46 replies to this topic

[Cold_H2O]

Geez, don't any of you take pictures on your dives???? Talk about essential dive gear......

The camera use to go on EVERY DIVE (when I live near Seattle and dove Puget Sound). Since moving to Texas it only goes along some of the time.
Depends on the dive destination.
I took it to Mammoth Lake on Sunday. Need to download the pics and see if I have any keepers.

Edited by gis_gal, 25 August 2008 - 12:10 PM.

[ScubaDadMiami]

BTW, the actual name is Miflex.

[hambergler]

A minor incident that could have been major on the FG trip got me thinking, and I'm now convinced I'm going to buy a pony bottle. My brand new Aeris Gyro octo started leaking, unbeknownst to me, right after I'd checked my gauge for the second time at the bottom (2200PSI); the next time I checked it (about 5 minutes later, at 75 feet or so on Stetson Bank), I had 1100PSI. I signalled my buddy, then started an ascent; I did my safety stop while swimming to the boat, and got back on with about 300 PSI remaining. I heard the octo hissing as I climbed the ladder out of the water. I knew my buddy was in the area during my ascent, and the use of her octo was a possibility, but my only thought was getting safely onto the boat ASAP. Luckily, I had the "old" one in my save-a-dive bag, replaced the Gyro right after that and never had another problem.

Another reason to be redundant is that we just had a meeting at my LDS, and a member of ERDI (Emergency Response Divers International), gave a presentation, and got me interested in that type of diving (level I); they require at least an 18CF pony (a 30 or 40 is recommended), completely detachable without assistance, either underslung or attached to a backplate or 80.

Edited by hambergler, 25 August 2008 - 08:50 PM.

[secretsea18]

My brand new Aeris Gyro octo started leaking, unbeknownst to me, right after I'd checked my gauge for the second time at the bottom (2200PSI); the next time I checked it (about 5 minutes later, at 75 feet or so on Stetson Bank), I had 1100PSI. I signalled my buddy, then started an ascent; I did my safety stop while swimming to the boat, and got back on with about 300 PSI remaining. I heard the octo hissing as I climbed the ladder out of the water.

Hmmmm.... Didn't you or anybody else notice the shower of bubbles (1100 psi worth) flowing from your hurt/injured Octo? Why didn't it get pointed out to you??? Just wondering....
Heck, I can hear the tiny stream of bubbles that a leaky tank valve causes, even with my hood on.... drives me crazy that tiny whining sound....

[Bubble2Bubble]

Diving equipment can fail during a dive or found defective on a surface interval, either way you will be a bubble watcher if you aren't prepared with some redundant diving gear, its like rolling the dice when you count on another diver or a diving op to help you out when you didn't make plans ahead of time with them. In my attempt to lighten the load..slim down my gear to be able to meet weight standards and measurements I neglected to bring some of the most important things like a spare 1st stag including 2nd and octo plus an spg and also O-Rings and minor tools! I guess when you stop learning you have stopped living, out of x amount of dives I have never had such a event happen to me and thanks to the generosity of my buddy I was able to continue diving..but now.."once bitten ..twice shy" so I will carry alittle more redundant gear in the future and less ?



Mike

[Kuraman]

I agree w/ most of the statements above, \fin straps, buckles
mask strap (I actually cary a spare mask, I have seen more than one broken on a dive trip
spare hose for reg and spare inflator hose
Service kit for both my first and second stage and the tools for the service
I also carry the "blanks' from my reg. I have been on a trip (liveaboard I organized, where after going thru all my spares for guests, I started to cannabalize my own gear) down to reg and pressure gauge.

On really big (I mean far away liveaboard trips), I also carry a 2nd first stage and an extra set of fins, sin I have inflator/reg, and carry an octo, I always have a spre 2nd stage.

The most important thing is to have your gear serviced regularly, and take care of it. I dove with a group in the carribean,, and one of the divers had to have their reg serviced at the end of every day becuase they dragged it up the beach instead of carrying, got sand i the second stage to where it free-flowed.

PS I don't dive with that person anymore,

[BubbleBoy]

Not that I’m begging for it, but, I actually like having occasional minor gear failures in real diving situations. Like any diving experience, learning to assess and deal with equipment failures seems to improve my diving confidence.

I had an HP hose fitting fail on my SPG while diving in the Bahamas last week. It happened at about 90 ft. It was near the end of our dive and I had about 40cf of gas left in my tank. After trying to get my buddy’s attention for about 10 seconds, I gave up and decided to rescue myself. That became a lot less stressful when I realized that the leak wasn’t going to drain my tank in seconds (more like several minutes). I went to 20ft, then quickly swam back to the boat and got in a full safety stop, hitting the surface with about 300 psi. I was glad I brought a spare SPG with me, which carried me through our dives for the rest of the trip.

