Posted: 2/18/2023 6:03:08 PM EDT
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My wife and I just got back from a cruise on the MSC Seaside and did two separate dive excursions along the way. One in Saint Lucia and one in Grenada. These were our first dives following the completion of our open water course back in August. On one of our dives I ran out of air. I was watching may air gage closely and at 40 bar I signaled my wife and our dive master that I was running low on air and heading to the surface. About a minute into my 3 minute safety stop my air just stopped flowing. Nothing! I didn't panic, I just swam the 12-15' to the surface. Dive boat was about 100 yards away, I wave my arms a little bit and they picked me up. When I got on board my air gage was reading 25 bar, but when I pushed the purge valve on my secondary, no air came out. Short of buying and bring my own equipment on vacation, can a more experience diver give me any pointers on how to avoid this in the future? Did I do something wrong? Just trying to learn and avoid future problems. Thanks. |
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Your experience, albeit different, was the main reason we bought our own gear. Our 1st dive trip was to Belize. My wife and I rented gear. The divemaster points to a tank/bcd setup and tells my wife to put it on and backroll off the boat. All their rental gear was the same brand, model, of course. Turns out, my wife put on an XL BCD, way too large for her, so that added to the anxiety of doing our first dive. At that point, she says "I want to buy my own gear". If renting gear, do a lot of research on the dive shop you are renting from, but even that's not as good as having your own. |
Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand, Paul Bhranfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933, Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics...
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I’ve had my own gear from the very beginning. The only time I didn’t use my own gear was the pool Discover Scuba At least get your own regs and computers. |
"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie: I’ve had my own gear from the very beginning. The only time I didn’t use my own gear was the pool Discover Scuba At least get your own regs and computers. Marie hit the nail on the head here. Regulator, computer and (more a personal preference than anything bring your own mask). I did get extra attention from a TSA lady once. She thought my regulator “looked dangerous” This happen in Miami. You should have seen the look on the supervisors face when he was called over. 
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Originally Posted By Frog_Legs: Marie hit the nail on the head here. Regulator, computer and (more a personal preference than anything bring your own mask). I did get extra attention from a TSA lady once. She thought my regulator “looked dangerous” This happen in Miami. You should have seen the look on the supervisors face when he was called over. /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/EgcB5I3-51.gif Originally Posted By Frog_Legs: Originally Posted By Marie: I’ve had my own gear from the very beginning. The only time I didn’t use my own gear was the pool Discover Scuba At least get your own regs and computers. Marie hit the nail on the head here. Regulator, computer and (more a personal preference than anything bring your own mask). I did get extra attention from a TSA lady once. She thought my regulator “looked dangerous” This happen in Miami. You should have seen the look on the supervisors face when he was called over. /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/EgcB5I3-51.gif You should have seen the TSA moron finger ducking both my regs (double set!) and canister light when I went to Mexico in August for full cave. Had to test them for explosives. Mind you, they’ve never been near my gun stuff.  My single tank set was bought by a woman who had a very bad experience with a rental reg on a trip. She wanted something very easy breathing - and my AquaLung Legend LX Supreme was that. If the OP is going to only be a traveling diver and concerned about weight, the AquaLung Mikron reg is a good choice. No console! Get a plain SPG and a wrist computer. I’ve dived Apeks (owned by AquaLung) for my sidemount regs and currently use all Dive Rite, which I love. What to get really depends on what the OP’s local dive shop sells. I think the OP should already have wetsuit, mark, snorkel, fins, and booties. I’d want to have my own wetsuit so I could easily pee in it.
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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@powereng - I guess the only way to make sure you get good rental gear is to research the dive ops, look at reviews, ask on Scubaboard for input. If you decide to get your own gear, you don’t have to worry about things like what you experienced. Renting a BC is easy if you’re a standard size. A lot of people have their own regs because they know how they’ve been serviced, etc. |
"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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As others said, personal regs and gages are a must for a traveling diver. BC's, weights and other stuff can be rented. Computers probably are a must now with today's divers but I still use tables as a back-up (I don't think tables are even taught anymore). Another piece of gear that adds piece of mind is a tank pressure gauge so that you can check the fill against what your SPG says- especially if you have to rent regs again. On the subject of breathing gear, I'm a dedicated convert to using and carrying a Spare Air and refill adapter. Having one got me out of a jam when my first stage failed. |
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Originally Posted By powereng: My wife and I both have our own mask, fins, and computers (Cressi Donatello). I guess it's time to invest in our own regulators. Thanks for the replies. Just saw you over on SB. Didn’t realize you’re in the Mitten State. I’m a Downriver Detroit area native. Great Lakes diving is fucking awesome. |
"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By FB41: As others said, personal regs and gages are a must for a traveling diver. BC's, weights and other stuff can be rented. Computers probably are a must now with today's divers but I still use tables as a back-up (I don't think tables are even taught anymore). Another piece of gear that adds piece of mind is a tank pressure gauge so that you can check the fill against what your SPG says- especially if you have to rent regs again. On the subject of breathing gear, I'm a dedicated convert to using and carrying a Spare Air and refill adapter. Having one got me out of a jam when my first stage failed.  You’re advocating for a fucking Spare Air? Really? Just say no. |
"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Rental regs aside....breathung down a tank to 300ish psi can cause regulator problems. Assuming a certain margin of error for any gauge, you will likely have the same problem with your own regs if you make this a habit. Not bashing you. You did it right by just swimming up and hopefully exhaling while doing so lol. |
