By Gail Thomas on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 9:24 am: |
Addendum:
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By mary pequinot on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 9:39 am: |
What a story! During my first TEST dive, where I had top signal "out of air" and then receive the reg from the instructor, I put it in my mouth and also got a mouth of saltwater. It happened again, and suddenly my instructor was shoving my regulator at me. I took it, purged, everything was fine. When we surfaced, she showed me the mouthpiece had come off, and said I did SUCH a good job not panicking. That was because I didn't know what was happening and didn't have time to panic-I just reacted mechanically.
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By scott and sharon barlass on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 9:54 am: |
Gail,
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By seb schulherr on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 10:08 am: |
I have heard of this problem before. I like to think that if I were involved in a similar situation I would simply grab the regulator and breathe through it, the loss of the mouthpiece only affects the comfort level, not the functionality. We were taught to breathe from a free flowing regulator in training, this may make me more inclined to this course of action.
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By Leif S on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 10:47 am: |
Certification training is for situations just like that. Glad to hear that a tragedy was avoided. These things happen, but hopefully not often.
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By Ida Christie on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 11:31 am: |
Thanks for telling your story. I had a panic attack at 90 feet. Scuba diving has it's lessons and some are hard lessons to learn.
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By gary larabee on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 12:53 pm: |
gail,
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By Gail Thomas on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 1:11 pm: |
Yep, that was me! I went back in that afternoon, or I may have never again! But I sure learned a lot!
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By Glen Reem on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 2:23 pm: |
Some observations.
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By DARLENE ELLIS on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 2:45 pm: |
Gail, I am so glad that you are OK. That must have been a very fightening experience for you. I was very glad to hear that you were able to go right back in after such an experience!! What a gal!!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!
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By Carole Baker on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 5:12 pm: |
Pretty scary stuff, Gail! We are certainly glad it all worked out for you. How frightening that must have been. A lesson learned, indeed. Whew...scares me just reading your description! Carole
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By Snorkelguy {Scott} on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 6:18 pm: |
Gail,
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By JIM KENNEDY on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 7:25 pm: |
Since becoming technical certified I now wear my octo around my neck with tubing whenever I dive. It can be dark as hell and I KNOW where it's at, I can feel it there. After many out of air drills; faulty primary stages drills; manifold isolation drills and gas switching nothing seems to upset me anymore. When not diving in doubles I always dive with a pony bottle. As the boy scouts say "Be Prepared" and expect the unexpected. Although there was one time that I ran out of air in a swimming pool while trying my drysuit for the first time. No air to breath and no air for the drysuit or the BCD. And I forgot to dump my weights, thank God my dive instructor who was teaching a underwater class seen me and I signal out of air! The students thought it was part of the class instructions!
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By seb schulherr on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 7:49 pm: |
There are mouthpiece tie wraps available with a curved lock for mouthpieces which seem a bit more secure. I also usually put the tie wrap in hot water and then put it on so it will tighten up when it cools down.
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By Cecil Berry on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 7:50 pm: |
Great story Gail, thanks for sharing. You've made me rethink my secondary. It's presently in a pocket, not ever again. I have a necklace for it, my dive buddy brought it for me (Geeze, I wonder if there's a message).
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By Susan Taft on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 8:51 pm: |
Gail and John, Thanks for sharing not only your "episode" but what you learned from it. I am glad that all ended well! We had a scare on a recent dive trip in the Keys --- one that even scared my sister, an instructor/rescue diver --- and when we reflected on it after were able to see what we might have done differently. And like you, the best thing was to get right back in the water! Again, thanks for sharing and glad all ended well.
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By Mercy Baron on Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 1:22 am: |
Gail, I don't even know what an octopus is execept the kind I see when I go snorkeling, but I'm so glad is wasn't your time yet...because I haven't even met you yet! I just got back Sat night from my virgin trip to Bon and haven't had time to write a trip report so far, but will soon!
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By Faith M. Senie on Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 7:48 am: |
Gail, thanks for posting that -- it must have taken a lot of guts to write it. But John is right -- it's a good lesson for us all. It also lets us unburden ourselves over similar issues...
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By Gail Thomas on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - 2:36 pm: |
I’d like to thank everyone for such kind and supporting comments! It was somewhat embarrassing to admit so much of my training had flown out of my head, but I am human and do make mistakes. And most importantly, I gained some valuable experience from it. Again, thanks for the kind words and extra safety tips! Safe diving to all! Gail
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By Karl H on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - 9:37 pm: |
I am coming in late on this thread, but agree that sharing experiences like these is a good learning experience for us all. I had my own share of scares, which taught me that what we learn in our basic training takes on a new perspective in real dive situations.
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By Ronald Sylvester on Thursday, August 1, 2002 - 1:33 pm: |
Gail
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