Out of air!!!

[Gombessa]

A leak big enough to drain an AL80 in 15 mins would probably have been quite audible if it had started at the surface. Otherwise that would easily have been caught with an equipment/bubble check, though I have to admit I've never seen a DM on a guided dive ever do such a thing. Kudos for being aware of the situation and rendering assistance.

 

[Tigerman]

I saw a DM blow a HP hose this summer in Sharm El sheikh.. It blew under water and it was quite audible. I actually thought a diver had jumped into the water right above me untill I saw him and a woman he was buddied with sharing air to the surface. The hose was replaced and the dive was completed after a short, unplanned SI. Those things does happen and need to be able to handle them if its you it happens to..

 

[trogg]

Hollandj,

I too carry a pony (I answered you in your question about pony bottles). NEVER depend on your pony and ONLY use it if you have to!!! What I mean by this is to always come up with enough air in your main tank.

Also, you must adjust your weight for neutral buoyancy with the pony on. And if you ever run out of air and then switch to your pony, remember that you will not be able to fill your BCD directly from your tank. You will have to take a breath from your pony reg and then force that air into your BCD via your inflater hose. Do not wait until you get to the surface to do this as you may be exhausted and even a bit panicked. Put some air into your BCD before you come up and let it gently lift you up - then you will be floating when you reach the surface. I speak from (foolish/scary) experience. I came to the surface without enough air in my BCD and overweighted (partially from the large crabs I had caught and mostly from the fact that I had not adjusted my weight enough from the added pony!!!).

William

couldn't you put in a Y coupling from your BC to pony and main? to avoid exhaustion, its a completely un-necessary thing but wouldnt you be happy if you needed it?
ill design one in CAD and see what happens.
-Chris

 

[Charlie99]

Also, you must adjust your weight for neutral buoyancy with the pony on. .........I came to the surface without enough air in my BCD and overweighted (partially from the large crabs I had caught and mostly from the fact that I had not adjusted my weight enough from the added pony!!!).

Removing lead to compensate for a negatively buoyant pony is a BAD idea.

If you hand off the pony or ditch the pony then you will be underweighted.

 

[shoredivr]

Also, you must adjust your weight for neutral buoyancy with the pony on. [....] I came to the surface without enough air in my BCD and overweighted (partially from the large crabs I had caught and mostly from the fact that I had not adjusted my weight enough from the added pony!!!).

William

I agree with Charles, removing weight to use a pony leaves you underweighted if ditching or handing off the tank... not good at all.

What size and kind of pony are you diving anyway? An ALU 30 is at most 2.4 lbs negative when full, while an ALU 40 is 2.6 lbs negative when full. Not a lot of extra weight. Even if you had a steel 45, that's 4 lbs full....

Scuba Cylinder Specification Chart from Huron Scuba, Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[nereas]

I went for a 9m guided shore dive in Tel Aviv a few weeks ago. The dive leader was (is) a dive instructor. At 9m and 15 min into the dive, i noticed that the dive leader was looking at his air gauge, and he signaled me ( i was the only one that noticed that he was having a problem of some kind ) that he is out of air. I responded and gave him my octo, the situation was under controll for we did not panic, and we 'buddy breathed' to the surface.

He apperantly had a bad 'o' ring problem, that's why he ran out of air, it cound happen to any one at any time.

No matter how good or bad u are, if something can go wrong, .... it will. I'f been doing some 9m / 30m guided dives and i noticed that 60% of the time, the buddys don't notice what the other buddy is doing or that the buddys are seperated.

'0' bar

Later

If an O-ring problem then you would have seen air escaping from his valve connection. Did anyone see this?

 

[Arizona]

hollandj,

You are a good buddy to have around Although being more aware can be learned, some seem to be more natural at it than others. The sad thing is some never get it! These are the buddies to be avoided if you can help it IMO.

Changing the subject a bit, as I may be in Tel Aviv... how was the beach dive, meaning the coral, vis... Did you dive Ceseare? I always wanted to dive the underwater museum.

 

[firstdive2005]

If an O-ring problem then you would have seen air escaping from his valve connection. Did anyone see this?

I totally question this also, some regs bleed and usually the person with this type of reg gets a signal about a leak. This DM should have heard the leak! Nice story though. And ya when adding a pony bottle that you may hand off it's not a good to be underweighted, get some professional guidance with life saving gear please.

 

[firstdive2005]

I totally question this also, some regs bleed and usually the person with this type of reg gets a signal about a leak. This DM should have heard the leak! Nice story though. And ya when adding a pony bottle that you may hand off it's not a good to be underweighted, get some professional guidance with life saving gear please.

I'll flame myself, it could have started leaking at depth jerk.

 

[David_57]

Have over 100 dives with a Luxfer 40 cuft pony never felt the need to compensate by changing my weights as the difference is negligible, although this may be due to the fact I dive with a drysuit and underwear with 16lbs to 20lbs of weight and a steel HP 100. The only problem I have is resisting the temptation to use it as a dive extender ;-}