Ooa

[Amber]

I've never even been close to an OOA situation but I can't say it'll never happen. Anything can happen but I check my gagues enough that I doubt it could. Only thing I could see happening is a reg free flow or something along those lines.

 

[tinman]

Popeye once bubbled...
I usually hit the boat with 200.

I don't want to waste around 20% of my gas.

....I'm more concern about the 50% of my life that I don't want to waste...plus you aren't factoring in continguencies hitting the boat with 200 - what if your buddy has an OOA, or you free flow or an interesting boat anchor catches your eye. It's amazing how that can change your gas management perspective. There will always be more bubbles to blow another day...

Done the anchor thing; experienced my own reg. freeflow, and buddy freeflow, but only come close to "sucking the small stir stick" a couple of times in controlled, shallow water - an experience worth trying only once in a puddle or pool and learning from...

 

[Popeye]

tinman once bubbled...


....I'm more concern about the 50% of my life that I don't want to waste...plus you aren't factoring in continguencies hitting the boat with 200 - what if your buddy has an OOA, or you free flow or an interesting boat anchor catches your eye. It's amazing how that can change your gas management perspective. There will always be more bubbles to blow another day...

I'm my buddy, and I already learned my anchor lesson , and as far as contingencies, how much arbitrary air reserve do you feel you need?

On a warm water drift dive, 200 does me just fine.

tinman once bubbled...
Done the anchor thing; experienced my own reg. freeflow, and buddy freeflow, but only come close to "sucking the small stir stick" a couple of times in controlled, shallow water - an experience worth trying only once in a puddle or pool and learning from...

Different dives would have different plans.

What caused your free flow?

 

[tinman]

Popeye once bubbled...


I'm my buddy, and I already learned my anchor lesson , and as far as contingencies, how much arbitrary air reserve do you feel you need?
On a warm water drift dive, 200 does me just fine. Different dives would have different plans

...sorry P. I reread my post, sounds harsh. You're right, dive profiles do dictate some latitude, keeping in mind s##t happens.
That said, it's not what air reserve I need as much as my buddy or circumstances MIGHT require. I'm a conservative diver, I don't feel cheated when I exit with 500-700 PSI...

What caused your free flow?

...Ironically, doing a planned OOA drill with my buddy: it was in 34 o F, 40 ffw water, swimming into a current (only place where there wasn't ice!). We were trying to determine failure point or worst case scenario for my Enviro seal equipped Mares MR22
...My buddies want to go out this weekend...wind chill has it at
- 30 o C here ..are we certifiable yet??!! At least the water is a little warmer than the air....

 

[Curly]

my buddy ran out as we were coming up from a safety stop. I knew he was an air hog, and so frequently checked him. We were at 60 ffw, and I noticed he's dipped below 500 -- where I was still in the 1200 range. So I signaled for us to surface, and we did a stop along the way -- and, as I figured, he ran out about 10 feet from the surface. We shared, surfaced, and I asked what happened. He seemed very non-chalant about the whole thing, like it was something to be expected. His apparent indifference was the most troubling aspect of the whole thing. We had a serious talk on the way back home.

 

[jskeyes2]

Happened to me once - during my open water class. The instructer was testing for air sharing, mask blow out etc. and he knew that I was low. Well I ran out (in 15 feet of water) - something that I never want to try again! It was no big deal since we were so shallow, but it makes you think because my wife and I did not handle it right....

 

[DivePartner1]

Diving off Delaware, sweltering in my drysuit in the 98 degree sun, I went in to wait at 20 feet while my buddies finished suiting up.

First mistake, swam against the current rather than using the line to the bow. Calm at the surface concealed vigorous current.
Second mistake, lost a fin (not strapped right), chased it down, then tried putting it on in the current before figuring that holding the anchor line was much easier than wrestling my fin, in a drysuit in the current. I realized I'd dropped to about 70 feet during the misadventure when I noticed my red jon line had turned green, and hung there while catching my breath. Buddies finally came down, unaware of the minor drama, and we went down to 120 and a very pretty wreck. Next mistake, got caught in the moment (and narced?) and decided to start us at 1000 but missed it until I had less than 800 left. SPG zeroes during the safety stop and I took the offered secondary of a buddy.

I pay much more attention to how 'little things' like inattention to gear and misjudgements of current can have consequences.

 

[Popeye]

tinman once bubbled...

...sorry P. I reread my post, sounds harsh. You're right, dive profiles do dictate some latitude, keeping in mind s##t happens.
That said, it's not what air reserve I need as much as my buddy or circumstances MIGHT require. I'm a conservative diver, I don't feel cheated when I exit with 500-700 PSI...

Nada problem. I was less than clear myself. There are many situations that I might consider a higher reserve.

Hi viz ww drift diving isn't one of them.

Ice diving sure is.