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Lost buoyancy on a 60-foot wreck dive off San Diego last month
My drysuit inflator stuck open and I shot up 20 feet before I got the gas dump sorted, has anyone else had a valve fail mid-job and what did you do to keep from panicking?
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andrew_baker99d ago
Yeah, I had almost the exact same thing happen on a 60 foot wreck in Monterey about two years ago. Inflator valve just locked up and I started heading up fast. What @fionat55 said about keep exhaling is spot on, that single thing stopped me from holding my breath which would have been real bad. I also grabbed my shoulder dump immediately and just rode it out, letting the air hiss past my ear until I slowed down. The biggest thing that kept me from panicking was just focusing on one thing, the dump valve, and ignoring everything else. After that dive I drilled reaching for that rear dump on every single descent and ascent for weeks until it became automatic. It feels stupid at first but when something goes wrong your hands know where to go.
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scott.alex14d ago
Keep a hold of that dump valve like it's your lifeline. Most people focus on the inflator when it sticks but the real trick is training your hand to find the rear dump without looking. I drilled that muscle memory on every shallow dive for a month after a similar scare. Close your eyes and practice finding it with your fingers, over and over, until it's automatic. The other thing nobody mentions is your breathing. If you hold your breath during a runaway ascent you're asking for a lung overexpansion injury. Let the air out, keep exhaling as you go up, and let the dump handle the rest.
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