diving accident

[caburrid]

Wow, this really makes me think how quickly you can panic and how quickly things can get bad when you do panic. Condolences to the family. I can't imagine a worse way to die...

[emt]

Most say it's not a painful way to go; at least per those who are brought back with cpr etc... But sorry for your loss.

[Tekdivr]

It's amazing how panic can take over every rational thought in your being, no matter how much training you've been through. As simple a task as dropping a weight belt could of saved his life. What a shame.

[urdiving]

This is a terrible tragedy! It makes you think all the times your gear either malfunctioned, your buddies, and the dumb moves we make and live to dive another time. It pays to be prepared and check your gear each time! One time on a night dive as we were descending for lobster miniseason in fl we were down to three lights fast we were in a strong current, managed to get three bugs, before we knew it, we were in the 80 feet and blown completely off the reefs and down to one light and could see easily another 70 foot drop and the current pushing us not only downward but into the deep. I think in seconds we could have easily been in 200 to 300 foot water! It was turning us (imagine being on a flight of stairs in the dark full of water and a someone spinning it around you dont know which way is up) we looked at each other grabbed on each others BC s and climbed up the drift flag and kicked out of it til we were at twenty feet! It was the worst feeling being out of control, but realizing nitrox percentage was good to 140 feet, and by our bubbles we knew which way was up and one light between us and the many dives together, we worked together to get out of the spin cycle safely. Lesson assess the situation first dont panic try to remain calm

[Crimediver]

It is not second nature for many divers to dump a weight belt when in trouble at the surface. This should be drilled into students and practiced from time to time.

Some folks hate to drop a weight belt. I am not one of those. I have dropped a couple before. I have hundreds of pounds of lead I find diving and have weight belt molds to make all the weights in the world. I see folks hanging knives off their belts. I don't hang anything expensive on mine as I never want to hesitate on dropping a weight belt if I am having trouble.

You should not be overweighted when you remove a BC as you should only have enough weight to offset the bouyancy of your exposure suit.
I often take my wetsuit and put it into a mesh bag after getting all the air bubbles shaken out of it. I add just enough lead weight to make the suit neutral at the surface. If I am diving with a steel BP I may use less lead. The point is us you do not want to be overweighted if your BC is removed.
If you drop your lead it is pretty simple not to drown.

[deep spear hunter]

sorry to hear that prayes sent