SCUBA Theory: Sharing air
How do you share? Divers naturally share air the way they were trained to. Training methods vary between shops, instructors and organizations. Being caught off guard because someone had different training can have serious consequences. Even if you only dive with specifically trained buddies, you may be called upon to assist or even rely upon someone else who isn't.You gave them what? When a (sport) diver donates air, he usually has three options:
1. Donate primary regulator, and switch to the backup or octopus regulator.
2. Donate backup regulator and keep the primary regulator.
3. Buddy breathe. This involves sharing a single regulator between two divers.
It also juliennes One dive shop teaches their open water students to donate their backup or octo regulators. At another shop, all the BCs are equipped with SCUBAPRO Air2 power inflater/regulator hybrids. So, they teach their students to donate their primary regulator. At another, the instructor teaches buddy breathing. To prevent confusing students, and due to the short amount of water time in most open water courses, it seems very few will cover more than one air donation technique.
The danger of the octo Having a backup regulator is a great concept. The problem comes when a diver puts a backup regulator in his mouth and finds that it's full of sand.
If the regulator becomes fouled such that the diaphragm or purge valve can't operate, then it is useless. Donating a fouled octo regulator to an air-starved diver is even worse. They exhale to clear the regulator of water and hastily suck in only to receive a mouthful of sand or muck. If they're expecting air and end up choking on this stuff... well the Heimlich maneuver is a bit hard underwater with a tank on your victims back. (And wouldn't help much with sand, anyway.) A far better plan is to donate your primary regulator. You'll have plenty of time to determine if your backup is fully operational and to take appropriate action.
If you're the diver who is out of air, be careful if someone hands you their octo. Hitting the purge button before you ever put it in your mouth is probably a good idea. Keep in mind that the regulator could be fouled, so be mentally prepared to have to wait a little longer for that breath of life.
'Don't Panic' If a diver is hurting for air, they might start to panic. They'll want the first regulator that they see and know has air: the one in your mouth. It's a good idea to stay in control of your regulator. If a diver looks like they may need air, place your hand on your regulator. It's better for you to hand it to them than have it yanked out of your mouth. You can make sure you grab a nice breath of air and demonstrate that you're calm while handing it over. Someone who's been swimming without an air supply will usually feel the need to catch their breath. If you just exhaled and a panicked diver grabs your regulator, you may not be very happy while they're gobbling up air.
Buddy breathing with Dave and Bob Even if you never need it, buddy breathing is a great skill to have under the weight belt. Practicing it can really help increase a divers comfort level with regulator swapping.
Bob signals he's low on air, out of air and needs to share air/buddy breath. Dave puts his hand on his regulator and grabs a breath of air. Bob places his hand over Dave's or on the hose right next to the regulator. Dave and Bob should grab each others BC, strap or arms to maintain a steady distance. Dave will place the regulator at Bob's mouth and Bob will get two even breaths on the regulator. Dave and Bob will then put the regulator at Dave's mouth where he'll get two breaths. They continue to share. While the regulator is out of either diver's mouth, he'll continuously bubble air to prevent baro-trauma.
Since Dave put his hand on the regulator first, he can keep control over his air supply. This makes it easier for Dave to retrieve his regulator if Bob starts panicking and tries to keep the regulator to himself. If Bob really panics and tries to shoot for the surface, Dave a better chance of pulling his regulator away if he's being pulled upward at an unsafe ascent speed.
What works for me I'm going to stay away from discussing long or short regulator hoses for now. I do have to give credit to the tech divers for my preferred method of backup regulator storage. 'DIR' technical divers keep their secondary regulator on a bungee or latex hose necklace. (The ends of the bungee/hose are zip tied at the mouth piece mount of the regulator.) It sounds a little weird, but it's very good in practice. The backup regulator sits under their chin, so when it's needed it's probably clear of debris. It's also very, very easy to reach without looking and place the backup regulator in your mouth.
I'll donate my known working primary regulator to the air starved diver. At the same time I clear and if it's functioning, start breathing off my backup regulator. Once I know it's operational (and I don't need to retrieve my primary to breath) and the diver in need is calm, signals ok, and is ready to ascend I have the option of letting them keep the primary. In the case that my secondary regulator has failed me in some way, I've maintained control so I can buddy breath with the diver in need and still ascend safely.
Recent News:
Recent news in Learning
