Underwater equipment exchange tips needed....

[scubajoh44]

Guess I don't even know the "official" rules. (PADI) I didn't know I'de be buddy breathing. Guess that presents a lot more task loading. What else do I not know? What equipment has to be exchanged? (mask, fins, BC.....what else?.....weight belts?) Can you do it individually/one piece at a time? Still....that doesn't seem like it will be too difficult if you go slow and concentrate on the breathing. I'm sure I'll be surprised though! But that's what makes it fun!

Great idea about starting in your buddy's gear!

 

[Cacia]

My partner and I decided one of us would "feed" the other one the reg and one of us would do the undressing. It worked great for people like me that can't chew gum and walk! I just focused on passing the reg back and forth and assisting getting in and out of the gear as necesary. He did all the buckles, etc. Another tip is to have plenty weight (extra) and lay the belt across your thighs. Good luck, it is funny!

 

[Imagesetter]

I would leave masks to the last. Note: When sharing air, clear mask on 1st breath, slowly trickle air on second breath.

If the fins looks similar in size and fit, you can change this first. If size is disproportion, leaving it to later should be considered.

Consideration is needed for how much weight each other uses and whether they are intergrated or not. I found it easier with weight belts instead of going intergrated.

Basically, you swap the gear that will cause the least stress on each other to use. Then, move to the next more demanding task. Weight exchange can put a load on completing the task if the weight used varies greatly between divers.

It was not pretty when I did it. We even sucked a tank dry and had to switch to the other reg.

It helps to become comfortable sharing air before hand. I like to count my breaths by extending my fingers so the partner knows when they can expect the air back.

 

[The Chairman]

You sucked a tank dry?

Yeow!

I don't think we used 1,000 psi!

Did I mention that you should JUST GO SLOW???

We didn't talk about it before hand... we just took off all of our gear into two piles. We then switched piles and put it all back on (PADI).

On the NAUI, I had never dove with this person before... but you only have one set of gear. I took it off my gear one piece at a time and he put it on. We swam the 25 meters and swapped again and swam back. Like I said the diciest part was the buddy breathing with only one of us having a mask. We figured it out on the second breath and figured that the blind diver needed to be in control.

 

[scubajoh44]

Well, I'm doing it next week, so I'll let everyone know how it goes. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Imagesetter]

You sucked a tank dry?

Yeow!

We began it with 600-700 psi in the tank. Both of us were confident that there was WAY more than enough.

We were wrong. We also flailed around a bit.

Ah, good times.

 

[boulderjohn]

For me, the toughest part was the bathing suit exchange. (I always wondered about that--I think my instructor was a little strange.)

 

[dkktsunami]

A couple hints:
1. Choreograph with buddy beforehand.
2. Start with buddy's gear so that you are changing into your own.
3. Over-weight a little bit so you will sit firmly on bottom.
4. Establish a slow, rythmical buddy-breathing pattern.
5. Relax and have fun - it ain't that difficult.

 

[mheaster]

I completed my PADI DM class last summer. The Equipment exchange was a wild exercise but we did have a blast! My buddy and I did it relatively easily BUT I was thankful that my buddy had enough wits to FIRMLY hang on to my BC as I removed my equipment one piece at a time and exchanged with her. That way when I got done removing mask, and needed a breath, she was close enough to firmly place regulator in my hand. I'd breathe, she breathed, then handed me her mask and I'd hand her mine. I donned and cleared and she breathed donned and cleared etc.

We were in a class of 8 DM candidates, some of whcih decided to free float near each other while doing this but then flailed about enough that when they needed a breath, were out of reach of their buddy! That had to suck (No pun intended!)

Our only SNAG was the fact I had on booties and she was barefoot and had full fins. In our haste we missed that and that required some last minute improvising!

I also suggest giving your weighting careful thought! A Weightbelt vs. itegrated weight is a good choice! At least enough weight on a weightbelt to keep each of you (without BC) near neutral so when you remove BC you dont become a ROCKET to the surface!

 

[scubajoh44]

It was fun. I had a really good buddy and it went really smoothly. We did fins first. That was the only little bump that we had. I usually put my fins on with the straps already fastened and just pull to tighten. She undoes the quick realeases and resnaps them. Anyway, It was easily fixed. BC exchange went smoothly. Mask went smoothly. The buddy breathing was deffinatley the hardest part. Thanks for all the tips!