SeaJayInSC
New member
Hey, it's your turn to come up with a scenario. 
A Game: WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
- Thread starter SeaJayInSC
- Start date
yousmellsfishy
New member
:bounce1: :bounce3: :bounce2:
SeaJayInSC
New member
What's "RMNP," by the way? Must be someplace REALLY far north, really high up, or below the equator... If there was snow!
tgreene
Reefer
Okay; You're a n00b fresh out of the box out on your 8th dive, and in full rental gear, as is your buddy.
It's a lake dive with mid-60's surface temps, and you're suited properly in a 5mm for a planned dive to 54'. The water is quite murkey, so you take your dive light realizing you'll need it at depth.
All is going as planned when all of a sudden you become entangled in fishing line, and while "pannicing" you accidentally drop your light and watch it drift down and settle on the bottom about 40' below you... Being that the VIS is very limited however, you have no idea how far down the light actually is.
You're fully entangled, you've just dropped an expensive rental light, you're sucking air like there's no tomorrow, and your buddy hasn't seen any of this take place yet.
Begin!
It's a lake dive with mid-60's surface temps, and you're suited properly in a 5mm for a planned dive to 54'. The water is quite murkey, so you take your dive light realizing you'll need it at depth.
All is going as planned when all of a sudden you become entangled in fishing line, and while "pannicing" you accidentally drop your light and watch it drift down and settle on the bottom about 40' below you... Being that the VIS is very limited however, you have no idea how far down the light actually is.
You're fully entangled, you've just dropped an expensive rental light, you're sucking air like there's no tomorrow, and your buddy hasn't seen any of this take place yet.
Begin!
yousmellsfishy
New member
OK
First things first. Controlling the panic is job 1. Concentrate on your breathing and get that under control. Hopefully, while you're getting your panic under control, your buddy sees your predicament and comes to your assistance. If not, when the breathing is under control and the panic subsides, the next job is to untangle yourself. The recovery of the rental light is low on the priority list until all the other issues are resolved. I'd say, that if you resolve your panic, and successfully untangle yourself, and you are still in contact with your buddy, if the light can be recovered without too much of a deviation from your original dive plan (not too deep, enough remaining air) then you could go after the light.
First things first. Controlling the panic is job 1. Concentrate on your breathing and get that under control. Hopefully, while you're getting your panic under control, your buddy sees your predicament and comes to your assistance. If not, when the breathing is under control and the panic subsides, the next job is to untangle yourself. The recovery of the rental light is low on the priority list until all the other issues are resolved. I'd say, that if you resolve your panic, and successfully untangle yourself, and you are still in contact with your buddy, if the light can be recovered without too much of a deviation from your original dive plan (not too deep, enough remaining air) then you could go after the light.
SeaJayInSC
New member
Yep, I agree... There's not really an emergency until there's no gas left... And even then, there's options...
I'd stop and assess first - just stop moving and think about it first. Then I'd work on untangling myself, pulling out the cutting tool only if I had to - no need to make a mess by hacking away at stuff unless it's absolutely necessary.
By then, my buddy should have noticed that I didn't follow, and should be back for my assistance. Then I'd signal "light" and point and we'd probably retreive it together, so long as there wasn't a depth issue... Then continue with the plan.
I'd stop and assess first - just stop moving and think about it first. Then I'd work on untangling myself, pulling out the cutting tool only if I had to - no need to make a mess by hacking away at stuff unless it's absolutely necessary.
By then, my buddy should have noticed that I didn't follow, and should be back for my assistance. Then I'd signal "light" and point and we'd probably retreive it together, so long as there wasn't a depth issue... Then continue with the plan.
yousmellsfishy
New member
So, your friend buys a used Grand Banks 32' trawler in Norfolk, VA and asks you to assist him in driving the boat back home to Annapolis, MD. In the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, you get a crab pot line wrapped around the prop and now can only manage about 2 knots. There is some nasty weather approaching. In the cockpit locker you find some fairly new scuba gear belonging to the previous owner including a tank with 400psi in it. You slap high 5's for the find. Now, what would you do?
yousmellsfishy
New member
Sure didn't mean to kill this thread with my scenario. 
