What if...? Equipment Issues

[k ellis]

So far we've had several solutions given including shifting the air in your BC to the opposite side, dropping weights and using a SMB or drysuit for buoyancy. There is at least one more not so obvious answer that no one has given yet.

well you could make your way to the anchor line and pull yourself up to the boat (Boat diving) and then use the trail line to pull your self along to the back of the boat if your shore diving just follow the countor of the bottom when feasible to where it gets shallow enough to stand up

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Diving is something that requires a great deal of attention since often times are vision is so narrowly restricted to where perethial vision is non existant most times (with the exception to a handful of mask of course.) This is where its wise to get a dive brief on areas we dont dive often or have never dove before.

Yup. Since this thread is geared for beginners, I'll add to what you've written by saying that, as beginners get more comfortable with the sport, most will develop better situational awareness. This includes not only who/what is in the environment, but anticipating what will happen given the position of those people/things. Moreover, with practice, it's easier to operate in the vicinity of people/things that aren't even necessarily in our immediate field of view.

 

[Cave Diver]

well you could make your way to the anchor line and pull yourself up to the boat (Boat diving) and then use the trail line to pull your self along to the back of the boat if your shore diving just follow the countor of the bottom when feasible to where it gets shallow enough to stand up

Those are potential options as well, but the one I'm thinking of is a bit simpler.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Well, let's see...what other things can one use to help gain some positive buoyancy?
In addition to what has already been mentioned:

• Lungs (increase expiratory reserve volume, being wary that this could increase CO2 retention)
• Exiting gas from his tank (breathing down the tank could create some safety concerns, though)
• Buddy (with his BCD) -- hold hands or link arms

The choice selected by the diver should take into consideration how much positive buoyancy is required. A cold water wetsuit diver would have to deal with a lot more buoyancy compensation than a warm water diver wearing a thin wetsuit or no wetsuit at all.

Personally, I'd prefer to utilize methods which incorporate buoyancy compensation rather than working against negative buoyancy by finning.

Or have I missed another option?

 

[Cave Diver]

Or have I missed another option?

Yes.

*Buddy (with his BCD) -- hold hands or link arms

Also keep in mind the danger of a runaway ascent for the buddy if they lost their grip using this option.

 

[k ellis]

well lets see some more potential ideas. One could buddy up with his buddy if it were an all out last ditch effort and the two could use the one good bcd as lift for the other diver as well to the surface. This is generaly though not a good idea unless its a do or die situation.

Never mind I just read someone else posted that LOL Let me think some more

 

[k ellis]

well if it was unable to be repaired under water you could always put the opening in the bcd to where it is the lowest point in the water. Take your alternate air and shoot some air into the opening. After you do this take your hand and place it over the opening and prevent more air from leaking. If possible you could do this all the way to the surface at which time you could return to the boat or shore. Once youve placed air in the bcd though it would be best to tilt the opening to the lowest point possible trapping air inside of the other side like we mentioned previous

 

[Cave Diver]

well if it was unable to be repaired under water you could always put the opening in the bcd to where it is the lowest point in the water. Take your alternate air and shoot some air into the opening.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The biggest problem with a BC failure as described is that you're likely to lose a lot of air until you figure out the problem and then you have no way to add more. Rolling to one side can help trap the remaining air, but that may not be enough to help provide adequate lift.

If your buddy takes his reg and purges some air into the opening like he was inflating a lift bag, he can help you achieve positive buoyancy. Of course as you ascend, that is going to increase, so roll and vent a bit to keep from becoming a polaris missle.

 

[k ellis]

Actually taking it a step further Cavediver the biggest problem encountered with scuba in general is people over react in what is often times a small problem. The first thing that people should do is immediately stop and think. In this instant they realize they have a problem. The second thing they should do is stabalize the problem. In this case roll the air to one side and trap what remains. Then they should asses why they lost their air in their bladder. Once they realize the hose came off then they should not panick but think you have air in your tank and you have air in your buddies tank.

After you determine these you should alert your buddy there is a problem and work to address it. In this case I mentioned using my alternate air as I was alone when my incident happend. If you have a buddy it would be even better because he would have a larger field of view then you would due to mask restricting line of sight. There really is nothing difficult about scuba so long as you obey the rules of diving and respect over head environments and other potentialy hazardous situations beyond your training. Even when your trained for wrecks and cave diving though you should respect each one diffrently and know your limits. If a cave or wreck appears dangerous and you dont feel right about it dont go..

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The biggest problem with a BC failure as described is that you're likely to lose a lot of air until you figure out the problem and then you have no way to add more. Rolling to one side can help trap the remaining air, but that may not be enough to help provide adequate lift.

If your buddy takes his reg and purges some air into the opening like he was inflating a lift bag, he can help you achieve positive buoyancy. Of course as you ascend, that is going to increase, so roll and vent a bit to keep from becoming a polaris missle.

For some reason, I thought someone had already mentioned that one could trap gas inside the BCD bladder (even though its integrity had been compromised).

Although this is a possible solution, I don't think I'd feel comfortable doing this without taking off the rig first and visualizing what is wrong with it. I'd want to know how to manipulate the bladder so that I can trap/exhaust gas during ascent. This complication places it much lower on my preferred course of action list.

Nice discussion. It would be interesting to see people actually troubleshoot this issue in the water under real-world conditions.