Dive Instructor Reacts to Weight belt Scuba Accident

[@Sjonkel]

Hahaha, what the hell is going on here. These guys are definitely diving out of their limits. The kicking, , the buoyancy, the tourist-filming, the drift-dive, the depth. Gawd.

[@OceanPancake]

The stress!!! I am so glad I haven't had divers like these for a little while. While the footage is scary, I am glad that it exists so we can learn from it and new divers can be aware of what they can / should / shouldn't do.

[@Elparquito]

Reminds me of my Divemaster class and the final test dive of the class. I got to dive with 3 instructors. As soon as we went under, one went North, one went South and the last one just dropped to the bottom, tore off his mask, and played dead. Like herding cats, but underwater. Watching this remind me why I never wanted to be an instructor.

[@princetandukar9290]

Hello Kat! Please make more of these videos on common diving mistakes/fatal mistakes, focusing on safety, as it would genuinely make more people aware of the incidents, so they can hopefully prevent it for themselves. It is very entertaining to watch too!! Thank you for making an impact on the scuba community! As I got my open water after watching and being inspired by your previous videos!!

[@OceanPancake]

I am so glad you liked this video!!! :) I think its a great option for videos thats both fun and educational and hopefully helps make you guys safer!

[@princetandukar9290]

@@OceanPancake Yes!! Haha if you make more of these safety videos I'll make it a playlist to watch and refresh myself before going on my next dive holiday!!

[@Robert-q2j4b]

That one diver is about to lose his tank!!!

[@chrisphilhower6029]

Reminds me of the OW Dives last year. According to the one Instructor, I was the Only one who Deflated my BCD when we were swimming back(From 50 Ft) to the platform (20 Ft). I didn't have to check my Gauge. I felt that we were ascending. Willow Springs Park is "Disneyland" of Lebanon County PA. We saw a Kenworth Truck sitting in about 60 ft.

[@somethingsomethingscuba]

This incident occurred during the deep dive for his AOW course. He shouldn't have the camera. Those cans of flyspray are at most the 1L model. Judging by his distress, his SAC is probably about 40L/min. At 30m he's got about a minute and 14 seconds of "spare air" if by some miracle it will deliver air down to 10 bar -- which it won't. The false sense of security is really quite dangerous. Full credit to him for posting it so others can learn. I hope he was able to receive some better instruction and is still out there diving safely.

[@Raybrienza]

Hello Kat. I also am not a fan of Spare Air. They were more of a fad for a while which comes and goes. For your info - In the US - (I don't know the requirements in Australia) They are considered Tanks/Cylinders and are required to meet the same requirements as any tank hydro every 5 years and Visual every year. However, many people do not adhere to that requirement and do not have them inspected as they are required. Since they are filled off of your scuba tank they have Normal scuba breathing gas in them. There is another problem with them --- they are supposed to be empty when you fly. There has been cases when divers forget to empty them before they fly.... luckily, the burst disk will burst and not rupture the tank. Another point you made - I agree with you -- is that you should not bring a camera with you until you have a good understanding on buoyancy. Divers need to understand their gear weight belts and integrated weight in the BC's. Just my 2 cents I have been an instructor for 38+ years SSI and SDI/TDI. Ray

[@snared_]

I was under the impression that spare air has to go through hydro and proper filling procedures. In this case the instructor was close by enough to grab the student, but a situation like this is not necessarily something I've planned for. Then again you don't really plan to somehow fall out of your harness when rock climbing, since you put it on tight enough and in certain orientations to never fall.. Similar story with the weights. Agreed about taking the camera once more proficient and self sufficient.

[@Raybrienza]

@@snared_ Spare Air .. They are tanks/cylinders They have to meet the same code as a scuba tank (They are considered scuba tanks). In the USA they have to be hydro-d and Visually inspected every year! Since many divers fill them off of their tank and not DM/Shop people /instructors/Boat captains. The diver themselves fill them and will ignore the rules about proper tank handling rules. In the USA, any pressurized container over 27 psi is considered high-pressure, so bike tires, car tires, propane tanks, and Dust/can air are high-pressure containers.

