Coroner's Concerns - Divers not dumping weight-belts

[Paul Oliver]

Yes as JB said the Dover incident is a prime example i use when teaching at my club and when out on a dive.

Many people kit up sitting on the edge of the Rhib and then once kitted ask for their air to be turned on, this is my big pet hate, cos any big wave or poor boat handling can dump them in.

Dive Safe

Paul

[Andy the Coastie]

With out a doubt , would always drop any weight from any depth.

You can only get bent once on the surface,,,,,,, being there someone can sort you out.

Once your full of water and drowning, if your not supported on the surface your going DOWN....... add a bit of swell and tide and your LOST until found.

Prevent bursting a lung ,,,,,,,, screammmmmmmmmm FU**,,,, Trust me it works ,,,, I have used this method a few times now.


PERSONLLY , i think i would love some trainee lady diver putting a o2 mask on me chatting me up, being told the chopper is on it's way .

RATHER

Than thinking as i'm on my last gulp of air before i drown, that someone like HOWARD is gonna kiss me with his jam tasting lip's, blowing sugar up my nose.....thinking to himself that he has always fancied me , and will not let no-one else kiss me .............. while big strapping PAUL OLIVER has straddled me, giving CPR , tring to push my ribs out my back







ONLY joking lads

[String]

I wonder about the opposite though - how many incidents have been caused directly by weights accidentally being released or coming off under water/at depth with the obvious problems of bends, embolism etc.

[BJ]

Originally Posted by String

I wonder about the opposite though - how many incidents have been caused directly by weights accidentally being released or coming off under water/at depth with the obvious problems of bends, embolism etc.

Are - that is an entirely different topic! Probably more accidents have been caused by lost weights and fast ascents. So you need to 1) be sure your weights are secure and 2) be able to drop them if you need to. No?

[Mark Chase]

JBs reply of a burst BCD is a good one but I couldn’t ditch my measly 4kg even if I wanted to as it’s attached to my wing. I would have to ditch the whole wing. Mind you I dive with a dry suit so its not going to be an issue like it was with JB. A good argument for twin bladder wings when diving twins and a wet suit. I wonder how the anti dual bladder mob would justify their stance on that one?


Lets be honest the exploding BCD is very rare so discounting that for the moment there is no situation that should occur that would necessitate dumping of weights. Even a total loss of back gas should not be a problem, as you going UP and need to dump air not put it in. Controlling the ascent takes some skill and calm thinking and that is the very thing these divers lacked. They go into irrational behaviour mode and it’s a very slippery slope from there into the pit.


I think the comment about over emphasizing the bends thing is a good one. Lung expansion injury is far more dangerous in these situations but all divers have a fear of the dreaded bends.

Proper weighting of the diver would avoid most of these issues as the diver should be able to fin up with a twin set or single tank rig but again divers who cant perform the simple task of dumping their weight are unlikely to be properly weighted. IMHO It's a circle of poor training and lack of practice rather than one task that’s lacking.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Janos]

Originally Posted by Andy the Commie 2

, that someone like HOWARD is gonna kiss me with his jam tasting lip's, blowing sugar up my nose.....

Andy,

This worries me. Do you have these thoughts often?

Laters,
Janos

[Dominic]

A wetsuited diver with just one bladder in a BCD certainly needs to be able to ditch his lead, as that's his only way of establishing positive buoyancy in a BCD failure.

But (no offense meant) I can't really accept that as a well-equipped diver. As Chasey puts in his signature: If you need one, take two. You NEED a source of buoyancy.

A typical UK diver these days has a drysuit & BCD, and pony or twinset. If they adhere to universal basic training and do a buddy check, they won't jump in the water with their air turned off. They won't be seriously over-weighted either.

That's the problem I always come across when someone insists QR weights are necessary - they ALWAYS give an example that involves doing something seriously wrong beforehand. "You run out of air whilst so negatively buoyant you can't swim upwards..." "You jump in with your direct feed not attached..."

I'm not saying it doesn't happen - as incident reports show, they happen all the time. But most divers I know take a pony or twinset with them. They're in drysuits, they have BCDs, they have a reel & SMB. And they make sure they're working before they jump in the water. I don't consider myself to be any kind of paragon of virtue, but I've never yet entered the water without making sure my and my buddy's air was turned on and direct feeds attached.

What's going to happen to make us glad we have a QR weightbelt?

[BJ]

What's going to happen to make us glad we have a QR weightbelt?[/quote]


My wife calls me Mr Negative. I always plan for the worst because...'hit happens...!

[tom]

Originally Posted by Dominic

A typical UK diver these days has a drysuit & BCD, and pony or twinset.

I wonder if that's actually true? The typical *experienced* diver, certainly, but there are a lot of people out there -- perhaps at the beginning of their diving careers, when they're most likely to have problems, air turned off, be overweighted etc -- with semis and single 12s. Just go to any inland site some weekend and count.

[Paul Oliver]

And a lot in the Channel as well.