So, this stuff isn't supposed to happen, but I guess it does

[PhatD1ver]

There I am, first dive in the Phillipines, I've just worked with a new DM candidate as my buddy, and our instructor watching on while I do underwater navigation for my AOW, we complete all the requirements and then start exploring the reef along the way to our pickup point... unfortunately, as we get ready to ascend, the DM releases his SMB and the current above us starts pulling him out to sea, my instructor signals to follow him while the DM reels in his SMB behind us... I am already at 70bar which is our dive briefing air limit... the current has also pushed us past the boat, so we swim up current to the boat all the time, my chewing up air...

As we get settled, we begin our safety stop and the DM is about 50 meters behind, just as my dive computer indicates we have 2 more minutes on the safety stop, I take a breath and my memory of having my tank valve shut off comes back, another breath and a look at my guage and yup, I am out of air. I signal my instructor, and he gives me this "yeah buddy, your not funny" look, then I signal again and he immediately hands over his alternate... we ascend after the final minute of the stop.

Now, you might fault my instructor, but with 70 bar, an short swim probably shouldn't have chewed up that much air, except I knew it might (his first dive with me). So, that's on me.

The thing he and the DM both talked about is how well I handled running out of air... I wasn't panicked, in fact, I was kind of matter of fact... (in my head, it was pretty quick decision, either he's going to share, or screw it, it's my first dive, I'm at 5 meters, no real chance of DCS and I'm going to the surface)...

That said, I don't want to have that experience ever again, and rather than follow on a swim against the current at the end of the dive, I'm going to just tap my SPG, and signal I don't have enough air for a current swim. The stupid boat can come find my big butt.

 

[doctormike]

I am already at 70bar which is our dive briefing air limit... the current has also pushed us past the boat, so we swim up current to the boat all the time, my chewing up air...

As we get settled, we begin our safety stop and the DM is about 50 meters behind, just as my dive computer indicates we have 2 more minutes on the safety stop, I take a breath and my memory of having my tank valve shut off comes back, another breath and a look at my guage and yup, I am out of air.

Thanks for posting! It's important to analyze your mistakes and learn from them, especially when you are just staring out.

What are you going to do in the future to make sure that this never happens again? I'll help you out. The problem here - at least as best as I can guess from your description - wasn't the decision to swim into a current, or not communicate with your instructor, or not to ascend when you were running low on gas.

The problem here was a lack of situational awareness. From what I can tell, you were at 70 bar (around 1000 PSI for us Yanks), which is a pretty significant amount of gas for an ascent from what I'm guessing was a single-tank-appropriate relatively shallow no-stop dive, right? The next thing you mentioned is that you discovered that you were completely empty by taking a breath and getting no gas. Not by looking at your gauge and watching it drop, but by having that "shut tank valve" experience.

I guess if your Instructor wasn't in reach, you might have saved yourself with a CESA, but that's a really bad plan B. LONG before you were empty, you should have been on the surface. And you should have realized how low you were without the alarm being a dead regulator.

Despite what the instructor and the DM told you, it's not impressive to handle running out of air well, because it's not impressive to run out of air. Backup gas supplies (like pony bottles or double tanks) are there for catastrophic gas loss due to equipment malfunction, not as a replacement for an SPG (although that was the protocol in the old days of J-valves).

Sorry, I don't mean to just beat up on you, and it's brave to post this here.... I hope that you take my criticism as constructive! Please let me know if I have drawn inaccurate conclusions from your original post, it's sometimes hard to accurately recreate the events in these forums...

Dive safe,

Mike

 

[PhatD1ver]

No, that's cool, and I don't mean to just pass it off. It was a learning experience, and one I'd pass on having ever again, especially since in the future, I'll be diving with my wife, and she'll be relying on me to be more aware all the time.

Part of it is after 10 dives over the weekend, is that I'm just churning thru air, and I need to relax. Buoyancy is pretty good, but still too many 'moving parts' if you know what I mean, I might be rock solid with trim and depth, but little kicks here, hand movements there, etc are still getting me.