I was trying to elicit a discussion about using unchecked untested equipment. Would you use equipment of an unknown condition even if it was only for a short dive just below the surface?
I was trying to elicit a discussion about using unchecked untested equipment. Would you use equipment of an unknown condition even if it was only for a short dive just below the surface?
Nah, just been very busy. Tis the season of the year that makes up for the slow season.
As for your scenario, I'm going to stick to freediving to cut that pot line loose. With squall fast approaching there is no time to play with unknown equipment, and any diver in decent shape should be able to handle freediving to the mere depth of a prop shaft on a Grand Banks
Then I'll bust my buddies chops for buying a single engine boat :lol:
yousmellsfishy
New member
:lol: Did I mention that it's wood?:eek2:
Just got hope he had that thing hauled out and properly surveyed
SeaJayInSC
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15329900#post15329900 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yousmellsfishy
Sure didn't mean to kill this thread with my scenario.
Same here... I didn't mean to run off... I'm just slammed.
...And given the state of the economy, you won't hear me complaining that I'm too busy! I'm very blessed to be too busy!
Also, somehow I stopped getting notification emails when a new post hits this thread. My bet is that I got a notification, clicked and viewed, but wasn't signed in, so the system didn't know to send me new notifications.
...So your scenario didn't kill the thread!
Storm approaching = better do something now, while I still can. I wouldn't have any issues whatsoever in either freediving to cut the line loose OR using the gear... Not at that depth, and with a much higher risk of having a boat that is uncontrollable in a storm due to entanglement. In fact, due to the possibility of entanglement, I'd probably be more apt to use the gear over freediving, since the gear could buy me precious minutes (at least) in case I did get entangled in whatever was in my prop.
...Not that I'm recommending using untested gas and untested gear - it just seems to me to be the lesser of the three evils... Risk weathering a storm with no power, risk diver entanglement while freediving, or risk diving an untested rig at 5' of depth. Since no markings usually equals air to most divers, that's a pretty good indication of what's in that tank.
For what it's worth, I mark ALL of my tanks - air is labeled "190" for it's MOD - and I pull the sticker when the tank is empty... So no label = nothing in the tank, which means that it wouldn't be available to breathe anyway.
In reference to "bad air" - I've had my fair share of it, and totally relate to not wanting to experience it either. Interestingly, air doesn't "go bad" from sitting in a tank unless there's been a large amount of water that breeched the tank. This will create corrosion inside the tank, which will suck the oxygen right out of the air inside the tank. In this case, you wouldn't be breathing a 21% O2 "mix" (air) - you'd be breathing something like an 18% or 19% mix, which is still plenty enough to support life. For all intents and purposes, you'd never know the difference... It'd just be interesting from a scientific standpoint.
Here's how "bad air" comes about... Someone filled from a "bad air" source. In other words, contaminated air came from the compressor (bad filters, bad maintenance, faulty compressor, bad source gas, contaminates around compressor intake, failed filter element, etc.) It can also happen because you ONCE got "bad air" from a compressor that has now contaminated the inside of the tank - and now, all fills are effectively contaminated, even from other compressors that are giving good fills.
My point is that it's not like the air will go bad - it's reasonable to assume that if the gas in that tank was okay to breathe before, it's okay to breathe now.
That said, whenever I come across a tank of unknown contents, I always empty it, remove the valve, and do a visual inspection (looking for oil, water, or corrosion - as well as cracks and/or damage, especially around the inside of the neck of the tank) before filling. I'll also slap a new VIP sticker on it (on the bottom of the tank, where the small indentation on the tank does a surprisingly good job of protecting the sticker). If it's going to be my tank, I'll also clean it with Simple Green or O2 cleaner, rinse with hot water, and then steam the inside of it and dry it to prevent flash corrosion. Then I strip any old stickers, paint, or clearcoat off of it (simple process with "Aircraft Remover" from Auto Zone) and replace the valve with a Thermo Pro valve (http://www.divegearexpress.com/gas/thermo.shtml). These valves have soft rubber handles that won't break off when they hit hard overhead, and can switch back and forth between DIN and yoke style regs with a simple adapter (I much prefer the DINs, but the yokes are the standard in the industry).
