Could anyone be more stupid?

[Mdemon]

This is what YD is all about.  I love reading these things.  I spend a lot of time thinking through the "Actions On...", e.g. What if...such and such happened.

My last ditch is to breath into and out of the wing.  A few breaths - saves beathing water I suppose.  And I have the famous Buddy crack bottle, which I have reached for in anger at least twice before.

Familiarity with the gear and drills is so important.  A week ago I was faced with diving a mate's gear to try it out.  He'd spent ages putting it together for me - even made me a v-weight.  How shite did I feel, trying this on and realising that I had nowhere for the gear I normally have in my wing.  Unfamiliar with the gear, couldn't reach the manifold, diving deeper than usual and with another guy who was an unknown quantity and new to the dive.  So, I pissed the guy off and told him I'd stick to my usual gear.  But!  As it happened I had yet another torch failure, and the backup I borrowed failed too.  I was on my backup.  I did dive deep, but with my gear, all the gauges were in the right place and I was comfortable even with a torch as bright as a fag in the Albert Hall.  So much so that I racked up deco making sure the other guy had a good time!

The point to all this rambling drivel is that I bit the bullet and said "no".  It wasn't easy, but it was the right thing to do.  And having read Finless's tale, it's clear how quickly things can go wrong if you're not familiar with your gear. A lesson for us all, Mate.

[arty93]

<font color='#000080'>I agree with Ron about the climbing thing, as a (sometimes) climber i am always very aware of every part of my body and constantly assessing my gear and all the what ifs, whereas when diving you can become very relaxed just pootling around wreck or reef then BANG something happens and you're caught off guard.

Glad it all ended happily though



Paul

[Mark Chase]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Finless @ Feb. 19 2004,14:34)]Thanks for posting the link - a very interesting and sobering read.

I must admit I would not think of recompressing in water. I think I might do a little research on the subject.

Rgds
Bryan

There is some good info on in water recompresion in the TDI DEcompresion Procedures manuals under Missed deco. Getting as bent as he did and trying to recompress and deco on air is very high risk but If you have some 02 or 80% knocking arround it can come in very handy. I have done it once after a very rapid ascent from 26m with 10mins of deco on the clock and got away with it but I am not saying its safe it is risky but so is getting out and waiting for the chopper.

The fact that his presure gauge failed he knew it failed and yet he went in again and did another deep dive with it is frankley staggering. Could you imagine the rolloking he would get on Diver net &nbsp;

ATB

Mark Chase

[Finless]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Mark Chase @ Feb. 20 2004,14:08)]There is some good info on in water recompresion in the TDI DEcompresion Procedures manuals under Missed deco. Getting as bent as he did and trying to recompress and deco on air is very high risk but If you have some 02 or 80% knocking arround it can come in very handy.

Mark,

I don't remember that - obviously time to read through ALL my manuals again.

At least with a FFM I would be a bit safer than a normal set up if I did need to try an in water recompression and decompression.

Mind you - I can't see many skippers being too impressed if I decided to leap back in the Channel with its marvellous viz in order to try and mend a bend. Although, perhaps that would depend on the amount of time it would take for the rescue services to arrive.

Bryan

[Ron Mahoney]

A misconception that some people are under is that if you come to the surface, miss -stops and go through the glass window you automatically are in a world of trouble. As many of you may be aware it's been standard practise for years in the commercial diving world to complete what's called &quot;surface D&quot; or more graphically the &quot;fizz-run&quot;. This is where the diver is brought from a shallow water stop (generally 50' ish) and brought straight to the surface stripped of his gear and then blown back down in a surface recompression chamber - all this taking place in under 5 minutes. If for some reason you have to get to the surface by controlled or uncontrolled reasons - as long as you get back down to your 15-18m stop within 5 minutes then the chances are your deco will run smoothly - I say &quot;chances are&quot; - you're all big enough to reason why.

[Mark Chase]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Finless @ Feb. 20 2004,15:26)]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I don't remember that - obviously time to read through ALL my manuals again.

Page 92 Omitted Decompresion Navy schedual.

If the bend hits on the boat home its too usualy too late and you might as well head for the chamber but if you go up quick and miss stops if your still concious you can go back down and re do them.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Mind you - I can't see many skippers being too impressed if I decided to leap back in the Channel with its marvellous viz in order to try and mend a bend. Although, perhaps that would depend on the amount of time it would take for the rescue services to arrive.

The skipper wasent too impressed when I did it (having seen me surface fins first) but I didnt give him the option to argue I went streight back down

ATB

Mark Chase

[NeilB]

Finless,
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; have to put some of the blame on the buddy I think. OK we are all big enough to say 'no' to the dive but we should also be good enough buddies that we don't rush anyone into the water....let them take their time and be ready to enjoy the dive. Your buddy did not.

[Finless]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (NeilB @ Feb. 21 2004,08:16)]Finless,
        have to put some of the blame on the buddy I think. OK we are all big enough to say 'no' to the dive but we should also be good enough buddies that we don't rush anyone into the water....let them take their time and be ready to enjoy the dive. Your buddy did not.

I have to hold my hands up and say &quot;as much my fault as his&quot;. It, as I'm sure you are aware, can be a bit of a rush to get in the water for the slack. We had a long time understanding to meet up at the bottom of the shot if one of us was ready and getting too hot etc waiting for the other (not to mention faith in each others abilities). As I use a FFM I was always slower than him to get to the back of the boat.

The fault was mine in that I should not have rushed myself and got my kit sorted first - esp as there were some new additions. It really came down to my not having my mind on what I was doing. I had enough redundancy, experience to easily be able to handle that problem but I fucked up completely because I did not rect until it was too late for me to sort it out. I still can't explain it.  

The one good thing from this is that I can never forget that screw up and my pre dive preparation is now meticulous (as it always should have been of course) - perhaps worthy of a rebreather diver? I always pressure the hoses up and turn off the valve and breathe it dry to make sure the gas switch is set to the right cylinders. I always stop at 10 mtrs to make sure all my regs are in the right place and that I can see all my SPGs.

I lived and learnt - fortunately. Try not to have an off day yourselves.

Oh, one other thing - it might not be a good thing to tell the &quot;sinificant other&quot; if you do have such an experience. The sympathy and cuddles were marvellous but now she is extra worried every time I go diving. I think she believes me when I say that will never happen again, but, even so, she is always worried. I really should not have burdened her with it.

[Mark Chase]

Finless M8

We all do this, rush arround, forget things, get put under self imposed / dont want to look a twat pressure. Only the truley together in mind body and training diver with years and years of experiance would be imune to such demands.

Point is you have brass dangly ones and when it hit the fan you got it sorted. That's all I need to know to be chuffed to bits to have you as a buddy on a dive. Your buddy sussed the situation was aware of your plight and got you on the octo without too much drama so he sounds cool too.

I plan all dives for solo survival but there comes a point where that is not enough. I wouldent do some of the stuff I do if Andrew (Andyp) wasent with me. If I was diving with you at least I know I am diving with someone who has been through the mangle and come out smileing thats worth a hundred stitch on badges to me.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Rob Evans]

Bryan - I saw your face after the fateful dive. It's probably fair to say given your expression at the time that'll never happen again. &nbsp;Furthermore I've seen your pre-dive preps since and they're a fair bit more comprehensive than the average RB diver. Then again, you've got more hoses that the average RB diver. &nbsp;Or a seriously tricked-up rubber fetishist for that matter.
Nice to see that one in the open - you coming for a splosh on Nauticat next W/E?