One thing I'm going to do is move my SPG from hanging below my 'gut' to a spot where it sits more across my mid-chest so I can peek at it more often. I might get a pony, just because I'm about 20% faster than my buddies, and a 'dive kill' right now..

That way at least I can better monitor, we've also heard about an 18m dive tank in a town not too far away. I may start going over there to spend 1 or 2 tanks on a Sat just working on my movement and see if my SAC doesn't improve.

The biggest thing here is that I knew I was at 40bar at one point and figured I could 'make it' since we were almost back to the boat and close. I've learned that 'making it' isn't good enough and I'm either going to have to manage my air consumption better, or carry extra if I want to stay down as long as buddies. Otherwise, 70bar needs to be the rule (which is a necessity in the even I have a forced deco stop).

 

[84CJ7]

I usually recommend people with high air consumption rent (or purchase) a larger tank than everyone else as an immediate band aid repair, and then see if they can't improve it over time by getting in better shape and improving dive technique.

 

[TSandM]

Don't go to the pool to work on your movement. Go to the pool to work on not moving. The key to diving is stillness; when you can be still, you can titrate your movement precisely to the amount you need to get where you want to go.

I think Dr. Mike hit the nail on the head as far as analyzing the event. Running out of gas underwater is always the fault of the diver who ran out. Either there was insufficient monitoring, or there was faulty analysis of the data, or there was a ceding of responsibility for the dive. When you are low on gas, you need to ascend or end the dive. NO other considerations should affect that, with the possible exception of being in a place where it is unsafe to surface -- and a novice diver should never be in such a place.

 

[victor]

PhatDiver
In general I agree with everything above. Use a bigger tank and practise staying still, it does get better and in some cases very quickly.
One possible mitigating factor for your OOA could be the SPG. How linear is the 40 bar to empty, or when was it last calibrated, probably not since the factory.
If this was your own gear I would recommend breathing a tank to empty in the pool monitoring the SPG just to see how it behaved over the last few breaths. It could be like my old cars petrol guage where the last 1/4 of a tank was about half the size of the other quarters.

Congratulations for staying calm, monitor your SPG closely when you are nearing the end of your tank, at 50 bar no strenuous exercise safety stop and ascend until you are more experienced.

 

[lemke]

Dives that go a little wrong or not to plan are the best experience you'll get. You hit the nail on the head with your conclusion... Don't "chase" a boat if you're low on air. Deploy your SMB and let the boat come to you.

 

[Redshift]

One thing puzzles me, why did you fight against the current? The DM had an SMB up, stay together and go with it. You even mentioned passing the boat, so you were close and they would follow you.

And, as others have said, you should have noticed you were low on air before being out of air.

 

[doctormike]

Part of it is after 10 dives over the weekend, is that I'm just churning thru air, and I need to relax. Buoyancy is pretty good, but still too many 'moving parts' if you know what I mean, I might be rock solid with trim and depth, but little kicks here, hand movements there, etc are still getting me.

While that is true, and improving SAC rates should be a goal of all divers, this has nothing to do with your original problem. You might never be able to improve your SAC rate beyond a certain point due to any number of factors - that has nothing to do with situational awareness.

I might get a pony, just because I'm about 20% faster than my buddies, and a 'dive kill' right now..

NO, NO, NO!!!

A pony is NOT an appropriate way of addressing excessive air consumption. It is ONLY for a catastrophic gas loss due to equipment failure. It should NEVER be considered in dive planning. A pony bottle is not a stage bottle, and you should not be considering a stage bottle.

Sorry, trying to help!

 

[Blyslv]

I didn't get if you were able to inform either the DM or instructor that you were at 70 bar. If you had done so, they may have just ascended right then and there, no matter how far from the boat you were.

FWIW, I actually kind go enjoy a lesiurely surface swim of 100-200 meters, but am sensing that most people don't.