[@timgosling6189]

@@Raybrienza FYI, a burst disk should rupture at about 1.5 x the rated pressure of the tank, so at an additional differential pressure of around 100Bar/1500PSI. The additional differential pressure from putting a cylinder in an unpressurised aircraft hold is

[@RB-ie9wf]

I took a GoPro for all my family’s training dives. It was amazing how much we picked up afterwards by reviewing the videos so there is definitely some value in having that footage. That being said, if there was an emergency it would have been the first thing to go. Some people seem to have such an intense drive to capture footage that they prioritize it more than their own safety. I get that everyone hates spare air. What’s a good alternative?

[@dice511]

Checking your meters and diving your plan. Why choose spare air when you have a buddy IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY?! In OW training you learn how to react, move to your buddy (close enough) and share air from the same tank and swim to the surface in a controlled manner. If your buddy is out of reach, do a CESA. Most important: to prevent foresaid emergency: keep an eye on your pressure gauge, and call it quits in time. Noone will fault you for looking at that meter more than once or twice. (Other than an irritated leader when you inform them every 5 minutes what your current pressure is :D)

[@RB-ie9wf]

@ , what about equipment failure, poor visibility, distracted buddy. You’ve never been separated from your buddy before? I agree with you on the best practices above but things don’t always go as planned and having a secondary air source especially when diving deeper may be helpful. I don’t think anyone is advocating carrying a spare air or pony bottle in lieu of good diving practices. It’s intended as an additional safety measure.

[@dice511]

@@RB-ie9wf Actually none of that ever happened, I teach in those conditions, poor visibility , open eye on your buddy, cold, thick suite, gloves and hood. And i tell my students to be alert and monitor their gauges. The (very) few time(s) my buddy got 'lost' is when he swam into a milky cloud substance; followed procedure and swam up after not seeing me for 1 minute. We were totally within limits at that time, no more than 18m (ow qualified at that time) I was waiting for him at the surface. Even at that time he told me he had more than enough air left because he checks every few minutes. Fact that i _can_ perform a cesa does not mean i will have to.

[@alistairevans1428]

​@RB-ie9wf All of the different things you mentioned are covered in your open water course and how to deal with them. Your buddy is your alternate source of air. If you get to the point where your gas is almost empty, that's on you for now checking your SPG.

[@BrandonAF]

Agree with you about almost everything you said except Spare Air. SpareAir is actually VIP’d, hydro’d, and serviced at same intervals as the rest of a diver’s gear. I wouldn’t discourage everyone from using it or from contemplating some redundant air source. At this depth, that Spare Air is worthless except to maybe buy you time to reach your buddy and their octo, and based on how inexperienced these divers appeared I bet those Spare Airs are just something handed to them by the staff and the divers have zero experience with them. All that being said, I sometimes carry SpareAir on shallow to mid depth rec dives that are just below depths where CESA is reasonably achievable. I’ve also carried it when paired with an “Insta Buddy” on a boat, and in a variety of other circumstances where this easy self-contained system could be useful. Biggest criticism I have of Spare Air is their sized offerings are still too small for my comfort, I’d like to see a few more cylinder options in the 9CU-30CU range. As for cameras, you nailed it. I was recently considering sky diving and learned that standards there prevent newer sky diver from bringing or operating a camera until much later in their training/certification process. In SCUBA, once you’ve got your diver cert card, most places wouldn’t even dream of limiting a customer’s ability to bring a camera. Maybe that’s something that should be rethought, providing some minimum dive standards (like at least 10 dives after certification and at least one dive within the last 90-days) before they exit the dive boat with a camera that’ll distract them from basic safety stuff that they haven’t had much of a chance to really nail yet.

[@dice511]

First thing i noticed was the way the divers have strapped the tanks, not even half handwith between the strap and the point where the tank starts to curve ... any movement there and the tank will be hanging by the mouthpiece or safetystrap (0.27 sec) Spare air is nogo. Period. The diver not filming is cycling; not swiming -> those fins do nothing (0.49) a diver goes up to fast can cause bends, whereas an inexperienced diver might in panic hold their breath and get a lung rupture. (1.02) the guy has little more experience, as he does not feel the weight shift in the belt and he is not reacting to it. I totally agree with @oceanpancage these are not experienced divers, why do they carry a camera on this depth? they should concentrate on diving and buoyancy and not that freaking camera. The instructor did the right thing, this event could have been prevented by doing a test-dive first and observe what the level of experience is before allowing a diver going to 30m with a camera (not paying attention to other things)

