switch to gases without being able to verify the mod.

This whole thread is bananas. Do people really dive like this?

 

[jgttrey]

Yes, it's bananas. I'm not arguing for it as a good practice. Just asking a question prompted by the fact that the issue came up in standards.

I get you don't switch gasses unless you can verify the MOD and agree it's the obviously proper practice - when you can. But this is a bailout scenario and if the alternative was a flooded loop and a caustic milkshake of soda lime, the equation might change.

I thought about different second stages, and that works, but I'm not going to go buy a Poseidon set just to get something that feels different. Especially since we all seem to agree its a pretty stoopid scenario.

 

[Vicko]

Can anyone tell me of a true 0 vis scenario they were in where they would not be able to see a tank marking?
Diving in sewers does not count, no one would put his reb in there.

 

[Gareth J]

Yes, it's bananas. I'm not arguing for it as a good practice. Just asking a question prompted by the fact that the issue came up in standards.

I get you don't switch gasses unless you can verify the MOD and agree it's the obviously proper practice - when you can. But this is a bailout scenario and if the alternative was a flooded loop and a caustic milkshake of soda lime, the equation might change.

I thought about different second stages, and that works, but I'm not going to go buy a Poseidon set just to get something that feels different. Especially since we all seem to agree its a pretty stoopid scenario.

Having different manufactures regulators would help identification. However, having the same manufacture regulators means you have common parts/spares in the field when diving.

As with everything else its a balance.

Personally I would keep the same manufactures regulators, but differentiate in some other way. It does seem to be a strange requirement though.

One option would be to put a cover or cap over the mouth piece of the regulator. It might be considered old school these days, but it works.
If it was that important, I would double up. Mouth guard on the regulator and a double/triple or quadruple banding holding the hoses onto the cylinder. Its not like you need immediate access to the decompression gas. The one you potentially need quickly is the bailout gas. On deep dives, my drysuit whip is on the bailout gas, rather than the inboard dil. Similarly, often the manual DIL inflate is taken off the bailout cylinder and connected to the counter lung. So now if I do unship the deep bailout gas, it will have at least one, if not two whips that aren't bungied into the cylinder. The other cylinder will have a mouth guard and everything tightly bungied onto the cylinder.

 

[PfcAJ]

Yes, it's bananas. I'm not arguing for it as a good practice. Just asking a question prompted by the fact that the issue came up in standards.

I get you don't switch gasses unless you can verify the MOD and agree it's the obviously proper practice - when you can. But this is a bailout scenario and if the alternative was a flooded loop and a caustic milkshake of soda lime, the equation might change.

I thought about different second stages, and that works, but I'm not going to go buy a Poseidon set just to get something that feels different. Especially since we all seem to agree its a pretty stoopid scenario.

A well thought out gear configuration solved this problem in its entirety, and was posted above.

BOV plumbed to a large volume of bottom gas.

Done.

No need for Braille solutions to try and figure out if you’re putting a loaded gun against your head or not.

 

[jgttrey]

Except that's not my desired configuration.

If I thought this scenario was a serious risk, yes, I could completely change my configuration and rack big bottle of deep bailout plumbed to a BOV. But, I don't want to do that because it is not a realistic scenario. That doesn't mean I'm not curious about some alternative method that doesn't involve the tail wagging the dog, even if it isn't perfect.

Divers rely on #24 line and plastic arrows every day for, among other things, a braille solution for a silt out, so I'm not quite at the point of "you're gonna die" if you have to resort to tactile feedback to identify a bailout.

 

[PfcAJ]

Except that's not my desired configuration.

If I thought this scenario was a serious risk, yes, I could completely change my configuration and rack big bottle of deep bailout plumbed to a BOV. But, I don't want to do that because it is not a realistic scenario. That doesn't mean I'm not curious about some alternative method that doesn't involve the tail wagging the dog, even if it isn't perfect.

Divers rely on #24 line and plastic arrows every day for, among other things, a braille solution for a silt out, so I'm not quite at the point of "you're gonna die" if you have to resort to tactile feedback to identify a bailout.

Line and arrows out of pure necessity.

Good luck with yer zip ties and reg covers.