[Bubble2Bubble]

BB

I had an HP hose fitting fail on my SPG while diving in the Bahamas last week. It happened at about 90 ft. It was near the end of our dive and I had about 40cf of gas left in my tank. After trying to get my buddy’s attention for about 10 seconds, I gave up and decided to rescue myself.

BB
Why didnt you try this instead?

Suddenly your HP hose fitting fails on your SPG, so you take a breath and undue the shoulder strap and cumber bum and slip out of your bcd and turn your tank valve off then remove your 1st stage then crack the tank valve open and take a few breaths off the streaming bubbles, then start ascending with the current opening your tank valve as needed or leave it on the whole time taking normal breaths from the streaming bubbles and doing a proper safety stop.

Mike

[shadragon]

Suddenly your HP hose fitting fails on your SPG, so you take a breath and undue the shoulder strap and cumber bum and slip out of your bcd and turn your tank valve off then remove your 1st stage then crack the tank valve open and take a few breaths off the streaming bubbles, then start ascending with the current opening your tank valve as needed or leave it on the whole time taking normal breaths from the streaming bubbles and doing a proper safety stop.

I would tend to keep the rig in place and make an immediate (and safe) ascent. The time spent doing what you suggest would A) Use a lot more air as you are deep. B) The time you spend taking off your BC could be spent getting closer to the surface instead.

Even if you are leaking air badly, you still have some in your tank to breathe.

A Pony would turn this emergency into an inconvenience...

[secretsea18]

Suddenly your HP hose fitting fails on your SPG, so you take a breath and undue the shoulder strap and cumber bum and slip out of your bcd and turn your tank valve off then remove your 1st stage then crack the tank valve open and take a few breaths off the streaming bubbles, then start ascending with the current opening your tank valve as needed or leave it on the whole time taking normal breaths from the streaming bubbles and doing a proper safety stop.

I would tend to keep the rig in place and make an immediate (and safe) ascent. The time spent doing what you suggest would A) Use a lot more air as you are deep. B) The time you spend taking off your BC could be spent getting closer to the surface instead.

Even if you are leaking air badly, you still have some in your tank to breathe.

A Pony would turn this emergency into an inconvenience...

All that, plus you would get water into your first stage and would need that to be all cleared out (serviced) before the next scheduled dive vs changing out the gauge.

[Capn Jack]

Suddenly your HP hose fitting fails on your SPG, so you take a breath and undue the shoulder strap and cumber bum and slip out of your bcd and turn your tank valve off then remove your 1st stage then crack the tank valve open and take a few breaths off the streaming bubbles, then start ascending with the current opening your tank valve as needed or leave it on the whole time taking normal breaths from the streaming bubbles and doing a proper safety stop.

I would tend to keep the rig in place and make an immediate (and safe) ascent. The time spent doing what you suggest would A) Use a lot more air as you are deep. B) The time you spend taking off your BC could be spent getting closer to the surface instead.

Even if you are leaking air badly, you still have some in your tank to breathe.

A Pony would turn this emergency into an inconvenience...

All that, plus you would get water into your first stage and would need that to be all cleared out (serviced) before the next scheduled dive vs changing out the gauge.

An HP hose leak is much less catastrophic than an LP hose leak.

A way to pick up some loose change in the bar - especially for us unpaid divemasters... bet on which hose you should cut if you want to do the James Bond thing and drain the evil one's tank.

The LP hose will drain the tank much faster than the HP hose. If you're bored sometime, set it up and try it. Converting the time to drain from surface to 90' is an exercise left to the reader.

Edited by Capn Jack, 06 September 2008 - 07:23 PM.

[secretsea18]

The LP hose will drain the tank much faster than the LP hose. If you're bored sometime, set it up and try it. Converting the time to drain from surface to 90' is an exercise left to the reader.

Care to clarify this????

[Capn Jack]

The LP hose will drain the tank much faster than the LP hose. If you're bored sometime, set it up and try it. Converting the time to drain from surface to 90' is an exercise left to the reader.

Care to clarify this????

Yes - I am a dumbass who typed LP twice. I meant to say

LP will drain faster than HP

[PerroneFord]

A Pony would turn this emergency into an inconvenience...

So would a decent buddy.

That notwithstanding, a HP hose rupture is hardly an emergency. I'd wager you could ascend casually from 90 ft, do a half depth stop, do a full safety stop, and ascend to the surface normally, if you had done reasonable gas planning in the first place. I did 90 minutes in the pool this week on an AL80 with a faulty HP hose. It's just not that big a deal.

Edited by PerroneFord, 06 September 2008 - 07:00 PM.