[@OceanPancake]

Thanks for pointing all these out! Honestly watching these videos gave me some of the most intense flashbacks to scary situations in diving. I didnt even see the tank straps! I was so overwhelmed by the chaos by these divers. I sometimes really do not miss taking divers who were certified by other people. (Open water diver students tend to be better as I have usually trained them!) haha

[@joycengo4408]

this is why I like one of your video. If you don't have good buoyancy control, Leave your camera... 1 being, the diver can't get nice footage when not having good buoyancy, 2, the diver is so into the camera than taking care of their own safety. Either the they will bang into other divers as they have no awareness of what is happening around them, or stir up lots of sand as they are kicking everything.

[@alistairevans1428]

Those divers definitely shouldn't have been in current that strong! I won't lie, I'm surprised the dive master didn't launch the camera into the deep because he was clearly too focused on it...

[@zingw]

Great educational video albeit hard to watch. Hats off to the "instructor" for the quick action. I am using " on " as I am hoping this is not a training dive , if so the instructor shouldn't have allowed the diver to have a camera on him/her in the first place. However, if the diver in the video is certified then it's on him .. the instructor is merely guiding the dive. I am a confident diver, I recently had the awakening of my life, my big mistake was that I didn't ask my "buddy" about his experience, he turned out to be a newbie and to make things worse a cowboy, the dive could have ended in a tragedy he shot to surface without giving me any signal and I spent considerable time searching for him in rough sea, he had no smb , he was on rental gear you name. Luckily I found him and dragged him back to surface , this was a shore dive. Although I was merely a buddy with no legal responsibility, this experience shook me and I have been off water since, it has been a month.

[@dice511]

Cameras are a nogo on training dives. Period. as for your experience with a bad buddy, i would advise you to do the rescue course (or equivalent) to get your trust up, Observing one might alert you sooner and you might be less shaken if/when something goes wrong.

[@OceanPancake]

Yeah there are certainly newbies that make it quite a dangerous dive for others. I find my Open Water Students are actually frequently better divers than some certified people. (As I know I trained them properly haha) Good on you for being a great buddy!! I know it can be very scary. You did the correct thing. Just take it easy and go with someone you know if you can.

[@OceanPancake]

Great advice!! Definitely hope it wasn't a training dive.

[@LA-vw7hd]

I've been diving for years, and when I use my GoPro, it is either clipped to my bcd or on a bungee around my wrist and goes back there immediately I sense the slightest need to focus and use my hands. Ignorance is bliss until it isn't. I don't thing the guy learnt anything.

[@alistairevans1428]

I really don't know why weight belts are still being used, they should be a thing of the past! There are plenty of cheap BCDs that have secure integrated weight pockets that can be used for rental gear.

[@capti443]

They clearly had NO business being that deep! IMO, if an instructor, or even a guide, took them down that deep, seeing how inept they are, they should be removed from the profession. Jus' sayin'!

[@OceanPancake]

I haven't actually heard of many/any professionals being removed from the profession. Its so up to the individual dive shops to ensure they are policying this properly! I have had students who descended way below me (I was at 15m and they were descending down to 20...25..30...) and I was signalling and shaking my rattle at them the whole time and they literally just ignored me. Ended the dive and didn't allow them back in the water after that.

[@dice511]

@@OceanPancake If they react to the rattle at all

[@CrazyGuyBlahBlah]

I disagree that you shouldn't put weight in BCD pockets and this is taught in drysuit diving: The ditchable weight should only be a few pounds so you can still safely ascend with an emergency ascent but not uncontrollably.

[@Sherwoody]

I’ve lost a weight pocket, and still managed to control my ascent.

[@Yggdrasil42]

Yeah, a bit of both is good. If you're correctly weighted you shouldn't need any ditchable weights but in reality most beginner divers dive overweighted so having a few pounds that they can ditch is probably wise. Don't ditch it all though.

[@OceanPancake]

Most new dives I found tend to float through a combination of stress and subconciously kicking to the surface. So instructors will put weights in the pockets (usually after the commencement of a dive if they keep floating up), so to not have to abort the dive and readjust the weightbelt etc. Because quite often you can weigh someone well, they descend and then they start floating up haha. Even with no weights as @sherwoody said, you should be able to have a controlled ascent. Its happened before that I had to give away almost all my weights and I still completed the dive (seriously underweighted) but it does take some experience.

