Lost air while underwater while sniping w/ hookah

[¿ HUH ?]

Was at the bottom of the river (NF feather) probably about 10 ft down sniping with a hookah setup, weighted with rocks. then boom. lost air, cant breath, cant get rid of my weight fast enough, current is taking me downriver, somehow I remained calm and made it back to the surface. I stopped sniping that day after that. Anyone else had that same experience?

 

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[¿ HUH ?]

And that was my first time sniping. So next time I prolly wont go that deep until I get more comfortable with it. And my partner lost air as well since we were on the same compressor. Didnt even find anything anyway! But the fish were friendly down there.

 

[ARC]

And that was my first time sniping. So next time I prolly wont go that deep until I get more comfortable with it. And my partner lost air as well since we were on the same compressor. Didnt even find anything anyway! But the fish were friendly down there.

Gas or Bat ?

 

[¿ HUH ?]

generator to an electric oil-less compressor. The air hose where it connects to the regulator backed out and ended up flopping all over the bottom of the river, releasing all the air in the tank unregulated.

 

[ARC]

I am a gas comp guy... Brownie.

 

[¿ HUH ?]

Yup. Mine the rivers during the hot summer, go underground during the rainy winter (Lower elevation mines...too much snow high up)

 

[ARC]

99% of All my diving has been salt.

I would love to dive rivers in Alaska for gold... err or anywhere else where river has gold for that matter.

 

[¿ HUH ?]

actually I was in alaska a couple years ago to visit my friends 1000 acre claim at the headwaters of Cache creek. He had the whole setup. heavy equipment...excavators, dozers, shaker plant the whole giddup. Unfortunately he sold that mine after the horrible wildfire that destroyed everything near where I live.
Luckily I live in a place where if I get bored, I can go find gold. And I do, just nothing big or anything. But every pan has a few flakes.

 

[ratled]

First time? Welcome to the club!

 

[Gare]

Thank you for posting this incident. A lot of people think there completely safe with a Hookah

 

[Jason in Enid]

I've lost air numerous times, but I run air off my dredge so I can hear when the motor dies (if thats the cause). I also have a reserve tank so I get a few more breaths and you notice the immediate drop in pressure when your compressor suddenly fails, or your drive belt breaks, or your pulley grenades. I've had it all happen. 10 foot is the deepest I've been on hookah, and likely the deepest I would go without a pony bottle setup.

 

[djqix]

Better yet, go get scuba certified. 10ft, you'll get a long time on a 80cf tank once you get used to it. Oh yea, noticed you said you can hold your breath a long time.... don't, ever on any kind of scuba. You're breathing compressed air, at depth. As you come shallower, that air expands in your lungs. If that air has no place to go, it will make it's own place to go - ie, the chest cavity by popping a lung. You really don't want that to happen. You can do that in as little as a 4ft depth change. Also, ditch the rocks and pickup a cheap dive weight belt. Put it on with a right hand release. Much faster, and easier to drop that should your air source fail than try to dump all the rocks. Sorry if this comes across as lecturing you, but I've seen far too many people die underwater since being certified as a divemaster back in 2001. Every death I've seen has been preventable. Every single one of them. Ranging from really stupid things like not checking your pressure and running out of air, to sneaking into a night dive without a buddy, to an instructor ending up dead, in a shallow pool on a rebreather because he had no training, or clue how to use it.

 

[beekbuster]

ill stick to a mask and snorkle.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Getting certified is the best move. Second best would be to practice handling every emergency you can imagine. Over and over. Make each possible event well practiced so you just “handle it” if it happens in real life.

 

[Capt Nemo]

Better yet, go get scuba certified. 10ft, you'll get a long time on a 80cf tank once you get used to it. Oh yea, noticed you said you can hold your breath a long time.... don't, ever on any kind of scuba. You're breathing compressed air, at depth. As you come shallower, that air expands in your lungs. If that air has no place to go, it will make it's own place to go - ie, the chest cavity by popping a lung. You really don't want that to happen. You can do that in as little as a 4ft depth change. Also, ditch the rocks and pickup a cheap dive weight belt. Put it on with a right hand release. Much faster, and easier to drop that should your air source fail than try to dump all the rocks. Sorry if this comes across as lecturing you, but I've seen far too many people die underwater since being certified as a divemaster back in 2001. Every death I've seen has been preventable. Every single one of them. Ranging from really stupid things like not checking your pressure and running out of air, to sneaking into a night dive without a buddy, to an instructor ending up dead, in a shallow pool on a rebreather because he had no training, or clue how to use it.

You are correct, but you can still hold your breath on compressed air if need be. I had a lockup on my scuba reg, and then it broke into a freeflow. Blew me up like a balloon before I could get it out of my mouth. On ascent, I would exhale and hold which only allows the dead air to expand. I did that because it hurt to have full lungs. Chunk of filter blocked the balancing piston port. I've also rode the drysuit rocket from 100', and found it's almost impossible to hold your breath. The air would expand so fast you couldn't get a new breath out of the reg. Luckily, I got stopped at 10' as I was at full NDL when I left the bottom. A cool head even in panic is what every diver needs most. Know ALL the implications of Boyle's Law before using compressed air.

 

[Goldwasher]

First time...weighed down with rocks...ten feet??

Dude. Slow down.

 

[¿ HUH ?]

thanks for the advice buddy

 

[Bonaro]

I was dredging on the Klamath River in NoCal some years ago. It was late summer so the water was like pea soup and visibility was about 6 inches at 35 feet. I was basically dredging upside down in a hole with my face on the bottom and I was spotting nuggets when the airline blew off the harness on my back. I was disoriented from being in a headstand and I could not see my bubbles rise or the sun. I climbed the dredge hose back up...close call

You have to stay calm and have an escape plan in mind BEFORE you go under. I actually practice bailing out of my weights and mask at depth...you learn a lot by doing this.

Never dive alone
Always use a reserve tank
Never tie weights to yourself...one quick release must drop them all
Always put your air harness on under your weight belt.
Use only quality pressed fittings and reinforced PVC airlines, Never rubber hose and no hose clamps.
Consider carrying a small rescue bottle
Check your gear every day

 

[okbasspro]

First time...weighed down with rocks...ten feet??

Dude. Slow down.

Crayfish have to eat to.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Make sure your weight belt is set up for easy removal. I've ran out a bunch of times.