[stuartr]

A few weeks back my bc inflator (not the hose) needed replacing..see earlier thread.
Diveshop in S Croydon tells me they will order the part and I say I will collect it next week or the week after.
I leave it to the Friday to collect, and the numpty hasn't ordered it. Feck. I'm doing dive leader training the next day.
shop insists on taking my bc and apologises. offers a loan of a bc which I decline as I can use my spare.
Incident dive 1: Buddy check OK.
Inflator hose sticks at 6m. Up I go, though its only shallow and no real drama. Frees up when pressed again. Apply silicon spray on shore and it frees it up more.
Incident dive 3: All my clips are on my bc in the shop. Jump in holding reel, mask and DV, pony reg in pocket, Occy hanging loose. massive free flow round the back of my tank, I'm not sure which, buddy sorts it, start the dive with 150 bar. Down to do mask clear, CBL and OOA training in cold mucky stuff.
last lift of four I start up on 90 bar. After doing the lift my instructor comes over and stuffs his Occy in my face?!?
Odd what's going on... as I sort my bouyancy out I look at my gauge it reads 5 bar.
Well it would be rude to refuse I think... The next OOA ascent is for real, but again no drama. (I did still have my pony but that would not have inflated my bc if out of air.)
So where did I screw up?
Don't leave it until the day before the dive to check your kit. Particularly if relying on others.
Don't use spare kit that hasn't been used for a while without servicing it- even though its only a "shallow" dive.
Ensure you have the same kit configuration as always and don't cut corners. eg not replacing/adding clips when I should.
Recognise that heavy task loading can be distracting and lead to small things getting much worse.
Why didn't I notice the final freeflow? I don't know maybe I was distracted or maybe the 7mm hood made it difficult to hear.

Any other thoughts....
Stuart