That "Tight" Feeling

[Energy58]

Just had an interesting one - on a holiday boat with one of their cylinders. I was merrily wombling along and actually on my way back to the shot line with 70 bar indicated on my spg then one breath went "tight" second breath nothing - spg at zero!

I took my buddy's octopus and we did a no-drama air sharing ascent, including our safety stop - well done to her for doing what she was supposed to do with only 20-odd dives under her belt.

The spg recovered to 70 bar on the way up but when I switched back as an experiment exactly the same happened again - the initial diagnosis was crud in the debris tube partially blocking it and getting worse through the dive as the regs then worked perfectly with a different cylinder, thinking back I think it might have felt slightly odd all dive but not sufficiently odd to be worrying.

SO the moral of this tale is keep your buddy at hand even in benign conditions - you just never know when you might need him/her! In something like 600 dives that was my first ever air sharing ascent for real - either as donor or recipient.

[Cybes]

Just had an interesting one - on a holiday boat with one of their cylinders. I was merrily wombling along and actually on my way back to the shot line with 70 bar indicated on my spg then one breath went "tight" second breath nothing - spg at zero!

I took my buddy's octopus and we did a no-drama air sharing ascent, including our safety stop - well done to her for doing what she was supposed to do with only 20-odd dives under her belt.

The spg recovered to 70 bar on the way up but when I switched back as an experiment exactly the same happened again - the initial diagnosis was crud in the debris tube partially blocking it and getting worse through the dive as the regs then worked perfectly with a different cylinder, thinking back I think it might have felt slightly odd all dive but not sufficiently odd to be worrying.

SO the moral of this tale is keep your buddy at hand even in benign conditions - you just never know when you might need him/her! In something like 600 dives that was my first ever air sharing ascent for real - either as donor or recipient.

Well done to you both for keeping it all together.

It's always a bit of a worry using other people's gear, especially rentals.

[Steve C]

Well done both of you!

Out of interest ..Steel or Ali? Did they blow the bottle down and knock out the valve?

[Energy58]

Well done both of you!

Out of interest ..Steel or Ali? Did they blow the bottle down and knock out the valve?

Aluminium - no couldnt get the VV out so it is only a supposition but the cylinder was in test so should have been inspected reasonably recently

[Steve C]

Aluminium - no couldnt get the VV out so it is only a supposition but the cylinder was in test so should have been inspected reasonably recently

Interesting ... wonder what the crud could have been? Filter media? Was there anything on your 1st stage filter?

Never fun when you can’t pinpoint something like that specifically ... especially on a liveaboard.

[Energy58]

Aluminium - no couldnt get the VV out so it is only a supposition but the cylinder was in test so should have been inspected reasonably recently

And further news for stuffed up cylinder valve aficionados - just played my video back from the dive and my breathing sounds terrible; there are all sorts of abnormal crackles and clicks on the sound track. My air consumption on the dive was pants too: way more than my usual rate which I had put down to very hot fill - the cylinder had been in full sun so its contents looked ok at the surface. I think it was basically going wrong from the get-go but I didn't notice and compensated for the more difficult breathing by working harder

[Tewdric]

Well done for coping with an OOA emergency calmly. Especially well done to your inexperienced buddy who had gas to donate.

[Badger]

was the valve open?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[steelemonkey]

I presume that being on a holiday boat you did not have the facility for an alternate air source.

[MrPOman]

Hi Energy
I presume in Omanie waters, who was the dive operation run by

MrP

[braun]

I've had one experience of it. All went well as per training etc but it is an odd feeling.
Well done to you both for dealing with it successfully.

[Energy58]

was the valve open?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Indeed it was...

And we were on our way back up when it happened - at around 14m having done most of the dive at 20m or so - it wasn't a "cracked open a tad" and I checked it when I checked the regs after I was back on the boat and it was wide open. The sound on my camera was odd - lots of odd crackles so I think it started early in the dive.

The only slightly odd thing was I was descending slightly onto the bottom of the shot the plan being to allow us to ascend up the line from the bottom so it went tight when I was slightly head down.

I also learned that the standard octo hose is a bit short when you have to do it for real! I may well be investing in a longer one myself...

[Steve C]

Indeed it was...
I also learned that the standard octo hose is a bit short when you have to do it for real! I may well be investing in a longer one myself...

Great point ... also was it configured to run over your buddy’s left or right shoulder? For me the AAS should come over the donors left shoulder if a conventional rig. Otherwise you need a good 30cm longer on the hose to make it work properly

[Brent]

I also learned that the standard octo hose is a bit short when you have to do it for real! I may well be investing in a longer one myself...

(Cough)...... hog loop..... (cough cough)

[Tens]

(Cough)...... hog loop..... (cough cough)

Does Mrs May dive, then?