Free ascent from seventy feet

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winte.r
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Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by winte.r »

Some of you were either there at Sund rock today or might hear about it in the near future so I thought I'd give you all my take on what happened.
First off, and I can't make this clear enough, my buddy is blameless, she accidentally grabbed my reg, but reg recovery is a basic skill and on top of that I also failed to locate my octo. My choices might have been different if this had occurred during inspiration, but I fumbled for about five seconds and then ascended.
I lacked the presence of mind to ditch weights or inflate my BC, nor could I stop myself from hoovering up sea water. Until I reached green water I was pretty sure I was dead, when I hit the surface I did inflate because I knew bad things could still happen to me. I was honestly amazed I could breathe, I must have swallowed all that water. I was screaming so loud that another diver jumped right in to wrangle me out, and I can't say thank you enough to everyone who helped me out, I only remember Steve's name but there was a handful dive masters there, one put me on oxygen while they administered neurological tests.
I'm totally fine, absent the persistent explosive diarrhea that apparently accompanies eating half a gallon of saltwater for breakfast. I think my buddy is ready to quit, I don't know the right things to say (I should have told her I lost my reg on my own), but I and others have tried and I'm hoping she doesn't.

Oddly I feel more like I'm invincible than traumatized. My only plans at the moment are to acquire a DIR hose config (I'll never make fun of it again) , use my pony every time, and practice recovery drills at every safety stop from now until the end of time.
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mz53480
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by mz53480 »

Thanks for sharing... & glad you are ok.
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Mateo1147
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Mateo1147 »

Wow! +1 on being glad your safe and willing to share your story.
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Linedog
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Linedog »

+1 glad your safe and thanks for sharing.
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Penopolypants
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Penopolypants »

Glad to hear you are okay, and thank you for sharing. Hopefully the explosive diarrhea held off until you made it out of your dry suit! :eek:

If either you or your buddy (or both) want to dive for a bit with someone with a long hose configuration, just for exposure or for practice, I am happy to dive with y'all. Mistakes get made and accidents happen, but it does help to get back up on the proverbial horse to get back in the groove of diving before one gets too psyched out about such things. They are a good reminder to stay vigilant and practice.
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Dusty2
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Dusty2 »

Wow, Sorry you had a bad day and so glad it ended well. This is why my octo is on a necklace so I always know where it is. Sorry about your buddy but she needs to know that it really wasn't her fault. It should have been no big deal. We should always know where our octo is by instinct and that only comes from using it often enough so our body knows where it is in an emergency. Take it from me if something is to go wrong it will always be when there is no air in your lungs and there is no time for leisurely finding your alternate. In those situations your brain goes into instant overload and you had better hope that your training kicks in.

Thank the powers that be that all went well and there was help near. It seems you are in the right frame of mind and know what you did wrong and have a firm grasp of what you need to do. Thanks for sharing and I hope your friend comes around and continues to dive.

PS I have a long hose I am not using that I'll sell for 25 bucks.
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Gdog
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Gdog »

Thanks for sharing so candidly. Now you need to jump back on the horse, like Penelope said. Make the experience work for you not against you by learning and moving forward. Most of us have had a bad experience or two, and we are now diving much the wiser for it. I hope your buddy stays with it as well.
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Joshua Smith
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Joshua Smith »

Wow- thanks for sharing, and I'm really glad you're OK! I won't lecture you, but I do want to say that this kind of thing really shouldn't happen, ever. I hope you keep diving, but I hope you take steps to learn how to keep this kind of situation from happening again. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about it privately.
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oldsalt
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by oldsalt »

Don't be too hard on yourselves. Everyone who has done a lot of diving has made some potentially fatal errors. To put you experience in a different context; before the days of bc's and octo's, free ascents were part of certification training. In my first course we practiced from 50 feet. That's the deepest I have ascended from, but the navy's submarine school had a tank where 100 ft free ascents were part of qualification and a buddy of mine doffed his gear and made a free ascent from 140 ft when his partner panicked and grabbed his reg. That said, with the gear and training we have now, you don't need to repeat this experience.
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winte.r
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by winte.r »

Thanks everyone, Dusty you've got a PM, and believe me, I know ten times over this should have been a non-issue. It was truly bizarre, I always clip my octo off on the same ring, and I always hit the purge to make sure I know where it's at and that it's functioning, but when I went to grab it's like it wasn't there. I've had my pony reg on a bungee around my neck for a while now, I have no double I could have found that, but my bottle has been sitting in my house empty after taking a plane ride, which means my laziness is what caused me to utterly destroy the bathroom at the Mexican restaurant next to Hood Sport 'n Dive , something that would not at all surprise my wife.

