Well, that was a new one...

[charlesml3]

Yes, you are correct. What was I thinking? If he'd had a pony strapped to his tank rather than slung we'd surely be recovering a body now.

-Charles

 

[ivobj]

(...) The mouthpiece was gone...well, rather the mouthpiece was still in my mouth; it had simply come off my reg. No biggie...I just switched my octo and we terminated the dive to make the repair.
I only mention this because it is one of the few times I've ever had to resort to an octo. Every once in a while here on SB, there is discussion of gear configurations and the term "fumbling for the octo" comes up, usually when folks talk about long hoses, necklaced octos and such. Question...does anyone actually "fumble" for their octo, or do we not know where to find it? Mine was right where it was supposed to be for my gear config...right upper quadrant on a quick pull attachment.
Still, an interesting incident for me.

I would point out that there are some interesting issues to consider in the event you described:

1 - Rick already pointed out that you noticed quickly and didn't inhale water, this could have caused a panic or near panic state that would probably make it not so easy for you to immediately find, deploy and start to breath from your octopus, if it is on a bungee, it is easier to put the backup recovery in "auto mode".

2 - It was YOU needing the octopus, but what if it was your buddy? would it be so easy for him as well? For your buddy, the reg in your mouth is the immeadiate choice because it is visible, easy to grab and more important, he knows it is functional, that is the logic of using the main reg in a long hose and offering that one to an OOA buddy, recovering the backup from a bungee, which is very easy for you, as it is hanging right under your mouth (with practice you can even do it without using your hands).

3 - You were calm enough to make it, but never underestimate what a OOA panicked diver can do (including the diver himself or his buddy), so the easier the better. IMO breathing from the primary in a long hose and backup on a bungee (donating the primary in OOA situation) is the more robust, because it is the easier to access for you and your buddy in any situation, including high stress ones.

 

[DaleC]

Wow, you mean your octo wasn't on a long hose and bungied around your neck and you LIVED!

-Charles

When mocking other gear configurations it's best not to make a blunder like mentioning the octo being on a long hose bungied under the neck. If people didn't know better they'd think you didn't know what you were talking about

 

[DESIGNERDIVER]

I buy a thousand at a time. It's the cheapest insurance against the stress of seeing students without regs at depth I can think of.

Diving rental gear for pool sessions, I've had regs drop out of mouthpieces several times. The first times, it actually took me a second to realize what had happened, but I never came close to aspirating water.

oooooooooooooh ok I know what that is but .............you use that where?

 

[*dave*]

oooooooooooooh ok I know what that is but .............you use that where?

It secures the mouthpiece to the reg. If you see a reg and it has a mouthpiece, odds are very high that it's secured with one of these.

 

[bleeb]

oooooooooooooh ok I know what that is but .............you use that where?

With your secondaries, the soft rubber mouthpiece slips over the hard plastic or metal flattened mouthpiece tube. The tie wrap goes around the mouthpiece to secure it to the reg body mouthpiece tube.

 

[Hoomi]

We were using rental gear on our cert dives, and the zip-tie on my mouthpiece broke right before the dive. It was nice having it happen BEFORE the dive.

We use zip-ties at work like we were being paid for every one we use. Military grade zip-ties are far more resilient than cheap ones, but all of them will eventually dry out and get brittle. If exposed to sunlight for any length of time (such as sitting on the deck of a dive boat numerous times en route to dive spots, or on the tarp waiting for beach dives, etc.), the UV rays will degrade them faster.

Personally, I don't use cheap zip-ties (those bought from typical department stores or Harbor Freight Tools) for anything critical. Mil-Spec zip-ties can be found in the Electrical department of hardware and home improvement stores. They cost more, but they're stronger and more resilient. Even then, for critical applications, changing them from time to time is a good idea, before they reach the condition of potential failure.

Zip-ties are cheap, compared to the cost of an aborted dive (I know that even as a n00b).

 

[IslandFrog]

Experience, that is. I was diving the bottom of a pretty murky lake (vis was only about 2-3 feet) with a buddy, and the "mission" was to search for "treasure"...the cove is a popular party-boater destination and things get lost a lot (has something to do with the amount of alcohol in the water, I'm told). Anyway, we were cruising in a heads down trim in order to avoid stirring the silt when I suddenly had a blast of bubbles in my face. I was momentarily confused because it didn't appear to be a freeflow, then I saw my reg just below my mask. The mouthpiece was gone...well, rather the mouthpiece was still in my mouth; it had simply come off my reg. No biggie...I just switched my octo and we terminated the dive to make the repair.
I only mention this because it is one of the few times I've ever had to resort to an octo. Every once in a while here on SB, there is discussion of gear configurations and the term "fumbling for the octo" comes up, usually when folks talk about long hoses, necklaced octos and such. Question...does anyone actually "fumble" for their octo, or do we not know where to find it? Mine was right where it was supposed to be for my gear config...right upper quadrant on a quick pull attachment.
Still, an interesting incident for me.

Hey Bill,

How long had you been on this dive when the mouthpiece came off?

 

[Guba]

While I feel I understand the pros and cons of alternate configurations (long primary and bungied second), I still have reservations. While I have little experience with panicked divers, I have had experience with panicked swimmers (lifeguard), so I know pretty well how incoherent and erratic a victim can be. That said, I still find it marginal that a diver in need will automatically go for the primary. Of course, a truly panicked diver might, providing the donor doesn't see the victim coming first and have the octo out and offered, but is this the norm? The question was asked whether it would be as easy for a victim to locate and deploy my octo. It is mounted on my chest about eight inches from my primary, is bright yellow, and is on a 40 inch yellow hose, so it shouldn't be that hard to find or acquire. Finally, something has always bothered me about the long hose/bungied second deployment. Namely, when the victim takes the donor's primary who then switches to their second...isn't there a second or so when BOTH victim and donor are essentially OOA? Granted, it's only a moment or two, but there is a brief period when neither diver has a functioning reg in their mouth. Of course, some will say the donor should be able to see the victim coming, remove their primary and offer it, duck their head and acquire the second in time. However, to my way of thinking, he could just as easily offer the octo and not ever break his access to air.
Please understand, I'm not being argumentative. I fully understand there are alternate configurations and they have many proponents. I'm just not sure that they are inherently superior for the diving I do.
Thanks to everyone for the input. I appreciate all views (well, those that were insightful and relevant to the discussion anyway).

 

[Guba]

Hey, Brad
I have to take blame for this one. I just recently replaced my standard mouthpiece with a "comfort cushion" extended version. I'm guessing I didn't get the zip tie exactly matched with the retaining grooves on the reg. Or perhaps I simply didn't tighten it one or two clicks enough.
Anyway, to answer the question...it was halfway through the second dive of the day when it popped off.
By the way, we had four outstanding dives. We recovered: two 20 pound fluked anchors, sunglasses, and a full bottle of red wine among other items. We also spent dive three trying to locate a lady's prescription glasses (unsuccessfully), but we did free a stuck anchor for a family from Dallas. It was a $300 stainless steel anchor and they were in 48 feet of water...that would have been a lot of expensive chain to lose, too. We worked it free and they were really appreciative.
Great day of diving. We certainly missed you!