2nd Stage Swivel Failure/airshare

[sskasser]

Thanks for sharing Jason.

I had a barrel o-ring blow on an elbow one time, the only time I have seen one go. First, I heard the rush of air, then inhaled a breath that was mostly water. Since the reg was not delivering air, I dropped the second stage out of my mouth and shut down the tank. Then I found my second reg, luckily it was on a necklace and easy to find. Next the offending regulator somehow fell off... I had tightened it with a wrench before the dive, it was the first dive with the elbow.

Jason makes a great point, practice shut down drills, know where your valve knobs are and be able to use them with cold hands. Being able to find your second reg is just as important.
Most people dive solo in sidemount because of the redundancy, but if you cannot quickly manage a problem, it does not matter how much gas you have.

My little incident was on a short easy dive and I had tons of gas. But it does open your eyes, practice and know your gear.

The look on your face was priceless when that 2nd fell off! I have to admit to giggling (knowing you were fine and we were close to the exit with plenty of gas).

Any one ever have s roll off in sm?

Sent from my Eris

Yep, a buddy did, in open water! I'm still not sure how he managed that, lol, but then cave divers are such a talented lot

[adam0321]

I had a similar problem. I like to tell myself it was a roll off but I am sure I did the same thing. I started the dive and the reg was breathing fine. Then I noticed a bit resistance and looked at the SPG as I took a breath. Sure enough the needle went to zero then back to 3000. I turned the dive but continued to breath off the reg. My thoughts being that if I could breath from it I would use it untill I could not breath and then I would be that much closer to the exit with a good reg(which I was holding in my hand ready to switch) then the reg began giving me alot of resistance. Checked the valve knob sure enough it was not on all the way. Cranked it open and the reg worked fine.