The Down Current Killer

[acidrush]

The reason for my post was that some divers were suggesting swimming away from the wall in a strong down current. I cannot comment on other places but it may not work in some places in Indonesia and would in fact escalate the situation. Better way would be to hang on and reassess your options. If you have to kill some nudis or corals, so be it.... After all self preservation does take a priority.

Just recently, I was on a dive in Halmahera, it was the near the end of a drift dive and we were moving up to our safety stop, the current was flying and we knew the moment we ascended above 15m (away from the protection on the reef) we would be blown away. Not a problem as I have done blue water safety stops in the past. Unfortunately, few minutes after starting the ascend, the bottom started dropping away and current started pulling us down. No fun to see your smaller exhaust bubbles spiralling downwards and the bigger bubbles swirling around you like a tornado and with no bottom in sight. Finning upwards madly meant a slower decent.

I decided I only had 2 options left, 1) start inflating bcd or 2) drop 1 weight pocket ( I had 2 with 2 kilos in each). Decided I will have more control with the bcd compared to dropping weights. Kept finger on inflate button while holding on tight to the inflator ( I can dump air fast by pulling on it). Each time I get close to 5m, I would start dumping air but would get sucked back to 10-15m before I could control the decent with air in my bcd. Finally after the 3rd try, I decided to abort the safety stop, and dumped only half the air when reaching 5m and dumping all and finning like made in the last few metres. This was the only way I could work my way up to the surface. On the surface, what was a nice current 30mins ago was now boiling with whirlpools and standing waves.

It was quite a memorable dive in many ways and since I survived, I guess a good learning experience.

 

[Mike]

What facts indicated to you that the presence of a "buddy" would have resulted in anything other than two dead divers instead of one? Buddies are excellent safety redundancies on many, even most, kinds of dives, but they are not always beneficial.

When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? There has got to be a case of it, but I can't think of one if we exclude cave divers and then it's really not a mystery anyways.

The reports of mysterious missing single divers are all the same, they are a mystery only because they ignored the basics taught in OW which are dive buddy protocols. Had they been following dive buddy protocols there would be no mystery to report, and almost always no death in the first place. Dive alone, die alone. Dive together but ignore buddy diving rules, die alone.

I'll repeat - When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? Extremely rare.

 

[acidrush]

When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? There has got to be a case of it, but I can't think of one if we exclude cave divers and then it's really not a mystery anyways.

The reports of mysterious missing single divers are all the same, they are a mystery only because they ignored the basics taught in OW which are dive buddy protocols. Had they been following dive buddy protocols there would be no mystery to report, and almost always no death in the first place. Dive alone, die alone. Dive together but ignore buddy diving rules, die alone.

I'll repeat - When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? Extremely rare.

I have asked myself this question many times:

I have been in serious down currents, if me and my buddy is holding on and he/she suddenly gets swept down should I go after them??? If its my regular dive buddy, than yes of course (she's my younger/baby sister). But I have told her many times, if it happens to me, stay where you are and work your way to the surface. I sometimes travel alone, if its an instant buddy on a liveaboard in Indonesia, I honestly DONT KNOW what I would do......... There is a possibility I would stay put and try to keep myself alive, but I honestly will not know until I am in such a situation.....

 

[Tortuga68]

I'll repeat - When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead?

Here's the last one I remember, there have been many more http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/383280-diving-accident-anilao.html

 

[dshorwich]

When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? There has got to be a case of it, but I can't think of one if we exclude cave divers and then it's really not a mystery anyways.

There was this one in Monterey a couple of years ago:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/377698-two-fatalities-monterey.html

 

[Dr. Lecter]

When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? There has got to be a case of it, but I can't think of one if we exclude cave divers and then it's really not a mystery anyways.

The reports of mysterious missing single divers are all the same, they are a mystery only because they ignored the basics taught in OW which are dive buddy protocols. Had they been following dive buddy protocols there would be no mystery to report, and almost always no death in the first place. Dive alone, die alone. Dive together but ignore buddy diving rules, die alone.

I'll repeat - When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? Extremely rare.

A non-responsive anecdote, how nice. You let me know when you can tell me what about the situation in question would have been helped by a buddy's presence, mmkay?

 

[Mike]

Here's the last one I remember, there have been many more http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/383280-diving-accident-anilao.html

There was this one in Monterey a couple of years ago:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/377698-two-fatalities-monterey.html

Thank you. Those are both from 3 years ago. Looks like a valid theory in regard to what I said that it's a lot more rare than the single diver goes missing which seems like it gets reported every month or two here. Probably somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 25:1 or 25 times less likely to happen when diving in pairs.

A non-responsive anecdote, how nice. You let me know when you can tell me what about the situation in question would have been helped by a buddy's presence, mmkay?

Already answered you :

The reports of mysterious missing single divers are all the same, they are a mystery only because they ignored the basics taught in OW which are dive buddy protocols. Had they been following dive buddy protocols there would be no mystery to report, and almost always no death in the first place. Dive alone, die alone. Dive together but ignore buddy diving rules, die alone.

I'll repeat - When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? Extremely rare.

Obviously nobody knows the circumstances of the lost diver since nobody was around to witness it. Was it something that could have been prevented had the diver been diving in a pair? Can't say cause there was no chance of it. Only thing you can say that is 100% conclusive that IF IT WAS PREVENTABLE BY HAVING A DIVE BUDDY WITH HIM, HE NEVER HAD THAT CHANCE, and died, disappeared alone as a mystery to be chaulked up to some as guaranteed non-preventable in their minds.

To argue that a diver who was diving alone had to have died from circumstance that couldn't have been prevented by another diver being with him is absurd. You weren't there, nobody was, nobody will ever know. So you obviously have to chaulk it up to some mysterious over-powering, diver snatching, instantaneous, un-recoverable, un-saveable, catastrophic event. Even though statistics clearly show that diving in pairs doesn't result in these same mysterious over-powering, diver snatching, instantaneous, un-recoverable, un-saveable, catastrophic events ever showing their faces

 

[DiverAmy]

There were the two in Sharm that disappeared about a year ago, instructor and student.

 

[dshorwich]

When was the last time 2 divers as a buddy team were reported mysteriously dead? There has got to be a case of it, but I can't think of one if we exclude cave divers and then it's really not a mystery anyways.

Here's the last one I remember, there have been many more http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/383280-diving-accident-anilao.html

There was this one in Monterey a couple of years ago:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/377698-two-fatalities-monterey.html

Thank you. Those are both from 3 years ago. Looks like a valid theory in regard to what I said that it's a lot more rare than the single diver goes missing which seems like it gets reported every month or two here. Probably somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 25:1 or 25 times less likely to happen when diving in pairs.

Now that I think about it, there was another double fatality in the Monterey area earlier this year: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...89-2-divers-reported-dead-point-lobos-ca.html


But I agree with your basic point that these types of incidents are much rarer than single fatalities.

 

[Tigerman]

As they should.. never make yourself a second victim and all that. Granted thats easier said than done in many situations..

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