Practice reg retrievals at safety stop?

[AlexL]

For an S-drill, the common signal is an "S", followed by what you want to do

doesn't really matter as long as you and your buddy / team is/are on the same page, but for what its worth with some agencies the S sign/S-drill is explicitly for the reg donation drill.

in our buddy pair, as soon as you sign 'S', the other party immediately signs 'OK', 'OOA', readies their backup / bail out, and spits out their primary reg. can get a bit confusing with a 3rd party instructing the start of a S-drill, so during our fundies class the team agreed pre-dive to a modification to the signing as you had mentioned; sign S, then point to the person doing the donation, and then who is to receive. this is then echoed by 'OK', 'S', and pantomime 'as you wish' (hands to chest, then roll forward to palms up) to the receiver, with a final 'OK' to receiver which is echoed back to the donor, and the drill begins.

 

[Saniflush]

From the for what it's worth file. My buddy (wife) and I take the safety stop opportunity to practice various things. It started out as a way to get her more comfortable in the water but has turned into a regular routine that is part of our dive discussion on the boat. Sometimes it is mask removal and clearing, sometimes it's buddy breathing, sometimes it is one of us trying to maintain buoyancy while the other the other makes sure they don't float away. We think it's a great way to use 3-5 minutes at the end of a dive.

 

[billt4sf]

Slightly off-topic but I love dives that end with a long period in shallow water (hopefully looking at a soft-coral garden!). Love to practice my buoyancy in shallow water: hold a stop at 15' (known as 3m in most of the world), then at 2m, then at 1m...FUN! And your air lasts forever...

- Bill