Tank not turned on all the way

[TJDiver]

Originally Posted by SugarInWater

A while back I read something on DAN's website that a high percentage of dive accidents occur when divers enter the water with their air off. After reading that, my son/dive buddy and I ask each other prior to gearing up: "is your air on"? It reminds us to check it one more time. I tend to have complete confidence in the DM but I'm not about to take a chance he/she didn't bring their "A" game to work that day.

Good practice. My son and I do the exact same thing. We even go one more step, in that we also reach over and try to give each other's valve a twist counterclockwise to make sure. Of course, with him being only 13 and maybe not fully "second natured" on the whole "righty tighty, lefty loosy" thing, I do double check him when he tries to give my valve a twist.

[dawnvip]

the whole "righty tighty, lefty loosy" thing

Ahhh, rhymes to remember!

I still say this to myself in my head after more than 10 years of diving (and when using screwdrivers to!)

[db83]

Originally Posted by TJDiver

Good practice. My son and I do the exact same thing. We even go one more step, in that we also reach over and try to give each other's valve a twist counterclockwise to make sure. Of course, with him being only 13 and maybe not fully "second natured" on the whole "righty tighty, lefty loosy" thing, I do double check him when he tries to give my valve a twist.

I was taught turn all the way on, and then a quarter turn back. I guess that's so that if the air is on, you can easily turn the knob either way without thinking.

[John Yaskowich]

When I am setting up my gear I turn my air on to test the Regs, then turn it all the way off and release all pressure so the guage reads "0". That way I know just by looking at my SPG that the valve is still off. I turn it back on just before splash time.

I have also found that if I have to reach back to the valve it is easier if I keep my elbow close to my ear. I can reach further down my back that way (as opposed to having my elbow out to the side and reaching back and down at the same time).

[underh2o]

Once again glad he is ok and you both had a good trip. But, I dive with mine all the way open. I would have to agre with Ian. I do SAR and I used to get me chops busted by my dive partner. Crank it all the way open then crank once more to be sure. In blackwater SAR you ae always hitting something with the tank if it all the way open and you hit it and it bumps shut some you are still pratically all the way open. And when doing tank drills you grab you don't have to think about hich way to go it all or nothing.

[DiverDurf]

Being a public safety diver, I am real finicky about others touching my stuff. I told the DM's on a recent trip in the Keys NOT to touch my air when leading me on/off the boat. Of course I said it politely and explained why. ;-) Glad to hear things turned out okay and your husband kept his cool. You should always be thinking of your basic OW skills each and every time before entering the water. Go through the "what if's" as it only takes a few seconds. On deep dives, I always use my descent time to think through scenarios of running out of air or equipment malfunctions, and it keeps me trained to STAY with my buddy instead of letting them drift away from me (and vice versa for my buddy). I see too many divers that don't have pony bottles on and are often too far away for help if the doo-doo hits the fan. Obviously, your husband dives in the right frame of mind and controls the panic and just deals with the problem- major kudos to him as that's half the battle!

[DivingCRNA]

This is why I always check my own valves.....

[Donkey]

This must have been quite a shocker to both of you

I always teach my students to do a buddy check before going in the water and not to become lazy resort divers. Meaning always assembling their own gear so they dont get rusty with it.

By the way you cant (as proven in this case) be sure if the ''professionals'' know what they are doing.

Luckily everything went ok here but something like this could easily lead to a panic situation or worse.

Dive safe

[Katfish]

Some friends that dive all the time went with me for my first dive after my certification. I got all my gear ready and someone was checking to see if I did it right and they turned off my air, I had already turned it on. Well my buddy was not a good buddy, he went off ahead of me. We were not but 20 feet but even at 20 feet you panic if you can not breathe, This was my first dive with out an instructor. I could not get his attention so I just went up. It was scary. I learned right then don't let any one else touch your gear and always double check the air.
But I love to dive so this did not keep me from coming back for more.