Posted by Anonymous on May 11, 2005 at 12:32:25:
In Reply to: Out of Air Situations - Here's my experience, what's yours? posted by Anonymous on May 11, 2005 at 11:32:39:
>1. What are folks' thoughts on Air IIs?
No Opinion (of usage myself) until your post.
I stayed with with a matching Octo for my
Poseidon Cyklon reg and have tested it with
two air hogs at 100' (delivers remarkably well
under these extreme circumstances.) I chose this route because sharing air should be uncomplicated as both parties are not neccessarily thinking clearly. B=)
For deep dives I use a 30_cuft pony with its own reg (in addition to a HP ST120.)
>2. How often have you had to donate air?
> What are your personal ratios, 1 out of 50
> dives, one out of 100, one out of 200?
> What's the deal here.
Out of 200 dives I was an air donor only once to our instructor in 30_ft of water (for Adv OW class) (who shall remain nameless.) The students had HP ST120 tanks while instructor had an AL80. The instructor did a good job of reminding students to check their air but instructor failed to account for the larger tank capacity of students and consequently failed to monitor his own consumption.
For low air (not enough to complete safety stop) I was a donor about 5 different times on the anchor chain. (I had plenty of air, just ran out of (Nitrogen) bottom time.)
>3. Do people think running out of air/having
> to share air is a serious situation? This
> buddy was fairly nonchalant about the whole
> deal, even claiming that it was a "great
> dive". I said it was the "worst f#$%in dive
> ever" for me because of what happened. The
> most aggravating part for me is that it was
> totally avoidable and not due to equipment
> failure.
From the circumstances you described, I would consider it an annoyance. (Shallow water.) It could be more serious if it was a deeper dive or the OOA diver was in a panic and dislodged more than your than your regulator and wits.
For your comfort level, I would recommend adding "communicate air level" with your buddy into your dive plan so that you know how much air each of you have during the dive. With your newfound knowledge, you know who will not be your dive buddy.