Posted by Randy54 on January 04, 2001 at 12:35:16:
In Reply to: Re: DIR Paradigm - Long posted by MHK on January 04, 2001 at 12:02:26:
I've tested my octo while diving, and haven't had a problem turning my head. Maybe my hose is a little longer than you have. Beig in line with quick disconects, I can always remove it if it starts to free flow, and reconnect my inflator. The dive is aborted, go to the surface.If I cann't get my inflator reconnected, the dive is still aborted, and I head for the surface, even if that means swimming up, instead of using the BC to float me up. Don't know why not using my BC would keep me from acending. If I cann't swim up, off go the weights. At the depths I dive, that's a garunteed ride to the surface, unless something is holding me down. And the possibilites of being traped under water, in the open ocean, and having a free flowing reg, with a buddy out of air and needing to buddy breath off my gear, ranks right up there with getting hit by meteor. Sure it could happen, but when you start taking actions to prevent everything, you end up doing nothing. Diving is a hazardious sport/activity. Taking steps to minimize that hazard is being very responsable. To me, the greatest hazard are those people who insist upon diving beyond their capabilities. Which is what I believed happened on the Yukon. And part of that, I believe is the quality of training. I am very thankful that during my first dive class in 1970, our instructors put us through "Hell Night" in our last night in the pool. Four instructors against 12 students. No matter what they did, in that two hours, NO GOING TO THE SURFACE. Deal with your mask being ripped off, and while your working that, someone else is shutting your air off. Then off with your weight belt. Over and over. When you were done, you knew you could handle problems, but we also knew how vunerable we were, and that we realy didn't know anything yet. Of course if they taught like that now, the liablity would be so great, and so few people would pass, all the instruction orginizations would take major financial hits. And I don't even want to talk about the resorts. This is a tank, this is an airhose, this is a mask. Now your ready to dive. Oh well. Live long and prosper.