I've got my pony on a quick-draw but I've been thinking of slinging it or something even bigger and crazier like a steel 72, and I feel like I'd have to sling it if I had my octo on a bungee because I'll want that reg in front of my face if it's not around my neck.

I have now read about 100ft free ascents being standard training and I was a little embarrassed to have briefly thought I was going to hell after a 30ft headstart. I've also learned I could have rebreathed my BCD's gas, which is something that never would have occurred to me.
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Dusty2
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Dusty2 »

So, Valuable lessons learned! Time to put them into practice. And remember those 100' fee assents were after a long deep breath at depth. That's a whole different animal. 70' is a hell of a long ways when there is no air in your lungs.
FIW I've been there too. :eek:
LowDrag
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by LowDrag »

Dayum man...glad to hear you are good. Thanks posting this for us to read. I know for me it has been a good learning experience and for the both you too I hope. Take care and safe diving.
Last edited by LowDrag on Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Scubak »

Thanks for sharing and thanks to all those responders that helped a diver in need.
Don't beat yourself up about it.
We all make mistakes. However, there are skills and training that needs to be learned so get back in the water. Also, talk to some other divers about the long hose configuration, pony bottle, and all because that's another skill set in itself on using and deploying safely.
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kdupreez
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by kdupreez »

OMG! Thank you so much for sharing what must have been a unimaginable traumatic experience!!!

I am really really happy that everything turned out good and you had the helpful people around you that you did!

Please get back on that horse and tell your buddy the same, get back in the water and dont let this incident ruin this passsion you have for diving! Just keep diving and keep building experience and practice safety drills now and again to keep 'em fresh.

Hope to see you in the water someday!
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LCF
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by LCF »

These things happen. They shouldn't, but they do. The good news is you handled it and survived, and learned some lessons.

I really, really wish a primary donate/bungied backup setup were standard. I think the benefits so far outweigh the downsides that I don't understand why we do it the other way. It's FAR more likely that you will lose a reg, or fall while entering the water, than it is that you will have to donate gas to another diver, and that bungied backup works well in both situations.
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Norris
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by Norris »

Yeah What LCF said. Glad you are ok and posting.

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fmerkel
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by fmerkel »

[quote="winte.r"she accidentally grabbed my reg, but reg recovery is a basic skill and on top of that I also failed to locate my octo. My choices.......[/quote]

Seems your buddy, in order to grab your reg, would have had to be pretty close?
You couldn't find your regs. That's one problem plenty dealt with already. What about her octo (or main)? Seems that's one of the main functions of a buddy. :smt064
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oldsalt
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by oldsalt »

In thinking about my comments about free ascents, I felt I should follow up with a cautionary note so no one attempts to try free ascents because it is "old school". First, I am not an instructor, I am just remembering as well as I can the training I had all those years ago. Three risks were listed in doing free ascents:
1. Hypoxia/drowning from running out of air.
2. DCS
3. Embolism
While risk can never be eliminated, the hazard was mitigated in training. In the first case, since we were starting with air at 3 to 4 atmospheres, we had plenty of air for the ascent. Free divers go much deeper, down and up, on one atmosphere breaths. The submarine ascent, from 100 ft., simulated what they might actually experience. They went from 1 atm. to 4 atm. in a short period of time so the amount of N2 absorbed was small before the ascent. Our SCUBA training was similar, we swam down, doffed our gear, and ascended. In an actual emergency DCS would be an genuine hazard. Embolism was a real concern. Before we did our ascent they had us practicing exhaling in shallow water. We would pucker and blow, as you would in whistling. We made sure bubbles were coming out during the entire ascent. In the submarine ascent, the ascent rate was controlled by a buoyed line. In our SCUBA training we were taught to arch our back and present as much resistance as possible to slow our ascent. With BC's, alternate air sources, and octos, these skills are as useful my expertise in celestial navigation in these days of GPS.
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kitsapdiver
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Re: Free ascent from seventy feet

Post by kitsapdiver »

Thanks for sharing. Don't beat yourself up too much, learn from this experience, I'm sure others will by reading your story.

I agree with the bungied back back-up recommendation a lot of people have given. And, I too agree that 7ft hoses have some advantages, but make sure you understand the system. I have seen a lot of people new to the long hose concept not do the appropriate pre-dive checks, and find out that the hose was tucked under their drysuit inflator hose, or under the waist strap or something where the 7 ft hose was negated.

I hear some people site being able to create distance between the OOG diver and the donator as one of the nice features regarding a long hose. I don't know if I agree. There should still be a "touch contact" between the donator and the recipient. The 7ft hose makes it easier to maintain a position other than face to face in ther vertical position. However if the only way you've ever practiced making an emergency asscent is in the vertical position face to face than I don't know how helpful a 7ft hose is to be honest. I recommend practicing the accent with the 7ft hose once you do get one set up.
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