Alright, gotta get down... http://www.deepsouthdivers.org/old/songs/downwiththesickness.mp3
SeaJayInSC
New member
Okay, new scenario:
You fly into an exotic location with many friends from your local dive shop. On reaching the hotel, you find your room surprisingly nice... You stow your luggage and proceed to grab your gear and meet everyone at the hotel's dock, where you're scheduled to be doing a late afternoon dive. No rest for the weary!
Y'all meet at the dock and jump aboard the boat. The staff and crew are friendly and relay their awesome experiences diving their morning dive... It's a great day to be in paradise, and the water is calm and warm and clear.
After an easy dive to 40' along what is easily the prettiest reef you've ever seen, you surface, jibbering about all of the cool fish and lobster and coral and the sea turtle that kept following you around. Someone saw a large reef shark, and you change out tanks in hopes that during your second dive you'll get the chance to see one of these legendary eating machines in the wild.
That's when you notice that your group seems to be missing one person. Looking out over the water, you realize that it's the dive boat's Divemaster that's floating on his back, face up, about 50 feet behind the boat. He's not moving, but he's still got his mask on and his regulator in his mouth.
Yelling out to him, he's completely unresponsive. The boat captain notices the Divemaster's odd behavior, and yells out too... Nothing.
Jumping into the water, the most experienced diver in your group swims over to the Divemaster and shakes him. Zero response. The man appears to be completely lifeless - his eyes are even still open.
The boat seems to burst with excitement, and almost everyone seems to be yelling "what to dos" at the same time.
What would you do?
http://www.deepsouthdivers.org/old/songs/bent.mp3
You fly into an exotic location with many friends from your local dive shop. On reaching the hotel, you find your room surprisingly nice... You stow your luggage and proceed to grab your gear and meet everyone at the hotel's dock, where you're scheduled to be doing a late afternoon dive. No rest for the weary!
Y'all meet at the dock and jump aboard the boat. The staff and crew are friendly and relay their awesome experiences diving their morning dive... It's a great day to be in paradise, and the water is calm and warm and clear.
After an easy dive to 40' along what is easily the prettiest reef you've ever seen, you surface, jibbering about all of the cool fish and lobster and coral and the sea turtle that kept following you around. Someone saw a large reef shark, and you change out tanks in hopes that during your second dive you'll get the chance to see one of these legendary eating machines in the wild.
That's when you notice that your group seems to be missing one person. Looking out over the water, you realize that it's the dive boat's Divemaster that's floating on his back, face up, about 50 feet behind the boat. He's not moving, but he's still got his mask on and his regulator in his mouth.
Yelling out to him, he's completely unresponsive. The boat captain notices the Divemaster's odd behavior, and yells out too... Nothing.
Jumping into the water, the most experienced diver in your group swims over to the Divemaster and shakes him. Zero response. The man appears to be completely lifeless - his eyes are even still open.
The boat seems to burst with excitement, and almost everyone seems to be yelling "what to dos" at the same time.
What would you do?
http://www.deepsouthdivers.org/old/songs/bent.mp3
Last edited:
tgreene
Reefer
Before I can answer your questions, I need a bit more info...
1) Does he have a really hot wife or GF back on the boat..?
2) Is his wallet on the boat..?
3) Is anyone watching me..?
JUST KIDDING!
To be serious, if he's truly unresponsive and on his back at the surface, then tow his *** back to the boat ASAP! Someone nneds to check on his immediately, just to be sure that he's not simply kicked back and daydreaming. If that is the case, and I've seen it happen, then he needs a boot to *** since he's a DM that is suppoesed to be watching your back.
