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Deep Blue · 01-07-2004, 02:32 PM,

How about starting a discussion regarding the use of long hoses? It might not be sexy, but it is at the core of the DIR system. Be sure to include the why, as sometimes that is the most interesting and gives a good basis for discussion.

Ideas may include:

1. Which do you breathe? The long hose or the short hose and why?

2. How do you secure the long hose and why?

3. What is the proper length for your hoses, ie. long hose, backup hose, pressure gage hose, BC hose abd why.

4. Which one do you donate the one in the retainer or the one in your mouth?

5. How do you handle an out of air situation, ie step by step.

As I am sure no one will be be surprised, I have pretty strong opinions on all of the above topics, but I would like to get a discussion going before I chime in.

SteveM · 01-07-2004, 03:11 PM,

1. long hose,

2. mine has a small ss bolt-snap. when not in use, it's clipped to the right shoulder d-ring. excess hose goes under the waist webbing.

3. primary is 7', backup is 22", bc is about 24", my spg is 32".

4. donate primary from mouth. only one garunteed to be working.

5. grasp hose next to 2nd stage & flip hose over head, present to buddy's face

SteveM · 01-07-2004, 03:17 PM,

5. grasp hose next to 2nd stage & flip hose over head, present to buddy's face

after he's taken it, get an OK (maybe wait a few breaths ?)

get my own backup

fully deploy long hose

unclip spg, read it, show it to buddy, reclip it.

signal to buddy to boogie to upline.

I think that's everything...

JoelW · 01-08-2004, 05:23 AM,

Maybe this isn't germane to this discussion, but I don't know that the final step is a boogie to the upline. I have yet to run into an OOA diver, but I have been involved with a couple of divers who have free-flowed, which were cold or silt related. In those cases it has been to hand off the primary (I have used 5', 6' and 7'), shut down the valves, wait a minute for things to thaw, turn valves back on and see if the free flow is resolved. If so, up the caution level but don't rush to get out of the water. If not, it's time to get out. The deepest any of these events has happened has been 105 ffw doing recreational diving and on that one we headed up anyway. Either way, the decision was mutual as to whether to head up or continue.

JoelW

SteveM · 01-08-2004, 12:58 PM,

OK, I did assume a generic OOA situation. If a freeflow problem can be quickly resolved, that's good. It's always better deal with a problem in place, then just going to the surface. BTW, if your buddy was doing doubles, he could have rewarmed the freeflowing reg himself.

puddlejumper1 · 01-08-2004, 08:56 PM,

7' Primary Apeks 200 1st & 2nd Stage.

32" Secondary Apeks 200 1st Stage TX50 Second Stage.

33" Inflator Hose.

23" SPG hose.

Always use the long hose. Always donate the long hose. Donation is easy hand them the primary. OOA I suspect would be true to form and would be yank the damn reg out of my mouth. I am going to be thinking of my lifgaurd training with an OOA. Make sure they are ok but keep the distance.

Deep Blue · 01-09-2004, 04:24 AM,

One of the things that most people leave out of the whole air share process is immediately checking your gage and SHOWING it to your buddy. Nothing reduces anxiety like knowing that you are not going to die Wink

Remember, keep all hose lengths as short as possible so that they remain close to the body.

Also, good point on the freeflows. I have stopped freeflows a number of times with students and continued the dive. Using a longer hose allows you room to work.

Finally, when practicing your out of airs, try to do it while maintaining neutral bouyancy and a horizontal body position. I find that with most divers, this drill will usually bring their knees down and screw up their bouyancy. It seems to go back to how they originally learned the drill, on their knees, and on the bottom.

matt t. · 01-09-2004, 07:01 PM,

You guys mentioned stopping freeflows and "re-warming" regs so you could continue the dives. How is this done? I always thought that once things were under control with an OOA situation you would proceed to the surface (doing your safety stop gas permitting). I would think if your reg free-flowed once it would do it again.

Matt

puddlejumper1 · (This post was last modified: 01-09-2004, 09:05 PM by puddlejumper1.)

Why do you do it this way?

SteveM · 01-10-2004, 12:56 AM,

Regarding the freeflows. As you know, when you inhale on a reg's 2nd stage, the diafram depresses a lever, which opens a valve, letting in LP gas. This already cold gas cools more as it expands. If it's cold enough, and there's water (or vapor) inside the reg, it could flash-freeze. This ice could cause the lever to stick in the open position, causing a freeflow. The solution is to shutdown the affending reg, and flood it with water, wait a minute for the ice to melt, then startup again. If you keep the reg in your mouth, keeping it dry, you may be able to complete the dive.