If buddy breathing fails, possible skills that should be taught?

[fjpatrum]

The book covers buddy sharing at a fixed position and accending while buddy sharing to the surface but at a max depth of 15ft, not much time is spent on buddy sharing. As for breathing off the tank itself, that skill was never covered in SSI or NAUI. It just seems to me like the open water instructions are "Disney Styled" which I can understand, we don't want to scare away potential recruits to the sport. However, the risk of dying exists, I have read the Divers Alert Network fatality reports with the typical diver's regulator free-flows--panics--buddy share-air--tank empties before reaching surface--someone gets the bends.

If say you have 1500psi left in your tank and your regulator free-flows at depth, you really do not need to panic. Even if you buddies regulator also free-flows, both of you are not screwed. You can Hose breathe, or breathe directly from the tank. I think these skills should be covered in more detail in an open water, or even advanced open water certification, which currently they are not.

We are taught to dry off the dust cap before covering the 1st-stage because if water gets inside, the 1st-stage could get damaged. If you are going to breathe off the tank, the 1st-stage will get damaged but the diver needs to ask themselves which is more important "yes I spent close to $600 on my octo set but money won't do me much good if I am dead".

If none of this was covered in your SSI or NAUI courses (or the ones you're referencing) then I'd say it's the instructor, not the agency.

All of the options you listed were covered in my PADI OW course that was 3 (or maybe 4) two-hour night sessions for classroom, 2 four-hour (I think) pool sessions for skills (plus one for the swim test) and 4 OW dives. We definitely "fudged" a couple of the skills during the OW dives I did (by referral) but they were absolutely covered during our pool sessions.