Out of Air Method

[dfreeman]

I have had the unfortunate experience being in several real life out of air emergencies.  I originally used the PADI method described below.  However, I found that half the time my buddy would rip the regulator out of my mouth faster than I could get to my secondary regulator.

Therefore, I went to the long hose with the plan to give the primary regulator to my buddy and go to my secondary.

Unfortunately, I got the chance to try this out for real at 150 feet in Lake Wazee when my buddy ran flat out of air.  I gave him my primary with no problem and got control of the situation fast.  The hard part for my narc'ed out mind (yes I was on air) was to remember to put my secondary regulator in my mouth.  Well the secondary was right where I needed it under my Chinny-Chin-Chin and all went well from there.

In most of these circumstances I ended up taking control of the buoyancy control for both of us.  To some extent this was because my partner was really nervous and part of me being a little of a control freak under these circumstances. 

Do not underestimate how nervous an out of air person can be.  In one case, I started sharing air at 70 feet by the line with 1,100 psig in my steel LP95 and barely had enough air to make it to the boat.  At 150 feet in Lake Wazee, I started sharing air with 2,800 psig in my E8-130 and hit the shore with 500 psig.  You can feel the regulator cycling.  So get to the surface soon when it is the real deal.

Well that is my story, I hope this helps.  I am sure that people will find fault with several things in this story.  I guess I am a humble stroke.

Doug