If it is a medical emergency, then assume YOUR role in helping out once he's safely back on the boat. Your role may be communicating to emergency services on shore or even the Coast Guard, or it may be counting, pumping or breathing if CPR is necessary. In a medical emergency, always ask what you can do to help, because a chain of command wil always ensue with the most qualified responder taking charge.
-Tim
1) Does he have a really hot wife or GF back on the boat..?
2) Is his wallet on the boat..?
3) Is anyone watching me..?
JUST KIDDING!
To be serious, if he's truly unresponsive and on his back at the surface, then tow his *** back to the boat ASAP! Someone nneds to check on his immediately, just to be sure that he's not simply kicked back and daydreaming. If that is the case, and I've seen it happen, then he needs a boot to *** since he's a DM that is suppoesed to be watching your back.
If it is a medical emergency, then assume YOUR role in helping out once he's safely back on the boat. Your role may be communicating to emergency services on shore or even the Coast Guard, or it may be counting, pumping or breathing if CPR is necessary. In a medical emergency, always ask what you can do to help, because a chain of command wil always ensue with the most qualified responder taking charge.
-Tim
tgreene
Reefer
Before I can answer your questions, I need a bit more info...
1) Does he have a really hot wife or GF back on the boat..?
2) Is his wallet on the boat..?
3) Is anyone watching me..?
JUST KIDDING!
To be serious, if he's truly unresponsive and on his back at the surface, then tow his azz back to the boat ASAP! Someone nneds to check on his immediately, just to be sure that he's not simply kicked back and daydreaming. If that is the case, and I've seen it happen, then he needs a boot to azz since he's a DM that is supposed to be watching your back. If this in gfact the case, then I wpould ask about getting an extended dive... If you can score another tank or 2 because they were'nt quite doing what they were supposed to be doing, then good for you!
If it is a medical emergency, then assume YOUR role in helping out once he's safely back on the boat. Your role may be communicating to emergency services on shore or even the Coast Guard, or it may be counting, pumping or breathing if CPR is necessary. In a medical emergency, always ask what you can do to help, because a chain of command wil always ensue with the most qualified responder taking charge.
-Tim
1) Does he have a really hot wife or GF back on the boat..?
2) Is his wallet on the boat..?
3) Is anyone watching me..?
JUST KIDDING!
To be serious, if he's truly unresponsive and on his back at the surface, then tow his azz back to the boat ASAP! Someone nneds to check on his immediately, just to be sure that he's not simply kicked back and daydreaming. If that is the case, and I've seen it happen, then he needs a boot to azz since he's a DM that is supposed to be watching your back. If this in gfact the case, then I wpould ask about getting an extended dive... If you can score another tank or 2 because they were'nt quite doing what they were supposed to be doing, then good for you!
If it is a medical emergency, then assume YOUR role in helping out once he's safely back on the boat. Your role may be communicating to emergency services on shore or even the Coast Guard, or it may be counting, pumping or breathing if CPR is necessary. In a medical emergency, always ask what you can do to help, because a chain of command wil always ensue with the most qualified responder taking charge.
-Tim
SeaJayInSC
New member
...Spoken like a true dive veteran!
Not that I'm encouraging this kind of behavior, but that's the most honest "first reaction" I've seen to date. This scenario was taken from a real accident report. It actually happened, although it was written from the Divemaster's point of view - so apparently he lived.
Vital signs were weak, but present. He was fully conscious, but totally paralyzed. In the report, he notes that his saver pulled the reg from his mouth to check his breathing, but did not replace it prior to him towing him back to the boat in a panic. Due to this, water entered his airway and he began to silently drown. Only when they hoisted his body over the gunnel did the victim accidentally land face-first on the deck, which cleared his airway, much to his paralyzed relief.
Doctors later correctly diagnosed him as a near-drowning victim, but no other effort was made to diagnose the initial problem which caused his paralysis and near-drowning. Only after he was able to speak again did they realize that another problem was at stake, which was left undiagnosed.
Anyone have any idea what that problem may have been?
http://www.deepsouthdivers.org/old/songs/badfish.mp3
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