Northwest Dive Club

Hi
How many people out there practice their emergency procedures during night dives?

I've met many a diver who's never tried a night air share. It's always so tough with the lights dangling around and the harder communication.

Any tips? I never had any formal training in it.

It would be interesting to try an entire rescue class at night.

Granted day diving here is often like night diving. But night is even tougher.

What kind of lights are you using?
At least with good light discipline, air shares at night aren't much different than air shares in a cave. As long as one light is working and not going every which way you can see pretty good. No light air shares in caves (which is waaaaay darker than nighttime) are done in class but with everyone having 3 lights minimum aren't really a realistic failure/skill that requires ongoing practice.

Hmmm, both rescues I performed were at night. Both were divers that came to me out of nowhere that were not my buddies. I don't recall not being able to see a problem. My computer is backlit, so I could see that on ascent with no problems. I guess I don't really have any tips on how to practice a night air share, but I can say from experience that darkness didn't impact the real deal when the need arose. Training kicked in, text book, done. I will say that I don't particularly like night dives after the last rescue--I had flashbacks of strange divers coming at me, out of the darkness, wildly indicating that they were out of air for MONTHS.

Like Richard said ... ain't any darker than being in a cave, and most of my basic cave training consisted of emergency procedures. In fact, a good instructor tosses multiple failures at you just to see how much task-loading you can handle. Good light discipline is essential. To a recreational diver, that basically means managing your lights so that you can see what you're doing without blinding each other. Pretty much everything else is the same as during the day. Here in the PNW, we all pretty much dive with lights whether it's day or night anyway, so yes ... these skills should be practiced while using your lights, since that's what you'll likely be doing if you have to use them for real ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

enchantmentdivi wrote:... My computer is backlit, so I could see that on ascent with no problems. ... Training kicked in, text book, done. ...

Grateful Diver wrote:...Good light discipline is essential. ......

^^^
This

Grateful Diver wrote:so yes ... these skills should be practiced while using your lights, since that's what you'll likely be doing if you have to use them for real ...

Good point. I haven't seen an emphasis on that in any non-cave class though. Most of us aren't cavers.

It is not that hard but it definitely takes a couple extra seconds to adjust, especially the first couple times. It also takes a few seconds extra if you're holding a camera. So it is worth practicing in those conditions. The extra seconds could make a difference.

Thanks!
-Eric

So I'll back this thread up a bit. Your question is actually very solid one, and it is in fact something that general open water classes (even advanced etc..) don't really ever answer...

When you start looking at the methodology for how folks handle urgent/emergent situations in caves, you will see the logic of things like the long hose (easier to swim side by side) with properly bungied back-up (never hunting for your backup gas), light in the left hand, beam management, and it rapidly becomes apparent how it easily spills over to every day diving.

Why light in the left hand you ask? well, its not just so you can drive a scooter, or because someone arbitrarily says so, it's primarily in the left hand so you can readily hand off your primary regular in a case of need, whilst controlling said beam (as others already mentioned) so as to not blind the out of gas diver, get your second into your mouth and at same time you can signal the 3rd person on the team if you have one. (yes you can pass it to your right hand, but that is a 'temporary hold' usually used when manipulating gas in wing, for all the aforementioned reasons)

On the flip side, the diver needing gas can signal and then guide the regulator into his/her own mouth with the free right hand and purge it if need be. In reality this isn't so far removed from base education, you used your right hand for a lot of air management there as well.

Much of the basis for the systems in the education style revolves around the number one potential life threatening situation, an out of gas scenario and how to remedy it as quickly and efficiently as possible, followed by how to manage it from that point forward to get the whole team to safety.

I could go on about this for pages, but it might make more sense to just catch up with Lamont and I (or Richard Jack or any number of other folks) on the beach someday and we'd be happy to walk you though it. Things change a little on CCR with regards to what regulator I personally would pass off, but the other basics of signaling, light beam management, etc... stay mostly the same.

Hmm interesting! Never heard those specifics. Makes sense

I'm usually carrying a camera. Do the cave classes have specific tips about that?

Thanks!

Nothing ever gets in way of gas delivery, so clip it off to left side or crotch d-ring. That's also why all deco and bottom gasses go on left side or butt d-ring so they are not in way of getting that hose deployed in a hurry. Well, and so you are compelled to verify before breathing as opposed to just grabbing and going cause 'rich is always right' (till that day it isn't)

YellowEye wrote:Hmm interesting! Never heard those specifics. Makes sense

I'm usually carrying a camera. Do the cave classes have specific tips about that?

Thanks!

Drop the camera. I know it sounds obvious, but people hold onto the most useless shit in an emergency. You can pick it up later if it turns out to be no big deal of an event. Or come back on another dive and get it. Or thank your lucky stars everyone is alive and treat it as a sacrifice to Neptune.

Fog scares me more

scooby branch wrote:Fog scares me more

No kidding, me too
I've had to bail on several diamond knot dives due to fog. Couldn't see the bow of a 14ft boat.

+1 to what RJack said. I used to have some pesty buddies who thought it was fun to see if I'd drop my camera if they threw an OOG drill at me, or could catch me off guard with it. On reason my camera attachment system is the way it is, so it can be let go of at any time and not lost. (But I would sacrifice it no problem) They forgot that I'm usually watching them through lens

ljjames wrote:



Why light in the left hand you ask? well, its not just so you can drive a scooter, or because someone arbitrarily says so, it's primarily in the left hand so you can readily hand off your primary regular in a case of need, whilst controlling said beam (as others already mentioned) so as to not blind the out of gas diver, get your second into your mouth and at same time you can signal the 3rd person on the team if you have one. (yes you can pass it to your right hand, but that is a 'temporary hold' usually used when manipulating gas in wing, for all the aforementioned reasons)

I have asked this question to others, this is the best explanation that I have seen, thanks.