[@Sherwoody]

@@OceanPancake I lost my weight on a drift dive in the Niagara River. I couldn’t have picked a worse time to lose it. A strong current in a whirlpool that was difficult to break free of, and my fins weren’t of much help as the water was boiling on the surface. I just had to be patient and let the current eventually kick me free. I just had a long boring surface swim back to Canada.

[@timgosling6189]

With a wetsuit a weight belt can feel tight on the surface but get very loose as you descend. I've seen people have them slip over their hips and fall off, made worse as newbie divers tend not to be flat in the water. That's not the issue here as he's wearing just swimmers; I think it just wasn't properly secure and there was a lot of kicking around due to poor buoyancy before it came off.

[@OceanPancake]

Yeah thats why with newbies we need to stay close and keep an eye on things like this. Because it does happen. I do also find that for people with narrow hips the weight belt is more likely to just slide off, while for people like me, its more about it unclipping. This whole video was massive anxiety inducing

[@snared_]

Right, neoprene compresses under pressure, so you brought up a good point. I dive a backplate with weights attached, so there's no way for them to come off. But being properly weighted at the start of the dive ensures you won't just keep sinking. Maybe if your BCD fails, but even then you should be able to kick. But again that all comes down to being properly weighted at the start of your dive.

[@flippha]

So instructors carry extra weight - and to counter this inflate their bcds more? another great piece of information I had no idea of.

[@rong1924]

Not a good practice for the average diver.

[@OceanPancake]

Yes, just incase some customers / students are extra bouyant from inexperience / stress. Sometimes I have given away my own weights but stay at the right level through finning. Definitely do this unless you're a professional

[@OceanPancake]

Just focus on proper bouyancy! yes

[@dice511]

I do on the first dive ... saves me the trouble of getting out of the water when they struggle. Then again, i am a big guy and have a bcd according to size, so a few extra kilos is not a struggle

[@Yggdrasil42]

Pretty frustrating that the guys first reflex was to call for help, without even making an effort to deflate his BCD and let go of his camera (even with his wrist leash). He's probably been trained by the PADI factory to follow the guide and let them do the thinking. Don't depend on others to save your life.

[@OceanPancake]

Proper PADI training does include basic self rescue first. Unfortunately, some dive shops / instructors do push divers through too quickly (and this is the case with every certification agency). We need more accountability to ensure every diver is as safe as possible.

[@feynthefallen]

Another person who can do enough math to understand what a stupid idea spare air is...

[@OceanPancake]

With a physics degree + instructor degree + meeting many many people who don't know basic maths. These products give me... anxiety.

[@benheckendorn2696]

I understand why they Bring their camera, so I wouldn't blame them too much, I took als my camera with me, but it I struggle I don't Care much on my footage. Weight belt are great, with a huge but. When I went to Spain, they always gove me a weight belt, at salt water I needed 8kg, here comes the problem, because of my experiance, I would never add more then 4Kg in a weight belt again, first it's so uncomfortable, secoundly if you lost then you shoot up, so I would recommend just to put 2-4kg in the weigt belt. My solution for camera, why is there just one divemaster, if there were a secound one, he could shoot the footage, so the divers would have something to remember.

[@theaoooooo]

camera stick is bad for newbie. You need to be able to let camera go when you need your hand available . if you are newbie just use hand leash or mounting option.

[@Yggdrasil42]

@@theaooooooin this video they even had a wrist leash but still held on to it. Because they're inexperienced.

[@OceanPancake]

Divemasters are there exactly for this reason : to help with footage and provide the best advice for weightbelts etc.

[@OceanPancake]

Just no cameras until your bouyancy is good! I think thats a good rule of thumb :) for everyones safety

[@OceanPancake]

When you do not know what you're doing .. you indeed hold onto whatever you have in your hands :P

[@chankwanting]

Hey, my weight belt is loose, let's just carry on and do nothing until it falls off and then still do nothing! 🤯

[@theaoooooo]

he didn't have hand left for fixing thing. It was like OK shit happen you gotto fix thing for me now i will just stay the same lol. He didn't even deflate his BCD

[@OceanPancake]

Thats why inexperienced divers need extra help and support