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Originally Posted By Marie: You’re advocating for a fucking Spare Air? Really? Just say no. Yes, really. Not everyone wants to hump a fucking pony bottle or dive sidemount or twins. Spare Air works for rec diving. I was a test diver for the HEED- I know it works and I know Spare Air pulled my fat outta the fire, so don't piss on gear just because YOU don't use it. Some of us have been doing this diving thing for a long fucking time and know what works and what's snake oil- even if we don't do the latest and greatest thing. |
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What To Buy First, Next, Last How often are you going to dive? Once a year on vacation? It is not worth buying a full kit and paying for annual inspections on the regs. Get a computer so you will be familiar with how it works. Regulators and BCDs rarely fail. I would feel more comfortable with a dive operation if their regs were all the same manufacturer and not a mix match of brands. |
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Originally Posted By bap: Rental regs aside....breathung down a tank to 300ish psi can cause regulator problems. Assuming a certain margin of error for any gauge, you will likely have the same problem with your own regs if you make this a habit. Not bashing you. You did it right by just swimming up and hopefully exhaling while doing so lol. No offense taken. I still have a lot to learn. Wife and did a post dive trip debrief and discussed some of the mistakes we made. We are planning on some pure training dives this summer before our next trip. |
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Originally Posted By FB41: Yes, really. Not everyone wants to hump a fucking pony bottle or dive sidemount or twins. Spare Air works for rec diving. I was a test diver for the HEED- I know it works and I know Spare Air pulled my fat outta the fire, so don't piss on gear just because YOU don't use it. Some of us have been doing this diving thing for a long fucking time and know what works and what's snake oil- even if we don't do the latest and greatest thing. Originally Posted By FB41: Originally Posted By Marie: You’re advocating for a fucking Spare Air? Really? Just say no. Yes, really. Not everyone wants to hump a fucking pony bottle or dive sidemount or twins. Spare Air works for rec diving. I was a test diver for the HEED- I know it works and I know Spare Air pulled my fat outta the fire, so don't piss on gear just because YOU don't use it. Some of us have been doing this diving thing for a long fucking time and know what works and what's snake oil- even if we don't do the latest and greatest thing. Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Frog_Legs: Marie hit the nail on the head here. Regulator, computer and (more a personal preference than anything bring your own mask). I did get extra attention from a TSA lady once. She thought my regulator “looked dangerous” This happen in Miami. You should have seen the look on the supervisors face when he was called over. /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/EgcB5I3-51.gif She'll really shit a brick if she ever gets me flying through. The last "dive trip" I took involved copious amounts of shooting and NVG hikes as well, so I had two hard rifle armor plates, a ballistic helmet, NODS, Light Monkey canister light, and a set of ScubaPro MK25/S600 sidemount regs in my carry-on bag. Everything got x-rayed individually, twice, and checked by two TSA guardians of aeronautical safety.... |
"They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07: She'll really shit a brick if she ever gets me flying through. The last "dive trip" I took involved copious amounts of shooting and NVG hikes as well, so I had two hard rifle armor plates, a ballistic helmet, NODS, Light Monkey canister light, and a set of ScubaPro MK25/S600 sidemount regs in my carry-on bag. Everything got x-rayed individually, twice, and checked by two TSA guardians of aeronautical safety.... Originally Posted By floridahunter07: Originally Posted By Frog_Legs: Marie hit the nail on the head here. Regulator, computer and (more a personal preference than anything bring your own mask). I did get extra attention from a TSA lady once. She thought my regulator “looked dangerous” This happen in Miami. You should have seen the look on the supervisors face when he was called over. /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/EgcB5I3-51.gif She'll really shit a brick if she ever gets me flying through. The last "dive trip" I took involved copious amounts of shooting and NVG hikes as well, so I had two hard rifle armor plates, a ballistic helmet, NODS, Light Monkey canister light, and a set of ScubaPro MK25/S600 sidemount regs in my carry-on bag. Everything got x-rayed individually, twice, and checked by two TSA guardians of aeronautical safety.... Having your dive gear finger fucked is even more interesting in a foreign country when you don't speak the language well enough to explain what it is For gear, having your own reg set and computer, set up the way you like it it, is right after a good mask on the priority list when you're traveling. You won't get Bar and PSI mixed up, nor meters and feet. And if you get a yoke regulator, make sure you bring along your own DIN converter if you're diving outside North America. If you're not diving super resorts you'll also want a micro dive knife with a cutting loop like a strap cutter - the rest of the planet has fishing line everywhere. |
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Originally Posted By bap: Rental regs aside....breathung down a tank to 300ish psi can cause regulator problems. Assuming a certain margin of error for any gauge, you will likely have the same problem with your own regs if you make this a habit. Not bashing you. You did it right by just swimming up and hopefully exhaling while doing so lol. I breathe every set of regs I rebuild down to 50psi at 15 feet. I want to know if the gauge reads accurately and isn’t several hundred PSI off. Remember, the critical number is 14psi at 33 feet, 28 at 66, 42 at 99. As long as you are above that number, the flow can’t reverse. |
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Originally Posted By bap: Rental regs aside....breathung down a tank to 300ish psi can cause regulator problems. Assuming a certain margin of error for any gauge, you will likely have the same problem with your own regs if you make this a habit. Not bashing you. You did it right by just swimming up and hopefully exhaling while doing so lol. I breathe every set of regs I rebuild down to 50psi at 15 feet. I want to know if the gauge reads accurately and isn’t several hundred PSI off. Remember, the critical number is 14psi at 33 feet, 28 at 66, 42 at 99. As long as you are above that number, the flow can’t reverse. It won’t anyway if you know what you are doing. It’s no different that turning off a stage bottle and breathing it empty. Everyone needs to know what that feels like. When they grab a pressured but shut off bottle so they know to turn it on and not panic. |
Preferred Pronoun: Space Lord Mutherfucker